Fruits of our {my} Labor

Look at what all we picked from "the garden" this week:

It seemed like they took forever to ripen this year. Now we are picking them constantly! What have we done with these fruits of our labor? Last week I roasted a huge baking sheet full then pureed them for spaghetti sauce. This week...

Yep...a tomato pie made with my tomatoes {the Better Boys and the Romas} and the basil straight from my garden! Can't wait to dig in tonight at dinner! While we were picking tomatoes, we noticed one of our zinnias were blooming! I wish there were a 100 more to go along with this one:

Can I have some cheese with that...

WHINE!!! This morning Banks work up begging to go to the Splash Pad at Delano Park. Since we haven't been all summer, I thought it would make the perfect morning outing. They had a ball running through the sprinklers...

for about 15 minutes, then the WHINING started! So we loaded up and came home. Mary Reese is already back in the bed for a "rest" and Banks is playing quitely upstairs. Has anyone else tried to do something nice and fun with their kids only to have them show their appreciation by whining about it the entire time?

{Mary Reese is kicking Banks off the wall because she does not want him sitting beside her...can a 3 year old have PMS?}

I was so sad that we didn't see our friend from last year:

Lightening Strikes

The talk of the park the other day was a huge oak tree that had been struck by lightening. They were surveying the damage and trying to decide if they could save the tree. I didn't have my camera with me that day. So today when the kids wanted to have a picnic in the park, I grabbed my camera so I could take a picture of it:

Can you see where the lightening went down the tree? It is pretty amazing to me! I never realized how big that tree was until I saw my children pictured underneath it {of course they would not cooperate and have their picture taken together, hence the single shots}! We hope the tree can be saved!

Guess who came by last night?

We had a tiny guest come by for the first time last night...guess who it was?

If you guest Holley Ann Borden, you were right! This was the first time we have seen her in person since her birth over a month ago! We were all excited about getting our hands on her! Kristi and Belinda were sweet enough to run her by for a few minutes so she could get introduced to her "cousin" Banks and Mar Mar! {Aunt Stacey, do you love our "big t-shirts" we are sleeping in now?}

Camp Penley

Banks has spend every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon for the past three weeks at Camp Penley. Melissa and Jamie had a theme for each day and all the activities {math, science and art} revolved around that theme. Banks, Mary Bradford, Ella, William, Buck and Emily Ann learned about the Olympics, Patriotism, Animals, Weather and Caring. The last day was Wet and Wild Day! This is what we saw when we drove up at camp:

I think the highlight of everyday was watching Slider {the pet turtle} slide into the fish pond:

Banks had a wonderful time at Camp Penley again this year and looks forward to going back next year! We can't wait to see what this 2 creative "camp counselors" have in store for next year!

More than a water hazard...

Every other Monday night, Ms. Carol invites all the families to come fish the water hazards ponds on the country club golf course. Last night was the first night we have been able to join her this season because I couldn’t remember where their fishing poles got stuck during the move! It finally dawned on me {in the middle of the night} that for some reason they got shoved in the top of Banks’ closet…so we were finally set!

Mary Reese with her Princess fishing pole {after fishing…there is swimming…that is the reason for the attire}:

The Jackson Family joined in the fun. Mary Bradford is supervising Banks while Brad got her baited up:

Mary Reese and Gray trying to reel one in {Only 1 shoving match over the princess pole occurred. I was shocked because I have never seen them even look cross at each other until last night}:

They got over their cat fight real fast when I caught this one on the Superman pole:

Mary Reese would not even get near it {not sure what she would have done if she actually caught one}…and I wasn’t going to touch it! Thank goodness, Banks made a friend who got all the fish we caught off the hook for us! Banks did love to throw them back in:

I think we caught 3 fish on that Superman pole but nothing compared to the whopper Brad caught {actually I think the dads did way more fishing than the kids}! After fishing, there was grilling and swimming! Needless to say we were all full and worn out after a fun filled family night! I wish I would have gotten a picture of Mary Reese and Gray at the pool with their matching Princess purses jammed full of Princess paraphernalia {they were too cute prissy}!

Repeat Performance

Last weekend we had such a nice time at the lake...we loaded up Friday afternoon for a repeat performace. We took the boat out Saturday morning and head out for our new found favorite rock jumping spot.

After some jumping and swimming we headed back to our cabin. We took a detour at Blaze's cabin (a teammate from the T-Ball) for a visit. We ended staying long enough to be invited to a magic show next door. Apparently this guy is a world renowned magician and I will have to admit, we were all amazed! I was sitting on the front row, right by the guy and I still have no clue how he did those tricks! After the show, we headed back to grill out some good old lake hamburgers and french fries!

Back at home as we were getting unloaded and the laundry going, Mary Reese gashed her eye open on the corner of a piece of furniture. She kept calling for her Popsy when we were discussing the possibility of stiches. Remember "The Dental Chair" from October? Another repeat performance in the dental chair? Since it was on her face, I thought a plastic surgeon might need to look at it. I didn't want her blaming me for some scar on her face 10 years down the road. Jody called Dr. Light (a friend who happens to be a plastic surgeon). He told her to bring her out to his house for a "consultation". Luckily no stiches were needed, just some tape for a few days! Thank you Dr. Light for our "house call"! Looks like she is going to end up with a black eye. Baby Carter, you with your pink eye and Mary Reese with her black eye could be quite a pair!

After dinner the kids were outside eating popsicles when Banks brought me this bucket full of tomatoes fresh off our vines! They are finally starting to ripen!!!

Princess Ballerina Camp

Mary Reese spent every day this week in Princess Ballerina Camp at First Baptist Church. Lots of her friends were all there too! Here is her entire class:

Aren’t they adorable!

Each day they made a princess themed craft, had a snack and learned how to be Princess Ballerinas! She loved every minute of it! Today they had a recital to show off everything they have learned. First she danced on stage with her scarf:

Then they danced out in front of us:

After they showed off all their dance moves…they each did a curtsy and were awarded a certificate:

Gray, Vivi and Charlotte – we loved seeing you every day and talked about you constantly every night! Thank you Ms. Tara and Ms. Ellie – Mary Reese had a fabulous week and looks forward to it again next year! Maybe this year she will say “Yes” when I ask her if she wants to take ballet!

Happy {late} Independence Day!

Thursday afternoon, we packed up and headed down to Smith Lake for the long holiday weekend! We spent the weekend sunning, swimming, cruising in the boat and EATING with Aunt Stacey and David.

Friday morning we got up and cooked pancakes outside:

We spent the rest of the day on the dock until the rain ran us in for the day! Saturday we drove the boat down to Julie and Ryan Waller's cabin where most of our friends were "camped" out for the weekend. This was my favorite picture from our visit - 2 of the dads (Jody and Brad) loaded up 5 kids (Mary Bradford, Banks, Jack, Mary Reese and Gray) and a dog for a boat ride while the moms enjoyed margaritas on the dock!

Mary Bradford came back with us for a while. She, Banks and Mary Reese did all kinds of fun things together. First Banks and Mary Bradford rode the tube - Mary Bradford kept signaling to go faster while Banks was signaling to slow down or stop:

After Banks was finished with the tube, Mary Reese decided she wanted a turn. Her and Mary Bradford had a ball and wanted to go faster and faster:

Then, Banks wanted to show Mary Bradford the rock he had been jumping off. She decided she didn't want to miss it (Sorry Brad, I let her jump).

Here is Mary Reese jumping off the rock the day before (the child is fearless):

After some rock jumping, we headed back to the dock. Banks introduced Mary Bradford to the zip line. After seeing the older ones zipping into the water, Mary Reese decided she wanted a turn. She cried the entire way down but immediately wanted another turn and jumped right back in line!

Another fabulous weekend at Smith Lake...there is just something so peaceful about it. We hope everyone else had a safe holiday weekend!