Holdridge Home: Insta-Summer

Our life's documentation has moved to Instagram and Facebook, but I still hope to fit this blog in as well! So, I decided to provide an illustration of our summer through our Instagram photos and some videos. Cliff goes back to work, back to teaching/coaching this week (lots of tears), and I thought it would be a helpful to reflect on the wonderful summer God blessed us with (instead of sulk and cry that the fun is over!). Enjoy!

Flower Girl
Grace was a flower girl princess (Grace's title) for my cousins wedding. The style was so cute and Grace was precious. She was super excited as you can tell in the photos. She called Lauren, the bride, "the white girl princess." Haha!

Sea World
The first day Cliff was free in June, we took the whole family to Sea World. Teachers get in free and we didn't have to pay for Elijah and Anna Ruth. Cliff's mom came to help...which with three kiddos we needed it! It was an absolute blast, and I have to say that Shamu and the Sesame Street park were everyone's favorite.

Camps
Cliff coached several Dripping Springs camps in June...about three weeks worth. The kids and I would come up almost every day to visit and "help" with our concession stand. This consisted of our kids eating any concession stand profits. Elijah especially enjoyed the blow pops which revealed its residue on several basketballs.

Preaching
In addition to camps, Cliff spent much of his summer writing sermons. We even were able to have somewhat of a system where he would write pages of notes and I would come help organize his ideas...since organization is my favorite thing. It was a load of fun...very life giving, and we were so thankful for the churches who gave us the opportunity to share Jesus. A few messages were recorded and can be viewed here...

Father's Day
For the life of me, I am having a hard time remembering what we did for Father's Day. I know we got together with family, so maybe someone will remind me! Regardless we had fun and made these fun cards for Cliff and our dads. They were a big hit...and yes, I literally took about thirty shots before this one turned out...

Elijah's 2nd Birthday
Our little buddy turned two July 1! I can't believe this little guy is so big. We had a water themed outdoor party at the house and called it "the backyard splash." Elijah and his buds splished and splashed with baby pools, slip n slide, sponges, bubbles and a sprinkler. Everyone had a blast! Our little man has so much personality and he still loves to cuddle with his mommy. I am trying to cherish those moments because I know with boys it won't last long.

The Fourth
For Independence Day we took the trip to Marble Falls to visit Cliff's mom and stepdad. They have the best small town parade in Horsheshoe Bay where we caravan-ed through with their golf cart. The kids loved throwing candy and we ended the street parade to watch the boat parade on the water. The kids also enjoyed crafts, BBQ, a balloon man all provided by Horseshoe Bay.

Our Fifth Anniversary
Throughout the summer, Cliff and I were able to enjoy a few dates without kids, but our best time was celebrating five years July 12 in Fredricksburg. We went to Cabernet Grille and enjoyed some of the best food I have tasted. Then we walked the downtown Fredricksburg, enjoyed some live music, visited a beautiful Catholic Church and talked for hours. Every year with this man gets better!

Brenham
We were able to close on our house in Brenham! Thank you Lord and thank you mom (our realtor)! For closing, we were able to visit some much loved friends and catch up. It was bittersweet to see the Brenham chapter of our lives close. Brenham has some of the best people...we will miss them all terribly.

Blanco State Park
We made a few trips to the Blanco river which has become one of our favorite, quick get-a-ways. It is inexpensive and beautiful. The river has perfect holes for swimming as well as the long river you can float down. We even rented a canoe and the whole family piled in.

Vacation Bible School
The kids attended two Vacation Bible Schools. This our first time to attend, and I was so excited. Grace was the most excited and the two younger ones went along for the ride. Grace was able to pick up a verse and a lot of new songs. We are still listening to the VBS CD.

Zoo
We have been wanting to visit the Austin Zoo, and we finally made a trip with my dad a few weeks back. It is the perfect zoo for small kids because it does not take the whole day to go through. It also has a train ride. We were all most impressed by the lions which you can get pretty close to!

Jellystone
Just a week ago, we visited Jellystone in Fredricksburg with the kids. It is a fun spot for the day or to camp, but we just went for the day and enjoyed their kid-friendly pool, arcade games, jumping pad, and brand new facilities. It was a big hit!

Walking
Our little 10 month, Anna Ruth, is starting to take some steps. She so badly wants to keep up with her brother and sister, so I can tell she is determined. Here she is taking her first steps...

Family

We were able to make some wonderful memories with our families as well. Living in Austin has moved us closer to many relatives opening up opportunities for fun dinners and get-togethers. Cliff's dad drove down and visited for a few days taking the boys to Franklin's BBQ and ending the day watching UT Football practice. We were able to make several trips to visit Cliff's mom and stepdad who always helped so much with the kids so we could get away. We met my dad a few times downtown including Zilker, Lucy's fried chicken, and Magnolia Cafe. My mom did move back to North Carolina this summer which was very sad (I loved having her close!), but we were able to enjoy the summer before she left at Deep Eddy and the Austin Children's Museum.

Other Fun Memories