Day 4,302

The Cousins Say Bye Bye...But not to Us!

Girl cousins! 

Hello again, Monroe and Mila!! We're SO happy you're here!

And we're SO happy you get to stay the whole week with us!

They waved goodbye to their parents (my sister and her husband) and we had the joy of being in their company for seven more days!









Oh, what fun!!

Day 4,201

The Cheerful Hello and Really Hard Goodbye

First day of Big CCA for the big kids! 

Bearett and Amelia are attending an elective at our church's school--Bearett is taking art and Amelia is taking PE.

ALL the heart eyes!





And then, it was our final goodbyes to our besties (from inside the car because our kids have all had 24 hour fevers this last week). These two have been friends literally their whole lives. Saying goodbye was hard--every single one of us cried as we drove away--but it was especially hard on Ella Mae. We love our Twombly family and though they'll be far away in miles, they'll always remain near in our hearts! To PNG training they go!

Day 4,068

 The Biggest Grandma Hugs

Tears flowing and it breaks our hearts every time. 

We miss you already, Grandma. We enjoyed such a special week together—Ella Mae’s birthday, no work, beach outings, treat making, house painting, and the CBC women’s conference. We love you and we can’t wait until the next time you come!!

Day 4,068

The Biggest Grandma Hugs

Tears flowing and it breaks our hearts every time. 

We miss you already, Grandma. We enjoyed such a special week together—Ella Mae’s birthday, no work, beach outings, treat making, house painting, and the CBC women’s conference. We love you and we can’t wait until the next time you come!!

Day 4,054

The MMA Family?

Bub is getting GOOD!

He’s picked up Taekwondo pretty fast and is excelling as he enjoys the pace and technicality of the sport. 

To the girls’ surprise, as they waited on their next activity, a playground was right behind the Taekwondo building!

Ta-da! 

TMMA’s newest athletes! 

Amelia and Ella Mae have both decided to step away from gymnastics. It’s been something that’s been on the table for the last few months, and between the time commitment, the cost commitment, and their inability to no longer wear shorts to practice in, we decided it was time to try either something else entirely or another gym. They girls both decided that this is what they wanted to try, so here we are!

They first had to participate in a tryout. 

It was adorable. 



And at the end, they were both awarded their white belts and now practice with Bearett! All three, same place, same time, same modest uniform, and same self-defense training in the making. I can’t really complain :)

Day 3,658

The Last Tampa Trip

We checked out of our Airbnb at 10AM on Wednesday (Mom got four hours of sleep woo!), stopped to say goodbye to The Property (we can’t wait to share the land with you, peacocks!), ate breakfast with Gammy (you’re a treasure!), went and bought a new phone (salt water is no joke—be warned it’ll kill your mother board)

said goodbye, and headed West. 

Daddy played his last game of a ten-game road series while we drove to our new home in St. Pete for the month. 

I think Bearett must have read 15 books on the way, including the Wizard of Oz which claimed the title of his favorite. This boy continues to be enthralled by his ability to get lost in stories, of which I am so excited about! His love for reading is incredible and though I’m still not sure exactly how it happened, I’m just so happy it did!

Hello Central Florida!



And hello Pineapple Palace!

We are home for the month!

Day 3,648

The Second to Last Farewell of the Regular Season

If you say “First Watch” around our babes, be prepared to deliver, especially on the morning of *another* 11AM Airbnb checkout. With a wake up time between 10 and 10:30 and a checkout time soon after, we took Grandma on a breakfast date instead of cooking in a rush and having to clean up before leaving our latest home. 

But we’re packed up once again and spent Sunday afternoon at the Trop in order to see Daddy off before he leaves for 10 days. 

Not only was Grandma here to bring us joy on a hard day of goodbyes, but our friends from church surprised the kids at the game too! They were in town for a gender reveal and were able to come spend some time with us before heading back home! We are so thankful!

And lucky us, we all got to see Daddy pitch before leaving!

He’s performed well since getting the call late that Friday night and we are continually thankful for the opportunity to work for such an incredible team and organization. 

He’s played in 11 games now, with a 2.03 ERA in 13.1 innings pitched and 12 strikeouts.

Rays Up!

See you soon, Papa Bear. 

This is always the hardest part. 

Good thing we had Grandma for some extra snuggles before heading back to Stuart on Monday. 

Day 3,635

The Saddest Happiest Homecoming

A Monday morning date before Daddy set off on his first entire away series with the Rays. 

We ate breakfast at the Seahorse Restaurant—a tiny little breakfast spot on the most southern tip of the little island we stayed on, which has been open since 1938! The kids were absolutely loving all the sea life they displayed! 

But, they were hating the goodbyes that came next. Ella Mae especially. This girl does not like her daddy leaving and my baby, I know the feeling. 

Thankfully, our three hour drive BACK HOME made the frowns turn back to smiles, especially when we peeked at our Property for the first time in three months!

We’re back in Stuart! And our little Airbnb is just big enough for the five of us and a kitchen for cooking yummy homemade suppers!