The Lake - Part 3

On Friday, it was rainy and cold. We almost had to check the calendar to be sure it wasn't March! Since playing in the lake was out, we headed out to lunch and then took Aunt Mer Mer and Uncle Roger bowling. In the tiniest bowling alley we had ever seen. Before we left the house, we checked online to see what their hours were. The site said they were open from 1:30-3:30 on Friday afternoons. We got there and were a little surprised we had the place to ourselves. We got our shoes and balls and had a lot of fun.






I made some video that we'll have to post later. Anyway, the whole time we were there, it was just us and the two employees/owners. They were very nice and when we left I noticed there was a piece of paper taped to the doors. I turned back to see what the sign said, and turns out, they were closed while we were there! The new hours were posted and they were actually closed when we drove up, but she let us in and we had a lot of fun, not knowing they weren't open. Oops!

The last morning of our trip, Andrew and Coleman helped in the kitchen.




There are a few more lake posts to come, but we'll be interrupting them with some very exciting events at the first of the week!

The Lake - Part 2

This year Jonathan got in the lake for the first time. He loved splashing around. For about eight minutes. Then he was quite done and ready to get out for a bit.

I always bring some surprises for the boys to keep them entertained. This year, instead of a bunch of little things, I decided to get them this pirate ship. It was a ton of fun to watch them play and "Abandon Ship!"

Jonathan got a little pool for the dock. I had hoped he would love to play in it so that we could stay on the dock longer each morning. As it turns out, he didn't think it was as cute as I did.

The bigger boys were excited to go tubing again this summer. Here are Andrew and Aunt Mer Mer on their inaugural run.

Hard to say if Coleman enjoyed it.

Jonathan liked the boat rides, but they made him very sleepy.

Andrew and Papack had fun sending mixed signals to the boat driver. Andrew learned that the thumbs up is our signal for faster and he kept signaling that hoping Brent would speed up. At the same time, Papack was shaking his head "no," we were going fast enough!

The biggest yahoo did a little more skiing this year.

And Major even donned a life jacket to help him cool off a bit!

More pictures to come!

The Lake 2011

The second week in July we packed up and headed over to the lake to spend the week with Gigi and Papack, and Aunt Mer Mer and Uncle Roger. I had every intention of blogging about our trip last week, but life has been very busy wrapping up our summer, so I am a bit behind. I'll spread the pictures and stories out over the next few days.


Almost as soon as we got there, Andrew and Coleman were into the gigantic box of Legos. They have really been enjoying Legos at home lately, and could not wait to get to the lake and play with the ones that are there.
We ate some meals out on the porch, but it was super hot so we ate inside some too.

They also enjoyed a little swing fishing again this year.


I could not believe how much food we took. From the looks of this, one would think we were planning to feed the 5000, and this doesn't even show the baked goods and fridge stuff! Fortunately, we did not eat all we took! But everything does seem to taste better at the lake, doesn't it?

The boys got to sleep on cots this year. They were so excited! Coleman slept in our room, and Andrew slept in Gigi and Papack's.




And of course Jon Jon had to try out the cots too!

Lots more pictures to come!

Swimming Lessons

For the last two weeks in June, the bigger boys took swimming lessons at Gainesville State. We were very impressed with the program, and will definitely be back in the future. The instructors were great with the kids. Coleman's group had never had lessons before, and there were three little boys with two instructors. Andrew's group had taken before but weren't proficient swimmers yet. He had four boys with two instructors in his group. We went Monday through Thursday for an hour each morning, for two weeks.

By the end, Andrew could do the freestyle and backstroke fairly well. He passed his Level 2 test! Coleman can float on his back and is working on Level 1. That kickboard balancing thing was pretty tough for him, and Andrew is still working on 'shredding water.' Here are the pictures I made from the balcony of the pool area.

Coleman working on kicking



Andrew is on the far left with the instructor, trying to float.


Jonathan made a friend named Sarah. They played, colored, and shared snack every morning.

Here's Andrew kicking away.

The last morning they played games. They took all the kids from Andrew's group and the two older groups and put them together. Andrew's group wore life belts to help them in the deep end. Here they all are lined up to play Sharks and Minnows.


Here's Coleman with Miss Caroline and his certificate.

And here's Andrew with Miss Kelly and his certificate.

After our last lesson ended, we hit Dunkin Donuts for some celebratory munchkins! The boys have often heard the story of "Aunt Mer Mer and the Munchkins" but were excited to have some in a real Dunkin Donuts!

Flashback Friday - Music Camp 2008

In August of 2008, we participated in our first family music camp. We were in Winston-Salem and the classes were on Tuesday nights for five weeks. It was a great deal, for $100.00 we could bring as many kids as we had, participate in five classes, and get a kit of instruments and music for our family. You'll see from the pictures that these two have always loved the drums!










I love looking back at our little family of four. I could hold both Andrew and Coleman at the same time and not think a thing about it. Sometimes now it's hard for me to remember them that small. It's a good reminder that though the days may seem long, the years really are short.