Front Yard Soccer

Since we've been home much of July, our front yard has taken a beating.  No, we've had plenty of rain and the grass is healthy.  Our yard's problem is that the boys on the street and Eleanor play soccer on it EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. especially now that the World Cup has ended.  

 

 

 

The kids even play multiple times each day - morning, mid-afternoon and then just before dinner.  Thomas and I have since given up trying to grow grass this year, and have even bought official goals in the last two weeks to encourage the play.  It will be interesting to see if the trend continues once school starts,

 

though I'm betting it will with four of the regular boys playing year-round soccer. 

World Cup

As I think I've mentioned in previous posts, the kids watched most, if not all, of the World Cup games this summer.

 

As we typically do during a sports tournament, we organized a "Carroll Family World Cup Bracket Challenge".  Right off the bat, Ben declared that he was not participating.  (He is still basking in the glory of his NCAA Bracket Challenge victory and doesn't want that win to lose any of its luster.)  The rest of us filled out World Cup brackets.

Dad predicted that Germany would defeat Spain in the final.  Dad had Argentina, Brazil, Germany and Spain in his final four. 

I thought that Spain would win the World Cup after beating Germany in the championship game.  I had the same final four as Dad - Argentina, Brazil, Germany and Spain. 

Eleanor predicted that Portugal would defeat Spain in the finals with Argentina and Germany rounding out her final four. 

Finally, Hayes thought Brazil would beat Portugal in the World Cup final game with Argentina and Uruguay playing in the semis. 

The winner (as determined by total number of games guessed correctly in the tournament) shocked us all as he watched very few of the games and admittedly is not a huge fan of soccer.  Who was it?

Dad won our World Cup Bracket Challenge for the second World Cup in a row!!!  Hayes was utterly dismayed that is father came through with a victory, though H was even more devastated by his favorite Brazil's crushing defeats in their final two games.

We will have to wait another four years to see if Dad continues his reign as the "Carroll Family World Cup Bracket Challenge Champion".  We had predicted incorrectly four years ago that Ben would join in the fun this time around, but hopefully we can convince him to participate four years from now. 

War Upstairs

Now that our summer has slowed a bit, the kids are finding fun around the house.  I came upstairs to do another load of laundry the other day and found this . . . The Battle Royale . . .

Hayes's Birthday

The day after we returned home from Ponte Vedra, we celebrated Hayes's 9th birthday.  After one year traveling on his actual birthday, he has since requested that we make sure that we are not on the road on July 7th. 

The day began with Thomas taking the kids to Waffle House for breakfast, and then we later treated Hayes to dinner at Jalisco's (his choice) for some celebratory sombrero-wearing and "Happy Birthday" singing. 

After dinner, we picked up an Oreo cookie ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins for more dessert at home.  We didn't want Dixie to miss the party, and she obviously did not want to be left out.

 

I surprised myself when I found an "9" candle in the drawer, so we then let Hayes make another birthday wish.   

I also made sure not to forget the obligatory Birthday Questionnaire which Hayes begrudgingly completed for me.  Here is his nine-year-old thinking . . .

To him, it probably just seemed like another school-like "worksheet" he had to complete.  The free-thinking exhausted him, and he was over it by the time he arrived at question 17.  His response to the final question "The best thing about me is?"  "stuff".  He doesn't mince for words. 

Sandcastle Contest

Well, if it is the morning of the 4th of July, you will most likely find the Carroll family at the beach competing in the annual sandcastle contest at the Lodge.  This year was no exception.  At the last minute the night before the competition, someone in the family came up with the idea of a "Rock Lobster" from the infamous B-52s song of the same name.  When morning arrived, everyone contributed to the construction efforts. 

With more than ten competing entries, we were worried about our chances of winning and kept preparing the children for a letdown.  When the judges came around to hear the story behind our sculpture, Uncle John made sure to play the song in the background . . . and in the end, the judges admitted that the music tie-in separated us from the field. 

So, for the 9th year in a row, we came away with an award

and Granddaddy treated all of the kids to a milkshake with his gift card winnings.  Here is the final design up close with the boombox nearby.  

 

When will the award streak end??  At some point, I'd love to run in the Peachtree Road Race the morning of the 4th in Atlanta, but can't get away with that until another family stops our winning roll.  :-)

Ponte Vedra for the 4th

Though we often spend a week in Ponte Vedra in the summer, with all of our travels in June and the anniversary party that final weekend of the month, we stayed at home for a few days to recover/unpack/do laundry before it was time to hit the road again to spend the 4th of July in PV.  Inexplicably, my picture-taking has slowed this summer and I'm now realizing that I missed out some of my usual photo opportunities (i.e. the kids together on the 4th).  I don't have many from our four days in Ponte Vedra but here is what I do have . . .

While in PV, we played golf, 

 

swam in the pool (I love how this picture looks like a pastel),

rode bikes, 

 

and watched both the kids and then the dads/uncles/older cousins battle it out in tug-of-war on the 4th.  

Cousin Anna made these t-shirts for each of the grandkids for a photo opportunity on the 4th. 

I did not take a picture the night of the 4th nor did I get many on the beach of the kids over the trip.  We spent a good bit of time going back-and-forth to the house to catch the World Cup games so that might explain some of my limited number of pictures.  I'll just have to wait until next year to capture some more moments on film . . .

G & G's 50th Anniversary

The last two weeks of June were a whirlwind!  Thomas flew the kids to Melbourne on the 14th, he returned to Atlanta on the 15th, we headed to France on the 16th, we then came home on the 25th, I traveled to Melbourne on the 26th, I then came back home with the kids on the 27th and we hosted the 50th wedding anniversary celebration for Grandmommy and Granddaddy on the 28th.  Whew! 

70+ guests joined the Carroll children and grandchildren at our house to honor Ken and Martha's golden anniversary.  That number was more than double our largest-ever crowd in our home since we've lived here the last eleven years! I was very nervous about how our house would handle that crowd, especially in the mid-summer heat.  Once the party started, I remained largely in the kitchen as we (Carroll kids and cousins) did all of the cooking/food-prep on our own.  When I did venture out and around the house, I saw men and women dripping with sweat.  I guess our AC could not overpower the 90+ degree outside temperatures, especially when our porch and front doors were constantly swinging open and closed.  Thankfully, everyone told me not to worry as they were all having a grand time. 

After dinner was served, a few family members and friends gave toasts (the Rev. Don Harp blessed our food)

 

before Uncle Michael treated all of the guests and grandkids with a video he created telling the story of their 50 years of marriage.

 

Thomas and I had not yet gotten over our jet lag so by the time the party came to an end a little before midnight (officially 10:00 but family stayed behind), I was utterly exhausted.  It was a wonderful celebration though, and I'm glad we all could pull it off!

Ben's Birthday

Though Thomas and I were in France for Ben's actual birthday on June 23, Mimi and Papa helped Ben celebrate in Melbourne, as I've mentioned in a previous post  We also honored the summer birthday boys in Ponte Vedra

 

and we plan on letting Ben take some friends to Legoland later this week.  Two weeks after Ben's actual birthday, I remembered that he had not yet filled out the annual birthday questionnaire so we got working on it right away.  Here are Ben's six-year-old responses:

Two Weeks in Florida

Thomas and the kids have been giving me a hard time for not keeping up the blog this summer.  I point out to them that if they just gave me some "time off" from being a mom, then I could get this blogging job done.  Unfortunately, they haven't taken me up on my offer, and I now I find myself trying to write nearly a summer's-worth of posts a week before the boys' summer ends.

All three kids flew down to Melbourne to spend nearly two weeks with Mimi and Papa once the Westminster camps ended for the boys.  

 

Mimi and Papa were kind enough to care for the kids while Thomas and I traveled to France to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary.

As usual, the kids kept busy while in Florida.  (Photos provided by Mimi.) They swam in the pool multiple times each day,

 

visited the zoo,

 

 

watched every World Cup game (more on that in another post), played tennis,

 

and visited a Navy Seals Museum.  

Mimi and Papa were even tasked with celebrating Ben's 6th birthday on June 23 while we were still in France.  With a trip to the Chart House and an Oreo cookie ice cream cake,

 

Ben was in hog heaven!

Before Hayes left for Melbourne, he told me that all he wanted to do at Mimi and Papa's house was "Swim and then watch soccer.  Swim and then watch soccer."  He, Eleanor and Ben did exactly that and more!