Sunday Funday

Sunday we tried to be in the water as much as possible. It was pretty darn hot outside, so after church we headed over to Gigi's for some good swim time.

Much to the two munchkins liking, Gigi had some new swim gear for them. Flippers, goggles and snorkles! Jackson really reminded me of Scuba Steve.

Lila grabbed the big bubble wand and had fun just trapsing around with it unopened.

After splashing in the water for a while, she decided it was time to try out the slide. The girl is a big fan of playground slides so I was hoping that would be the case with the pool one.

Smiles all around! The girl loved it...

so we decided to take the plunge and go all the way down it!

Madison followed suit and got in her regular 25 times:)

Meanwhile, Scuba Steve puttered around the pool attempting to use all his new gear.

Then we finished off the afternoon with a little baby pool time.

After some good naps for most of us in the house, it was time to go over to Memaw and Poppy's for a cook out. Lila got in for a little bit, Madison did lots of jumping to Poppy and noodled around the pool, and Jackson played catch with Uncle Scott.

He was very intrigued when Uncle Andrew threw a pass to Uncle Scott and he caught it mid-jump over the pool. Oh the things he is going to learn from his uncles:) Thank goodness they don't still have their trampoline and can show him how they used to pull it over near the pool and jump in from it.

While the rest of the crew was still swimming, Uncle Andrew and Lila had a sweet little moment. I'm pretty sure she was telling him how much she likes his new girlfriend.

Thanks again for letting us come over to swim!

Friday Night

This past Friday night we were sort of running out of things to do. You know that's the case when your four year old asks to wash the car.

After I agreed to letting him do so, he excitedly changed into his swim attire and then proceeded to put on his rain boots. Guess there was a lot of water involved, so why not?

Madison was not so into washing the car in 98 degree heat (who could really blame her?) and she opted for watching a movie from inside her princess tent.

I kept running in between the two...

and kept Lila well stocked on goldfish. She was happy as clam to supervise Jackson's work from the comfort of her high chair...just as long as those goldfish kept coming!

Swim Lessons

This past Thursday was J and M's first swim lesson of the summer. The water was relatively warm, the sun was out, and these two little fish were rearing to go!

After their class with Miss Katie, Lila, Gigi and I jumped in the pool with them.

Earlier that day I had run to Target to pick up a float for Lila. It was perfect. Very stable, great canopy, etc. She liked it for about as long as she liked her sun hat.

Approximately 10 seconds. By the time I got the big kids to come over for a pic, Lila was so over her hat and float.

Thank goodness Mama was there to save her!

We had a great rest of the afternoon and Lila never did warm up to the greatness of the float. Jackson and Maddie told jokes, played in the spa, baby pool and big pool.

Sweet kids

Jackson was laying down on the floor this morning and Lila walked over and hopped on his back.

This brought many giggles all around. I treasure those sweet moments.

Memorial Day Weekend '11

Hot. Sweaty. Sandy. And loving life! That's how we kicked off our Memorial Day weekend.

We took all the kids over to the beach and Lila had a ball playing in the sand. She was covered in sunscreen and probably ate more sand than Nilla Wafers, but she loved it.


Jared's brothers and their girlfriends came with us for the weekend and we really enjoyed all of them:)

The Fam: Summer 2011

Lila felt a little left out, I guess, with only her water to drink!

The girl partied hard!

While Lila was sleeping, Jackson was playing a fierce game of bean bag toss. Just look at that determination!

Gigi, Maddie, Boom Pa and Lila held down the fort while the rest of us soaked up some sun.

After we got back from the beach, it was time to cook out some burgers. To keep Lila occupied, we let her pull out every trashbag in this box. Worked like a charm!

The next morning we all put on our jeans and got ready to head over to the ranch.

When we arrived, the kids got to jump on the newest addition to the tree--a tire swing that looks like a horse!

This little cowgirl saddled on up and had a blast swinging!

Soon Uncle Andrew joined the fun and pushed both kiddos super high--so much fun!

After Jared and Boom got all the horses fed and saddled, the rest of us went down to the stables. Everyone rode in the arena for a little while just to get used to the horses. The mini horse even ran over and joined the party!

Scott and Lyndsie--such pros!

While the big kids were busy being cowboys, these two rascals ate every snack they could find in the diaper bag!

Big Brother wanted to take a turn and the mini horse (aka Mr. Dub, named after my dad's colorful uncle) began following him around, too. I mean, really, is the mini horse not the funniest animal on the farm?

After everyone felt comfortable on their horse, it was time for the trail ride.

After the trail ride, Daddo, the uncles and their girlfriends took the four wheelers down to the river to do some skeet shooting. I stayed at the house with the kids and watched them swim 96 laps around this pool.

I think they had fun!

Finally, I made the fish hop out because of chattering teeth (90 degrees, but we were in the shade...who knows?!) and so he grabbed his sand tools and went over to shovel some sand. The kid loves to work, no doubt about it. I don't think he will ever even contemplate retirement.

That evening it was time to sample the brisket that had been smoking all afternoon. Lila loved it, along with the baked beans!

Then we all put on our party hats to wish Papaw a very happy birthday.

Sharron forgot the candles, so Jackson and Papaw just pretended. Good thing, I suppose--84 candles would have taken them quite a while!

All weekend Jackson had been begging us to play a game of baseball. Seriously, the kid had his baseball glove on 90% of the time if he was out of the water! He had pre-picked the teams: Rangers vs. Yankees. We were all having fun until Boom hit the ball and it got stuck up in the tree. Then they threw a football at it and it got stuck, too. Then they tossed a long pole up there and it stayed, too. The tree must have been coated in molasses!

Since all of our b-ball tools were 20 feet in the air, it was time for the boys to take matters into their own hands. So Scott and Andrew hoisted their big brother up into the tree!

Yes, that's my husband in the tree...

the one who does not like heights at all. He got all three things out, though! Way to go, Dad!

The next morning we went over to the ranch to pick up the big kids. It was just perfect outside and Lila got to take a turn on the horsey swing.

She liked it so much that she walked right over to the real horses, said "hi" to them and waved. Then she petted their noses and just laughed and laughed.

Since we didn't have time to fish the day before, we told Jackson that we could go down to the pond and do some super fast fishing. He'd been talking about doing this with his dad for weeks. Little sister was ready to snag those fish right after he caught them! No need, though. Less than 4 minutes after they began fishing, Jackson was back in the car messing with the little tackle box. Jared's hopes were crushed once again.

We decided to end our fun weekend with a little more playtime at the beach. The girls wore their matching swimsuits and looked so cool in their shades!

Lila had to borrow Jackson's and wouldn't keep them on longer than .3 seconds, so I was really excited to get this pic. Perfect way to end the weekend.