Holiday Weekend? Let's go to the lake!

The Fourth of July weekend was upon us.   Jackson had baseball practice on Friday and Sunday evenings, so we squeezed in as much lake as possible, because a little bit of lake is better than nothing at all!

By mid-morning on Saturday, this crew and I were at our happy place.

The big girls went down to put their feet in the water, so of course little sister wanted to follow right behind.

After deeming the water the perfect temperature, we came back to get provisions--popsicles are a must!

Lake-lovin' girls.

Daddy and his brothers had some work to do at the the dock, so the girls and I took all four kids on the boat.  We opted for a leisurely tour of the lake first.

The lake was busy...

and just a little too rough for this sweet sugar to get a good nap.
She gave it her best shot, though.

After our lake tour, we went back to see if the boys were ready yet.  Little Miss had woken up and was ready to play on our new waverunners.  For real--she begs to go on them!

Soon enough, Uncle Andrew and Uncle Scott, 

along with Cameron and Daddy, were zipping around the lake. One happy girl.

While J was waiting on his turn, he taught himself how to do a backflip off the back of the boat.

After about 22 times, he got pretty good!

We spent the afternoon hanging out on the boat...

jumping in the water..

 
 

and just enjoyed being together.

The next day we tried to do it again.  We got everyone dressed, sunscreened, and in their life jackets...despite a protest or two from our youngest.

It was super-windy and the boat wasn't acting right.  We thought maybe it was just low on gas, so we headed over to the dock to fill it up.

Sweet baby girl fell asleep in my arms on the way there and missed all of the excitement of the boat refusing to start after we filled it up.  Oh the joys of boating sometimes!  After 20 minutes we finally got it started again and headed back home.  

Since we didn't have the lake as an option anymore,
these girls asked if we could set up the new slip 'n slide.  Great idea!

"It's so cold, Mama!"  That well water is no joke.

Jackson slid every which way--forwards, backwards, and then practiced sliding into home plate, too.

Madison loved it...

and Lila did, too.  They took turns going solo...

and then went at the same time for a little more excitement.

Who needs a boat?  We've got a slip and slide!!!

We came home and after J's practice, Memaw and Poppi joined us for a cookout.
Life is good when you're flying through the air.

Daddy and the kids swam and played volleyball,

and Cami even decided that a life jacket can be fun in the pool.  Before the night was over, she was swimming in the deep end with the biggest smile on her face.

All of this activity, and it wasn't even the 4th of July yet!  Stay tuned for more party pics.

Championship Sunday!

 Somehow I forgot to finish our weekend--and this Sunday was one for the books!  We began the morning with what Lila called "another feast!" and then went to feed the horses and donkeys.

These animals were carrot crazy!

As luck would have it, this majestic horse's name is Fury.
He gave Jackson some good tips on how to win big that day.

 

The two miniature horses, Pancho and Lefty, were big hits with Cami.

She kept saying, "Here, mama horse!  Here, baby horse!" And then tried to feed them.

Sam and Gina, the mother/son donkey duo were not to be left out, either.
Don't they look just alike?!

It was the perfect way to end our weekend at the ranch.

Next up--game time.  We love how they pray before every game.

Then it's time to get hype.  Who are we?!  FURY! 

As you can see, it was hot this afternoon.  Thank goodness for some shade!  And thank goodness for a sweet big sister who will read endless fairytales.

Bubba's team won their first game, so they advanced to the finals.

Jackson was the starting pitcher for the big game.
He did his best and gave it his all out there for sure.

 

In the end, the other team was just a little better, but we were so proud of this kid, and all of his teammates.

They all had moments of greatness, like when Corbin went around the tag and stole home!  Beau also threw a kid out at second base while he was catching and ran a kid down to get him out.

These boys took second place in the King of Swat tournament, losing 8-5 to a Majors team.

They were thrilled with their rings!

Go Fury!!!

It felt good to play in the championship game and we were all really proud of this kid.
He's a baseball stud, no doubt about it.

On our way back home that night, we stopped at Rudy's for a celebratory BBQ dinner.
This place really is pretty fantastic and everyone ate until our bellies were stuffed.
We said goodbye to the greatness that is the hill country and drove back to Murphy.
Another fabulous weekend in the books!

Annie

Last week Madison and Lila attended theater camp.  On Monday, they auditioned for a role and then began rehearsing shortly thereafter.  They only had 4 1/2 days of camp to put on an entire production.  And they did it!  Madison played the role of Molly and Lila was an orphan and Lt. Ward.  

The show began with Annie singing Maybe to Molly...

then they picked up the tempo with It's a Hard Knock Life.  They were fantastic!

These two were beaming as they joined us after the show.

The cutest orphans I ever did see.

Maddie and Lila with their fanclub.
Daddy even made it to Plano by 3:00 because he knew it was so important to the girls.
He was not disappointed, either--we all loved watching them shine on stage!

BRAVO!

Heart of the Hill Country

Day two of our hill country weekend.  Did I mention that we had our own house?

Complete with a screened-in back porch?!  We woke up, and then went to watch the deer graze in the pasture while Cami slept.

These two were amazed at nature's beauty.

After another fabulous breakfast, these goofballs played some more.

The big house has SO many fun things to do!

A little while later, we were headed down to the river.  This guy was right next to our truck, so we stopped and said hello.  Love me a longhorn.

We also saw some unexpected animals--wild hogs!  They were squealing like crazy as they ran across the gravel road in front of us.

Then we made it to the river--it was so clear!  These kids couldn't wait to go swimming in it.

It was just one of those scenes we won't soon forget.

We all swam down about 100 yards so the big kids could jump off the rocks. 

"Yeehaw!"

Jackson, Sam and Caroline were all fearless flyers.

Diane Claire thought about following the big kids, but then decided to stay in the water with her buddy Cami.

All six river rats--a crazy bunch!

Even Sam the Dog came into the water to hang out.  He knows a good time when he sees one.

We couldn't hang in the water all day, though.  We had some baseball to get to, so we left to get ready.  On our way out, we saw this little armadillo in the backyard.

Lila and I followed it all around and she declared it her favorite animal of the trip!

Time to play ball--let's go Fury!

The game was delayed, so I took Sam to meet some of Jackson's buddies.  He loved watching Cooper, Gavin and Brock during the game, and enjoyed seeing Jackson pitch and play short stop.

Stephanie and Mike got the watch the boys get a win and we got to spend more time together.
Love this girl!  Oh yeah, and a cold front blew in so it wasn't a million degrees either.
A major win for everyone!  One of our best days yet.