Ritchie Crew

Ritchie Crew

Sunday, July 24, 2016

July

 July has been SO much fun! We have laughed hard and had great times, but even as I sit here and type this Matt leaves the country.  He is on the plane and headed toward his destination during his second deployment.  My stomach gets sick, but thank goodness for good friends to take our minds off of the next year.  This time around Matt and I are taking a couples vacation when he returns.  He booked the vacation and is surprising me on the location!  Excited might just be an understatement.  All I know is that I need my passport!

Here is a recap into our month of July:

1) Hannah's gender reveal party egg toss winners...Karen and Sirron...you know you mean business when you take off your wedding rings and talk strategy talk.
2) I am teaching the book of Matthew this term in Sunday School and we talked about John the Baptist this past week.  Why not order and eat bugs like John the Baptist?  I ate a cricket! We had plenty of people that tried a cricket and some that wanted more!
 3)  Caroline had a great time preparing for the July 4th festival and parade at Lakeside.  Faye and Waylon always get excited to start planning the weekend with the family.
 4) Good picture with me, Caroline, and Aunt Karen at Lakeside.
 5) Check out the football ham in the pool. As long as he has a ball he is good to go!
 6) A new friendship I have this year is my friend Amy.  Her husband Kevin is with Matt for the next year during their deployment.  There is always something good in every circumstance, and this deployment has given me a new dear friend.
 7) Aunt Karen and Caroline showing off their names on the blind canoe race list.  Guess who got to be blindfolded?!?!
 8) I will say it once. I will say it twice.  Luckiest great-grandpa I know.   He gets to see the great-grands almost everyday and gets to take them for rides almost every single day.  They love their Papaw!
 9)  We stopped by Matt's office to see Matt's work family.  Caroline adores Mr. Barry, Mr. Bobby, and Mr. Jim, and so do I!  You want to talk about the best work family!  They are always checking on Matt and checking on me to see how we are doing while Matt is gone.  They have filled the role of being the best work family while Matt is gone.
 10)  Doctor's appointment check-up for little man-health little boy!
 11) Greyson and Wyatt at Lakeside.  Sweet boys!
 12)  Caroline adores Greyson!  Aren't they just too cute in this pic?!?!

13) And speaking of adoring...I do not know if there is anyone else who is more deserving of the best cousin award other than this guy.  Caroline adores Will!  Will fills the role of being Caroline's role model.  She looks up to him and loves him big time.  They even share the same birthday which makes it real special.
 14)  I always tease Lana and Lakyn and tell them that I am getting old.  When they are both home for the holidays or weekends I have them help me to become young again.  Always fun to hang with the young crowd for just a bit.  It is fun to listen to their young life stories...and then give advice whether they would like it or not:)
 15) And look at the little camera ham!  Y'all when I get the phone out he starts saying ccchheeessee.
 16)  And guess what!  This girl completed her C25K workout this month!  In the middle of Summer I finished a goal I had been waiting to accomplish for a good while.  I run my first race on July 30 in Arkadelphia. Cheryl and I have been training together and are ready to run!

 17) And Wyatt adores his Uncle Roger as well.  I am lucky that I have an Uncle that I am so close to, and that would do anything for us.
 18)  Just chilling by the pool while Caroline is swimming. Isn't he cute!?!
 19) Wyatt got to take a ride with Aunt Karen and Ms. Cheryl Sunday at church.  Spoiled. Maybe.
 20)  We got to go see baby Jack last week.  Some babies are more special than others.  My childhood friend Nick had a baby boy and this is so special to me.  I just wanted to squeal the whole time because my friend was a daddy and was beaming with joy.  Congrats to Nick and Emily!
 21) Everyone needs a little water hose fun during the summer heat.
 22)  Wyatt can now steer and keep up with Caroline on his riding toy.  They have a blast giggling and dodging each other on the drive.  Laughter!
 23)  Pool time for this little girl!  It is what Summer is all about!
 24)  We took a weekend getaway with just us girls down to Shreveport.  Top of our agenda was to see Beauty and the Beast, so Friday night we enjoyed dinner and then set off for the play.  It was a great play for adults and children.  I highly recommend you go see the play if you can.  It will be featured in Little Rock soon.

25) We got to watch our friend's family member, Savannah, perform in the play.  She did great and I think Caroline may have made a new friend.
26) If you plan on visiting Shreveport, put the Blind Tiger on your list of places to dine while in town.  Yummo for the tummo!
27) And everyone need a carousel ride after shopping...but who picks the eagle? This kid.
28) Caroline and Peggy enjoying the trolley ride.  We were glad to give our shopping feet a rest for a little bit and enjoy the air conditioner.
29) Isn't this the best picture?!?!? Caroline adores Peggy!
30) My morning run in Shreveport.  I always enjoy running in new atmospheres.
31) Light up dalmatian dog in Shreveport.
32) Girls' picture before we hit the road for our road trip.  Fun times were ahead!
33) Nothing like a couple of random boats in an intersection...so of course I have to stop to take a random picture.
34)  One of the fun and bright murals in Shreveport.
35) And everyone needs to see an old ambulance at least once in their life.
36)  Me with my sweet and sassy little Caroline out shopping.
37)  Random pig on the interstate in Shreveport...one of those weird tourist sites.  Got to go see the random stuff!
38) Once in a Millennium Moon, also known as the Mega Mural.  It took a team of 2,600 community painters.  The display is a paint by number drawing.  Worth the stop to see this if you are in the area.
39) Caroline with the best great-grandpa I little girl could ask for.

We had the best July...see you next month!

Monday, July 4, 2016

June Post



 We are staying low key this summer since Matt is gone, but we have plenty of weekend getaways planned.  I enjoy our mini girl trips that Caroline and I get to take, and look forward to the couple trips that we have planned for this summer.  Below is a recap into our month of June:

-Snow-cones...who doesn't love these?!?! On our girls' day that was the top of the list for this sweet girl.
- A trip to the dentist.  It is easier to count and clean those teeth in a dental setting.  She has given four teeth to the tooth fairy and is currently working on her front tooth.
 -Our first trip to the pool.  It was cold!  This girl does not do cold!  But thank goodness my Uncle does.  That is one great Uncle Da Da right there!
 -Caroline and I went to the Byrd Wedding in Eureka Springs and decided to make a mini getaway out of the time.  We had a blast!  Fun trip just the two of us!  I hope she always enjoys trips with her Momma.  Below are a few of our weekend highlights.
Berlin Wall at the Passion of Christ 

Section of the Berlin Wall 

Passion of Christ 

Passion of Christ 

Caroline at the entry of the Passion Play 

The BIGGEST and best salad EVER!

Eureka Springs Train Ride

Caroline got to be the conductor's helper



aftermath of our pennies and nails on the track


before pic of our pennies and nails on the track



Wedding time!  Mrs. Peggy needed to see her Caroline:)

Three of my favorite people.  I love them! 

MiMi, Mommy, and Daughter 

Me and Caroline

Me with my dear friend Kim

The Three Amigos...wasn't Peggy gorgeous!
Two of my dearest friends...I will forever love them!
Three Amigos again
Caroline enjoying an ice cream sandwich
 -Wyatt could sit on the lawnmower ALL day if Papaw would let him.  True story.

My handsome little boy
 - We went to see Matt last weekend to say our final goodbye and it was hard.  No easy to it.  It gets harder each time we have to say goodbye.  We were thankful for the four day pass, but it passed quickly.  Below are a few pictures from our weekend together.  I wish I could have paused time for just a little bit.
First time to see Daddy!

Time together at the park...priceless

 I was able to run every day!  Say what?!?!  I know.  The kids would play with Matt while I finished my daily training.  I even got a little ahead.  I am on week 7 of my training and I am gearing up for my first race at the end of July.  I think we visited a total of four parks over the span of four days.  We love parks and love checking out new parks.  Texas does it right when it comes to parks.
And of course you have to visit the local race car tourist trap when you are six years old:)
 

Wyatt loved playing in the water with Matt



waiting on the turtles at the park

And every girl needs her nails painted while on vacation

Steel City Pops...a must if you visit Dallas

just a little bite Daddy
 -Back home and playing silly games again.  Thank goodness I am not a coffee drinker and will not be using these filters.
 -HUGE balloon from I-Hop (that has not deflated yet)
 - And you need Sunday Morning selfies when getting ready for church.  A must for Wyatt.  He is such a camera ham!




-Camera Ham examples: