Fun in the Sun

For as much rain and cloud cover that we have had nearly every day we sure have had fun in the sun! Around 11am the clouds would move in, which I thought was perfect because it pushed the kids to get their chores done early in the morning to play a little before they had to play inside. And then around 2 or 3 in the afternoon the sun would come back out with just enough time to play before they had to come in for supper! I have loved sitting outside and sun bathing while the kids have fun in the pool. We got toys to play in the pool with but the kids don't like them in the pool so they are always throwing them out on the grass, but Little Miss Emmy loves to throw them back in the pool just as fast. I think we are going to have a big tease on our hands!!

These pictures are of most of the kids who were at the 24th parade. I overheard a few of them talking about how they were going to make their attack. The way they were talking I was feeling quite sorry for whoever was going to be attacked! Little did I know that it was going to be my sweet husband!! He never saw it coming!! But he was a better sport than a lot who were there so the kids chose right!!

24th of July

We are making great progress here! We are already to the 24th of July!! Our little town might not compare to the big cities but I quite prefer our little celebration. Each year it is the same thing but guess what? The kids still have a blast and that is what it is about!! Each year we have a parade that includes ALL of the kids so you might be wondering who is left to catch all the candy!! Well, Emmy and I of course!! I think this year the kids all held onto their candy until our house because they sure sent many flying our way. The picture of the flag coming up the road and Emmy sitting in the wagon (picking her nose only happens when the camera is on!) are the only ones of the parade that I took since I was busy spraying them all with the water hose and fighting off the water balloons coming my way!! I think I got them better than they got me!!

As always we got to have smokey the bear make his appearance in the parade and then meet the kids (who aren't afraid) down at the church. Out of all my kids the only one brave enough was Emmy. I tell you what, she is the one kid I am most scared about with strangers!!! She pushed her way past some of the other kids just to have her turn and then when he picked her up Smokey turned to me and said that she was so cute he could take her back to his den with him! Emmy turned at that moment and said "Bye, Mommy!" I don't think I have pulled my kids away from someone so fast! I thought I had her distracted with watermelon and other kids but when I turned around there she was chasing that darned old bear!

Back to the Fourth...

I am not going to give you all the scoop of what has gone on this summer in one swoop. But I figure that if I do one thing each day I should be caught up by the time school starts (yea right but we can hope!) in 5 days. I think the kids have been counting down since the end of July. I can tell they don't want to hurt my feelings because they phrase it like this, "Mom, it is kind of getting boring riding bikes, swimming and playing with friends, but I do like being with you!" You know they are bored when the kids are bored of the things they LOVE to do the most!! But I must admit that I have gotten tired of planning activities and chasing them so for the last month we have just been! And I have LOVED it!!

So back to the fourth of July. Well, actually the third since that is when we celebrate it here! We were finally home long enough to get our pool up. I forced JayDee to do it since his Dad was here to celebrate with us and he would be able to give a second pair of hands! Emmalee loved it except for the fact that our water here is ice cold. The kids kept pleading for me to cook some water to make it warmer. I told them to forget it since the sun was a natural warmer, but I should admit that it is too cold for me to want to get in. It has since warmed up quite a bit and the kids love it!!


Emmy is throwing a temper tantrum since I made her get out and warm her little piggies!!


This is Blake Walker, one of JayDee's nephew's. Blake and Lenore are here for the summer and got to come out to play with us!


Beth decided that we all needed to be able to spot each other in our HUGE crowds here so she bought each of us this matching shirt (yes, even the adults!!)


We played so hard that my Brooke fell asleep, she never takes a nap!!


What a great pretender!!


I ABSOLUTELY love these last two!! I think they speak for themselves!! :)




But what a great weekend we had! Our display of Fireworks is incredible. I am amazed each year that such a small community can put on let alone afford such a great show. We don't even have to go anywhere since we can see them from our house. Next year with the kids a bit older I think we will be starting the old tradition of sitting on the roof to watch!!