A legacy...

Lisa passed away over a month ago. But this is just one small way in which her legacy continues to affects person after person...

Joy FM Summer Cruise: Before the Morning

And the precious teenager who is making my kids summer a blast - also her legacy. And the building in which 1000's of kids in the years to come will be ministered to that breaks ground Sunday - also her legacy.

I am sure the list reaches far beyond my sight. Sometimes the big picture is just not ours to see.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28

Photos

Some cute ones from the last week...

Update

Summer is well under way but it just does not feel like it. I have been working ALOT! But that has come to an end now so maybe it will feel more like summer soon. This weekend was crazy busy but lots of fun. Camera class, one of the kid's cousins had a birthday party out at a giant sprayground, my dads birthday at Outback, movie night at a friends house, grocery shopping, etc. A few things of note around here...

- Final Report Cards: Straight A's for Tori, Straight E's for Tristan
- New house possibility, talking to banker tomorrow to find out what next!
- Barefoot Summer, LLC is an official business complete with tax id in FL
- cousins from NC coming soon!
- mini vacation coming soon!
- Pampered Chef/Thirty One party this week AND going to see Eclipse

My biggest and favorite news to share is my most recent early birthday gift. I should mention that on my actual 30 birthday I will be doing nothing. I will be having ice cream after school like we always do on the first day but that is it because my husband and family have been so darn good to me already!!!

I got my camera, which I love...I know you probably hadn't noticed yet right? But yesterday when we were all together for my dad's birthday I got my birthday gift too - my parents, brother and his wife and Todd all chipped in to send me on a cruise! Woohoo!!! So my mom, Taylor and her mom Pam are all going to Mexico in the fall. So excited.

Father's Day

I love days you can use as an excuse to do very little work, work hard at playing, and spend time with family. Ingenious!

I also love starting those some days on a bright note...like hot cinnamon rolls and quirky handmade gifts from the kids. Meet the Maddex Pixo Family!

We drove up to my brother's house for Father's Day at did the whole BBQ thing complete with corn on the cob and yummy desserts.

Here's a flashback for you. Remember the Slip N' Slide! It was fabulous despite its cheapness and ridiculous ability to cause pain when used the right way. Throwing yourself at the ground repetitively is not comfortable despite the thin plastic separation between grass and body. But it's ability to make a person laugh remains solid - whether you are the slider or the observer! Tori may have had some problems...can't imagine why!

Success!!!

Meanwhile whining at the door were two furry friends who desperately wanted in on the fun. Why not?!?

And since it was Father's Day I would just like to say that I am SO thankful for the amazing father I have. And I am SO thankful for Todd, who is the best dad I could ask for my kids to have, pictured below with his dad who we did dinner with to complete the day!

Schools Out

School is out for the summer! This last week was a whirlwind of last minute field trips, parties, teacher gifts and celebrations. Tristan's class had a party as well as a field trip to one of those indoor inflatable places. Tori's class had a luau complete with pinata as well as a field trip to AstroSkate.

The last day of school was a half day so we thought we would start the summer off with a quick trip to Disney to see the "Summer Nightastic" program. I never fail to be amazed by the "magic" of Disney but someone should have reminded me that the light parade from 1972 was probably not better than the Spectromagic parade created in 1991! So we went, we saw, we had fun. We sought AC at some of our favorite rides (Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear), and drove home exhausted but content that summer had arrived.

Summer is officially here - kids that sleep in or lounge around in pjs all morning, the AC going full blast, the humidity climbing at literally 5 am, a freezer full of Popsicles and freeze pops, BBQ hot dogs and trips to the beach are all sure signs. And planned vacations and visits with cousins and vacation bible school all coming up add to the excitement! Love summer!

Endings and Beginnings...

Today is the last day of school. Time to say goodbye to TWO of our favorite teachers! Only one more year in elementary school for Tori. Kind of a bittersweet ending...but...

Schools Out for the Summer!! Can you hear the song in your head? Time for summer camp, vacation bible school, pool time, beach days and just plain lazy days. Love that!

Other new beginnings, check out the Barefoot Summer blog - with new postings for each shoot! Looking forward to launching Barefoot Summer photography in the fall. Website coming soon. Check it out: Barefoot Summer Photography

Remarried

The other day I got an email from Tristan (I was out of town for the day, the kids like to send emails, Todd lets them use the computer - supervised - hence the email!) It said some really sweet things and then this super funny part.

"You are the only mom I want. I hope you don't but if you die and daddy says I am going to marry someone else I will say oh no you're not. "

Okay then.

Progress...

This weekend, while of the plain old 2 day variety, was better. We went outside. I got some sun. We swam, we BBQed, we had dinner with friends.

The weekend started early Saturday in historic Ybor city, which is surprisingly gorgeous despite its often not so positive reputation. The old brick and vintage architecture lends itself to some decent pictures. In the future I would probably choose it more for adults than for children but Kendall was a cutie and I got a couple good shots! I usually am not a character fan but her absolute adoration for this stuffed Elmo was too cute to not take a picture of.

We spent the rest of the day baking cookies and swimming in the pool.

Keys to the Kingdom

Friday we FINALLY fulfilled my mom's birthday gift and she, Taylor and I went on Disney's Keys to the Kingdom tour and it was AMAZING. It is offered to those over 16 only because they do not want to "ruin the magic." If you are a Disney freak like me you would love it. All sorts of history! Like did you know that Disney World was Walt's dream but did not come to be until after his death...Roy came out of retirement at the age of 72 to fulfill Walt's lifelong dream of an entire magical resort. Only 2 months after Walt Disney World Resort, complete with two hotels on property was completed, Roy also died. The infamous bench statue at the turnaround of Main Street is actually Roy sitting with Minnie...and Walt stands with Mickey in front of the castle. We got to go behind the scenes to the garages wear parade floats are stored, new items for attractions and decorations are being created/painted, and into the "underground" (FL water tables actually mean this was built at ground level and the entire park was built up over that, landscaping and all) corridors where employees move about the park.

Now if I were 5 and watching Mickey walk around without his giant head on that would make me not believe in the magic. But as an adult this tour made me believe in the Disney magic even more. There are few people who truly strive towards perfecting everything, few companies that go above and beyond, and sometimes I feel as though we have to work harder in a world filled with depressing news to find happiness. But the Disney brothers and the empire they left behind do strive for perfection in their ideas, do go above and beyond for guests and create this world of happiness for kids of every age. Do they make a ton of money doing it? Of course.

Tour was great, guide was great, lunch was included and as good as theme park food can be. They had ear pieces that miked in the tour guide despite that there were only ten of us - at some points as you walk through the crowd it would have been impossible to hear the guide without the ear piece. Smart. Very smart. As our guide said a couple of times - they're good, very good.

Long weekends...

Sometimes I have these high expectations for weekends that don't quite pan out. It started off good...yummy hazelnut coffee in my favorite mug, editing pictures at the computer with my sweet puppy curled up in my lap (I think he likes the robe more than me). The whole house was silent and in my head I concocted these amazing plans of BBQ's and pool time and a clean house and the beach...

And then Tristan woke up with a fever.

So we did nothing all day. Finished doing nothing just in time to attend a wedding that was nice but mellow. And after having been mellow all day I was ready for something fun. But there were two days left so no worries.

Until Tristan's fever returned. So Todd, who was scheduled to sing and Tori went off to church while Tristan and I did...yep some more nothing. Finally by dinner time Tristan's fever had been gone for 4+ hours and I was near stir crazy we did catch some dinner on the porch at the Tarpon Turtle overlooking Lake Tarpon with some great friends.

Monday made an attempt at recovering. We BBQ'd with my family and played a random but surprisingly competitive 4 on 4 game of kickball at the local little league field.

I think for the first time in 10 years I am struggling with the idea that my idea of fun and Todd's is not the same. That my images of long weekends in the sun are more of a nightmare for him. It's not been an issue in the past because the kids have been too young to be out at the beach for too long and still play nice, or not old enough to enjoy the boat for more than an hour or so. Or we have had tons of activities. And now we don't and the kids ARE old enough to do things for longer periods of time. I am not sure what the answer is here but if I find it I will let you know.

And in the meantime despite this one being kind of boring...I will look forward to the next long weekend!