happy fourth!

we love and miss you AMERICA! happy independence day!
love,
the joneses!

the good news

is that we had a vacation.
the bad news
is that i only took my camera to the beach for 2 hours the very first day.

we loved the beach.
i had a great time just being at the beach. i didn't want to leave! i was sunscreen patrol, and i did not shirk my duties. no sunburns!

christian loved riding the ski doos with the dolphins (really!) and making tyson a merman.

madelyn would not take her eyes off the beach for fear of missing a single seashell. she loved playing with her cousins and decorating sand castles with her beautiful shells.

olivia loved standing in the waves and digging in the sand. she spent lots of time in the shade eating chips.

i had to laugh when i got home and unpacked a full suitcase of clean clothes. the girls didn't wear a single outfit! swimsuits all day, pj's all night. it was my kind of party!

yesterday, 6 o' clock

olivia found a wild gourd at the farm. (wild gourds? who knew?) i was looking around for more gourds for some free fab fall decor (after finding out wild gourds exist,) when livs took off with the little round green gourd. baby was fast; baby was running. i was clumsily trying to reset my camera settings (why o why did i buy pro i'm not ready for pro) while jogging, trying to get ahead of that baby and i finally did- and just then she saw something interesting in the dirt and s t o p p e d fast. (my ISO skills can't keep up with baby agendas.)

mady found a stick that looked like antlers,
momma wore silver ballet flats and wished for some boots,
and daddy tried for five minutes to not say, 'i wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.' (he came home sick from the roundup. he's been home now two days and i couldn't be happier. that guy is always buzzing around town. it's nice to have him home and slowed down a bit. sick and complaining and all.)

the sunset was pink and blue and beautiful.

so. campy.