4th

So all this actually took place on the 3rd, but that's how it is around here. You don't actually have to celebrate the 4th on the 4th. I've adjusted to this. Anywho....we spent it with Dave and Liz who will love this pic I have of them chewing our yum dinner of steak, sweet potato fries, sweet corn and pasta salad. The weather was gorgeous and the kitchen was hot so we dined alfresco.

We then sat outside to watch distant fireworks that turned out to be more distant than I thought they were, but we could still see them lower on the horizon. The kids were crawling all over Dennis.

He was mesmerized.

No. This is NOT a body someone dumped in our yard. It's my husband who can fall asleep anywhere. I almost left him there all night, for fun....then I thought better of it.

Lake 2009

We usually refer to this trip as "the mountains" but they are more like really, really, big hills to me. Anyway, another year has come and gone and it was a good one. This was the first year that we left a day early, and the weather never got too hot, the kids (and adults :) got a long splendidly, and we brought badminton. I was excited about the badminton. It is a sport that represents the peak of my athletic skills. My family (mostly Haselton side) will know more what this means. SO here are some shots of the trip, I'll note a few but leave the rest for you to figure out.

He sat there for the longest time, picking rocks out of the cracks.

He would climb into the gazebo and dance.

Preparing to take on Warrior's Trail.

Completion of the Warrior's Trail.

He LOVED the water.

He needed this little scare.

The kids watching Uncle Michael try to catch a snapping turtle.

Testing the launcher for the water balloon battle. (the launchers broke)

Spectators.

It was ON.

He is saying "ball" in his unique way. It sounds more like "bowl".

J and his cousin Rustin built this for the spaceship.

They were trying to catch fish.

Busted his lip open, boo.

School's Out!

SO I really wanted to get a picture off J leaping of the bus and into summer. However I was inside dealing with other children. You'll just have to believe me when I tell you he's done. Although, J really likes school and if it went all year I don't think he'd care too much. He loves to go anywhere and do almost anything, as long as there are others there to do it with.

He had his last baseball game on Monday. He had a really good team that only lost one game (and it was a close one) and tied another. He also had great coaches. They even passed out trophies at the end (which was on their own accord, not every team got these). J was over the moon about this as it was his first trophy (sister has two from her dance recitals, he pointed out that his trophy was bigger.)

Ava (niece) stayed with us for 5 days while her parents went on a trip to the DR. Her and E buddied up and played so well together. She was a joy to have.

It's kitten time.

*is there a way to flip this? help if you know how and I'm sorry for the kink in your neck, but i do know a good chiropractor.