Laid Back

While Jackson was still at church camp, our summer finally began to slow down.  A little.  No more camps, no big schedule.  Shoot, we even got to go back to church!  It was SO great listening to Steve Stroope's message...

and these four girlies loved going to Kids Town, too.  A win for all!

Slowing down also means there's time for our backyard.  Cameron has finally discovered the greatness of the swing.  She asks, really begs, to do this every day.  While I prefer to enjoy a nice shaded swing-time, she is completely fine being on the playground in 100 degree direct sun.
She wins most of the time.

Madison is at her first sleep-away camp this week, so we worked all last week to get her ready.
We assembled this outfit for Fancy Night.  So fun!  She has five themed nights, and I cannot wait to hear about them all. 

The next morning we found this tiara, though, and everyone decided that it would go better with Madison's outfit.  Sweet Lila Lou is now missing two front teeth, but she still makes a precious tiara model, I think.

Lila went to Chloe's birthday party last week, too.  She thought this enormous water slide was super-fun!  These girls came zooming down it at least 100 times I bet.

When we went to pick her up, big brother got in, too.  Face first--yeehaw!

The big slide was a little too fast for our youngest, but she quickly figured out the greatness of a do-it-yourself swing.  And I got to visit with my friends!

And while our week wasn't all that busy, I was attempting to channel my inner Martha Stewart.   I was trying my best to be the Hostess with the Mostess for them.  What says, "Welcome to our UT Reunion Weekend" better than 8 dozen chocolate chip cookies? 

My baking assistant and I couldn't think of anything better, so we busted out these babies while Cami was napping.  And then I made a chocolate cake the next day.  Baked goods are always a good plan!

On Friday morning, we got a surprise visit from my mom's cousin, Gail.  We made a yummy breakfast and ate on our back patio, while we visited with her.  It was so nice to catch up, and the girls entertained her thoroughly with their Annie songs and dances.

Of course, no good summer week would be complete without friends to play with.  Madison and Madi both came over on Friday to swim.  Birthday parties, playing outside and swimming with good friends--who wouldn't love a week like that?!

Summer Nights

While J was away, the girls got to play!  We had Madison over here a lot that weekend and decided to take a dip in the pool on Sunday afternoon.

Maddie's smile just lights up the room--or pool!

For some reason, she's the only big kid allowed to "help" Cami swim in the pool.  She just plays the role of Mother Hen so well and Cameron loves it.

All of that swimming deserves some time in the shade with her Mamacita...

and a good water break!

These girls entertained us with tricks...

slides...

and lots of smiles in the pool.

A little while later, Cami decided to try on her lifejacket and test it out in the deep end.

Madison walked her out to the edge...

and they both took a big jump into the water!

For the rest of the night, this one was perfectly content to do it all by herself.  We didn't get out of the pool until at least 8:45.  Everyone was just having too much fun.  Gotta love long summer nights.

Epic

A few weeks ago, Jackson had the five-day weekend of his life.  

It was his very first sleep-away camp!

He and his buddy Cooper had been looking forward to church camp for months.  We got them checked in, wrist bands on, name tags around their necks, luggage tagged, etc.  By noon that Friday they were leaving on the bus, bound for Riverbend Retreat Center in Glenrose.

We weren't able to directly speak to him, but Jared sent him daily emails and I mailed him a letter before he left.  We did, however, get daily photos.  This was Day Two with his crazy group.  Notice his attire.

Chanelling Cam Newton

They went to worship every morning and evening.  By the looks of it, it was a first class production.  J said the band was awesome!  It really was like being at a concert.  So cool.

These boys were SO busy the entire time, I'm shocked they got a group shot.
They did archery and paintball...

the flying trapeze into the lake...

and this really cool enormous slide!

That did not leave any time for cleaning up their cabin.  Oh well.

They went to the lake every day.  See J in that same swim suit on the top left?  If there's a basketball game in sight, he's on it.

He said the line was really long for this apparatus.  It also may have been a bit too high up for his liking!

They had tons of inflatables, too.  Check out that monster slide in the background.

Each night there was more entertainment before the message.

Then more flips into the pool and rides down the four new big slides.  So fun!

One of J's favorites, though, was playing Gaga ball.  Camp had so many activities that it would take forever for me to document it.  Suffice it to say, they were never bored!

He came home on Tuesday a little sunburned, pretty tired, and more than a little stinky.  I hope he also returned with a stronger relationship with Christ.  It was so good to hug this kid again!

Best Friends

I'm sure everyone feels this way, but we really do have the best friends.  Not all of them were able to make it to our pool party this past weekend, but we were so thankful for the ones who were.  By mid-afternoon the sun was shining and the smiles were big.  Who doesn't like fun music, good food and great friends, with a side of swimming?!

Riley hung out with his daddy Matt at the beginning.  His buddy Jackson was away at camp, so he was really outnumbered for a while!

Riley's little sister had lots of girls around, but she chose to chill with her mama instead.
Her friend Cami was taking a late nap, but after she woke up, they discussed how much they both love being Mamas Girls.

Finley made sure her brother Matthew was having a good time in the pool...

while their daddy Tim hung out with Jared near the deep end of the pool.

Brooklynn and Temple took a snack break and chatted about how awesome our beach trip is going to be in a few weeks.  Well, not sure they actually talked about it...

but us mamas sure did!  We would love it if the Weismanns could come, too!

Presley was rocking her Ray Bans like a pro...

while her daddy and sister were hanging out.

These girls were all over the slide and diving board at times, but liked to chill near us, too.

Pre-tooth pulling--she had her uncle tie floss around her loose tooth, but it didn't work out.  She had to contemplate other options while sitting poolside.

Tim did a few front flips and even tried a one and a half!

Any night with this guy is a win.

And then Baby Josie and her family showed up!  Despite her face, Cameron was so happy to finally meet her littlest girlfriend.  She did want me to "put her down" so that she could jump to me in the pool, though!

All of the girls loved having sweet Josie at the pool.  She thought about putting on her swim suit, but opted for a nap instead.

It was a fantastic night with a pool full of friends.  Just the way we like it!
Cheers to summer!

Toothless Wonders!

On Saturday afternoon, while all our friends were here, Lila kept telling me how badly her loose tooth hurt.  She just couldn't enjoy herself because it was bugging her so much.  Sure enough, during dinner time it came out...while she was eating cream corn of all things!

About an hour later, her cousin followed suit!  It was a big night for the tooth fairy around here.
We weren't sure that she would be able to find both girls, but she did.  There were big toothless smiles all around:)