Martino Family Reunion

 4th of July week we got to go to Eric's family reunion down in Nacogdoches, TX. We all stayed on this beautiful property in these rustic, not-to-code and not terribly clean lodges. Our family shared with Matt and Greta's family which worked out perfectly. It was a great week! Very chill with lots of time for us to just be together and for our kids to play together with their cousins. We had all the meals except breakfast catered and thankfully it was all delicious and very plentiful so that was a huge win. Highlights for me were getting to play wingspan with Carma and Travis, lots of talks and games with Matt and Greta, being able to let the two older kids roam freely and play with their cousins, and having downtime to read my book and not have to do any work or chores! We went to the waterpark one of the days which was hot but fun and one of the days we did a service project where we took pictures at one of the oldest cemeteries in TX. There were graves there of people born in the 1700s! That was pretty cool. And Eric got to have some good talking time all together with his siblings about everything going on with his parents and their family right now so I think that was very healthy and good for everyone! 

Everyone was there except Ethan and McKenna! We've become quite the group!

Rachel refused to be in the cousin picture- she's got just about as much drama and sass as Emery! 

Evan, Hinckley, Austin, Cami, Declan, Emery and Hyrum

I put a lot of effort into our outfits for our family pictures but between Levi's black eye from a bee sting, all of us being sunburned from the waterpark the day before and just the general poor composition and coloring, we're just going to have to try again some other time! 

Emery and Rachel helping Auntie Carma make muddybuddies

One of the evenings several of us went to a local splash pad. The girls had a great time with their cousins!

Emery and Jonathan. Jonathan's haircut we learned is called the Kentucky Waterfall!

Emery and Declan

Our family and Blake and Shannon were in charge of breakfast on the 4th of July so we made pancakes with berries and whipped cream which were a hit thankfully! The only high chair they had in the mess hall was this old wooden one with no straps. It was a bit of a nightmare because my little monkey girl just loved to climb into it over the side and then jump off of the footrests! There was no containing her to eat. SMH. 

Emery and Cami

One of the evenings the whole family played kickball. It was fun being a spectator! 

People had also brought various lawn games including ladderball which was a big hit with the kiddos. 

These sweet girls (and Silva) had so much fun dressing up together and parading all around the camp putting on dances for people! I love how much Emery and Rachel look alike. 

There was lots of time for games thankfully so we did Unstabled Unicorns, Wingspan, King Domino Codenames and Cover Your Assets. I appreciated having space to play in the cabin we were staying in so that us adults could play during nap time or after the kids were in bed. 

There was a porch swing in front of our cabin that was so nice to sit and read in. 

Ben, Isla, Emery and Rachel

Declan loves babies and my girls love him! 

Carma and Travis had brought their arcade table and that was a huge hit with all the boys. Here Anson, Hyrum, Levi, and Hinckley are watching Evan play. 

Isla loved spending time with and playing with Auntie Shannon who took her a few times so I could get some alone time. 

Declan seriously carried Isla around all the time and she learned his name and just loves him now! 

It's crazy because even though we got home just a week ago, it feels like the family reunion was forever ago! And I just can't believe that July is already halfway over and we only have a few more weeks of summer left! 

This past week I expected to totally be drowning in work trying to catch up on everything after my days off, but it actually wasn't too bad. Also, Emery started up with dance classes again this week and on Friday I took the kids down to the Perot Museum which was a lot of fun! If it were closer I would definitely take them there more often. The kids had a great time and I thought the exhibits, especially the gemstones one, were really cool. 

Levi got to go swimming with his friend Robin this week. 

Isla LOVES to "help" in the kitchen. 

I came home from work one of the evenings this week and found that the kids and Miss Sally had formed a little band! 

Silly messy girl!

Giant geode at the Perot Museum

In the technology exhibit at the Perot the kids could design their own avatars and then make them move and dance. 

Isla's favorite part of the whole museum was this bridge in the children's area. She went up and down it at least 20 times in a row! 

Then last night, Eric and I went out which was nice to get some one-on-one time together. We were planning on seeing a movie but it ended up being sold out so we just went and got DELICIOUS Thai food instead. I'm really happy we found a Thai place that we like so much. 

I'm excited for this coming weekend because I get to go to CA to visit my family and Oma with Isla. Hopefully traveling with her by myself goes smoothly and she doesn't get up too early! 

Sweet Summertime

 I can barely believe that summer is already halfway over for the Martino family! With the way it's been going, I kind of wish it would last forever! Nanny Sally is amazing. I absolutely love having her with our family. She is great with the kids, takes them to do all sorts of fun things and she does random chores around our house without me asking her or expecting it at all (vacuuming, loading and unloading the dishwasher, sweeping, etc)! And it just makes mornings so much more laid back and better when the only one I have to get ready in the morning is me! We give the kids breakfast when they get up but they are often still in their pjs when Sally shows up. We don't have to make or pack any lunches and there's the beauty of no added commute picking up or dropping the kids off from school. It's like I got an extra hour back each workday. I know these luxuries won't last forever but I am certainly enjoying them while they do!

Anyway, the kids have been having a blast this summer and I am so happy they are getting to spend it together. Here are some of the things we've been up to:

Ms Sally will text us pictures periodically of their adventures. The Frisco Library play area is a favorite destination. 

And of course, it wouldn't be summertime without lots of visits to splashpads!

Frisco Discovery Center

Hahaha this picture

One morning when Levi went over to Kyler's house to play, Ms Sally took the girls to the Prosper Fire Station! They got to pretend to drive the fire truck, meet the firefighters and also meet the firehouse Dalmatian. Ms Sally said that Emery was very brave and even pet the Dalmatian after one of the firemen talked to her about how he used to also be scared of dogs and showed her how to hold her hand out to the dog to smell. 

We finally got our Sienna! Eric was a rockstar and called the dealer So. Many. Times. to secure this car for us. Thanks to his diligence we only had to wait 2 months instead of like 6! It was so wild to me to drive this van off the lot with the odometer reading "4." I love that it is a hybrid and it has a very smooth ride. Unfortunately, I have such bad luck with cars, less than a month after we got it, a truck on 428 kicked up a rock and cracked the windshield 9"! So I have to get the whole windshield replaced already! We have to pay our deductible so it's going to $500 out of pocket and we haven't even made a car payment yet! Yikes! And then last night, we went to the Celina Splash and Blast (which was really great this year) and then right after we got back to our car and got in, a truck driving by clipped my side mirror and knocked the back off! Eric was able to re-attach it and said it just clicked right on and is very secure but I just couldn't even believe it. If that truck had been 1/16th of an inch closer, it would have taken off my sidemirror completely! 

Isla loves to ride around on Levi or Daddy's back! 

We went to get frozen yogurt as part of FHE the other night and Isla quickly became obsessed with climbing up onto these bar-height stools! As you can see, the little mischief maker also colored herself earlier that day. Levi was being a good big brother and guarding her carefully to help keep her from falling. 

Went to the annual Splash and Blast in Celina last night! We were worried it would be just miserably hot because we had a heat wave this week with feels-like temperatures up to 112 deg but thankfully by last night it had cooled down and it wasn't too hot at all! It was so nice. 

Isla had fun climbing up onto the stroller repeatedly and then swinging from the bar like this. I swear she is a monkey! 

Matthew, Valerie and Silva joined us and Emery was just living her best life dancing like crazy to the music and playing with her cousin. 

Isla watching the fireworks sitting on Daddy's lap. 

Levi and Emery are getting even closer with their relationship this summer (which was exactly what I was hoping for). They have been doing sleepovers in Levi's room every weekend and I love hearing them play and chat together. Obviously, they sometimes have their disagreements, but I just love all the memories they're making together. 

Me: "strike a pose!" Them: 

I wish I could say the same for Emery and Isla but unfortunately, they are definitely fighting a lot lately. They still play together too but Isla tends to do things that Emery doesn't like (such as unplug her tablet while it is charging) and then Emery cries and then Isla hits her and then Emery cries more and then Isla goes "Emmie crying." 

Speaking of Isla, little miss has been talking soooo much now. She says new words every day and is so chatty! She has been speaking in little sentences like "my turn!" "I helping!" "bread out" and "my do it!" She is very independent and still likes to try to dress herself and brush her own teeth. She loves ice in her water and climbs all the things. Her favorite mischief right now is to sneak into one of the bathrooms and climb into the sink and turn the water on to play in it! She also loves putting on other peoples' shoes and walking around the house with them on. She is a very determined girl and can be very vocal in her objection when things aren't going her way. She loves her binkies and recently figured out how to climb into her crib to get them! She still gives the best hugs and loves to read books, be tickled, and play with her baby dolls. 

Eating her pizza big like the big girl she is at Carson Rick's pool birthday party. 

She rocks Levi's slippers haha

Sweet girl gave us a fright the other week. She woke up from her nap one Sunday and wouldn't put weight on her L heel at all. She flinched and said "ouchie" when I touched her heel even though we couldn't see anything. And then for the next several days she walked around only on her toes on that side! So we ended up taking her in for an x-ray. Thankfully nothing was broken, she must have just bruised her heel- probably while jumping off of something (which is one of her favorite activities). 

Caught in the act!

Isla also has been very into putting rags or washcloths on her head lately. She is so silly!

I mean, it's a couch right?

Clever girl uses anything and everything to help her reach her goals- in this case the binkies drying on the grass! 

She may be a troublemaker but she is so stinking cute and I just love her so much!