Just had to share

Check out the picture of Madison on the first day of school...

Wearing the same outfit the last day of school...

Whoa...what a week!

I started this over a week ago and a half ago.  Due to time constraints, I'll keep this one short!

Sunday...Mom and Dad were here over the weekend.  We went out for breakfast for something different.

Tuesday...Madison's teacher (Ms. Jones) stopped by to see our little fish swim at competition!

Thursday...A notice was sent home that one of Madison's Kindergarten Art Projects was on display at the local NC State Employee Credit Union.  Had to stop by to check it out.  Jeff is pointing to the birdhouse that is hers.  Not quite sure what she is doing. ;-)

Friday was the last day of school.  There was a little happy and a little sad all at the same time.  It's been over a week since she's been out of school and with swimming four nights a week it sure is a much needed break!

Madison and Alli waiting for the bus

Jeff waiting to give Madison a big hug as she got off the bus

Friday...Swim clinic.  Two hours of swimming with a world champion.  Not too shabby for a small little neighborhood pool!  She's the tall blonde with the shirt on in the middle.

Sunday...Don't all little girls look this fancy when they are playing ball with their dog?

Swim Practice Turns into Swim Team!

We know that Madison LOVES to swim but how would she do on a swim team?  That is the question we needed to answer.  To test "the waters"...for lack of a better phrase, we signed her up for swim camp.  She did really well and looked forward to being in the pool almost everyday.  

What fish wouldn't want to do that!

But how would she do at "racing"?  We signed her up for the swim team hoping that being in the water for four days a week would keep her motivated and that she could handle adults yelling...I mean, loudly talking...supporting her, as she made her way down the lanes.  Luckily she had her friend Emily there to get her through the process...

Emily writing Madison's races on her arm

Madison's first races

To keep track of everyone, they write your name and your races on you.  Another selling point for Madison...go figure.  This is Eric (Emily's brother) doing a photo bomb on Madison...

Not sure why there is a frown

Preparing for her first time in the water

And she's off

Coming in on her final race

She LOVED it!!!!

Surf City Here We Come!!!

What do you do when one night for a sleep over is just not enough?  You have a two night sleepover!!!

There was the normal Friday night routine...pool, pizza and a movie.  

How do you top Friday night?  You take them to the beach!!!  

And then you take them to a Sea Turtle Rehab Hospital!

1st..take a picture of the turtle's wound...

Then, take a picture of the man nice
enough to hold up the injured turtle!

You can never be surprised but what you see at the beach.  Look closely at the black bag on the back of her bike.  Not only is there a dog in the back, but the dog is wearing goggles!!!

And the girls slept right through it all...

Almost right up the front door!

After a two hour "nap" they were wide awake and stayed up playing with Alli, catching fireflies, and making S'mores late into the night.  What a great weekend...needless to say they were both VERY tired the next day.

Memorial Day 2014

Uncle David was nice enough to invite the Raleigh Sanford's out to the mountains for the weekend to help with making memories over Memorial Day weekend and we were more than happy to oblige!!!

Friday afternoon we hit the road and Madison couldn't wait to get there to get in the water. Unfortunately, GPS didn't work and our phone navigation system wasn't working. Off the beaten path and we found elk!

Elk

Took twenty minutes after pulling
into the campsite...a life time for a six year old!

With so much to do at the campsite and off, we had to decide where to start first...but first, just taking a moment to take in all around us!

The weather could not have been more perfect.  Sun shining, cool breeze, and the sound of the river running by the campsite.

The final decision came to take a walk up to the waterfall.  The kids loved the walk but couldn't wait to get back to the cabin.

Dancing around the campsite

Sunday was kinda cloudy so we gave the banana bikes a try.  Madison couldn't get the knack of it and got very frustrated...she may never ride them again. ;-)

As the weekend came to a close, not only were the people starting to slow down but Lucy showed she too was having a great time but really needed to get her beauty sleep!

Thanks Uncle David for a WONDERFUL weekend!!!!!

Mother's Day Weekend

Most mom's get one day for Mother's Day...mine started on Thursday and went right through to Sunday afternoon!

Starting on Thursday, Madison's class had put together a Mother's Day program.  The BEST part of the whole thing was Madison doing a reading, all on her own, in front of people she didn't know without falling apart.  It made me a very proud mommy!!

At school on Friday, there was a field trip to the local park.  Madison's class had a pizza party after the park.  Jeff surprised Madison back at school to have lunch with her.  And she got to leave school after lunch!  Madison must have pulled out the, "blink, blink, blink" again!

Who has two thumbs and is going home early?!
This girl!!!

Daddy went to work Saturday morning so Madison and I got to spend time together in the morning.  That afternoon, we meet best friend Emma and her family for our annual strawberry picking.

Mommy photo bomb!

Most mom's for Mother's Day, get breakfast in bed or time just to take in the morning and drink their coffee.  Three years ago a group of us started a tradition of running a Mother's Day race together.  What started with five girls, three years ago, has come down to two!  I think only the crazy mom's have held strong!  Who in their right mind gets up at 6 A.M. on a Sunday morning to go for a run on Mother's Day? I wouldn't trade it for anything! Madison and I did the one mile fun run together and then Mommy ran the 5K.

The best part is all of us getting to go out to eat afterwards and spending the afternoon just "chillin'".

A weekend alone

Jeff and I didn't know what to do with ourselves this weekend!  Saturday morning Madison had the last of her snow day makeups and then it was back to Virginia to the Great Wolf Lodge with Emma and her family for a girl's day of fun on Sunday.

It was a quiet weekend for us for the most part.  The weather was PERFECT and we spent the whole time outside.  I think Lucy got her fill of playing outside this weekend! 

Here she is playing in the pool trying to keep cool!

Oh...and here is Madison's Spring school picture that she had taken a few weeks ago.