VACATION!

We had a great family vacation the week before Memorial Day! We were scheduled to spend a week at the beach, but due to the oil spill & lack of clean-up success so far, we decided to go to the lake instead. No, it wasn't the beach, but it was time with family, play time in the water, full of fishing, and all-around FUN!

Let me begin by saying that I don't have as many pictures as I'd like, or even pictures of everyone there (ha!), but with an 8-month-old attached to me most of the time, it's kind of hard to operate a camera at the same time! :)

We spent most of the first full day there at the pool. It was a really nice pool, with running waterfall & stream, as well as a fountain area for the little munchkins! But the water was really cold!!!

Maddox, Andi Cate, Hudson, Cade

Jesse & Sa-Sa

(**Aunt Sa-Sa was the snack queen!**)

Mia

Eli

Callie came, too. She liked kicking her feet in the water.

The fellas greatly enjoyed all the fishing, I think. :) They caught a lot! We had a fish dinner one night, and it was delicious! In some of the pictures, you can see the dam in the background. The kids had the opportunity to go fishing, too! Cade caught two fish. He was very proud. :)

Howie

Ru-Ru

Uncle Keith - He did a lot of the cooking, which we all really appreciated!! It was really delicious!!

The back of the cabins overlooked the water. They had a back porch with rocking chairs, and a hammock & picnic table in the back yard. It was very relaxing. :)

Getting ready for a boat ride

Time for more fun in the sun!

Cade, doing a little air guitar number for us in the cabin.

This is what we looked like by the time we got home... HA! HA!

Other hits of the vacation...

...definitely the golf cart! I don't think I've ever seen one so loaded down with kids! They couldn't get enough!

...the sand at the beach area. That is, until we saw a snake!

...throwing rocks in the lake (which we really weren't supposed to be doing!).

...riding bikes.

...seeing the horses.

...falling off beds. Ha! (Cade & Uncle Ru-Ru had bruises to prove it!)

...pushing golf carts. Ha! ha! (That was a really big hill, wasn't it, Karen?!) NOTE: Always charge your golf cart batteries well!!!

...boats & tubing. Mia, Andi Cate, Brooks, and Cade all rode in the tube! Hooray! Some of the other kids did swim in the lake by the boat, but chose not to test out the tube. :)

Game Ball!

In Hudson's T-ball league, awards are given out at the end of each game. (Every child on the team is given each award at some point during the season.) Tonight (5/19/10) was Hudson's night, though, and he deserved it!

Hudson had an awesome game! In the first inning, Hudson made a super throw from centerfield to the pitcher who tagged out the runner headed home. At bat in the second inning, Hudson had a 2 RBI double. In the fourth inning, our Diamondbacks needed four runs to ensure victory. Hudson hit in the final runs with a triple! Hudson played an excellent game and was awarded the game ball after the game. He was so proud!

Hudson's skills have really improved in baseball this year. He understands better playing the game... the importance of runs & getting outs. He's hustling to get the ball, paying attention to his coaches when running the bases, and making good hits, too.

Crawling Callie

Here's our proof! She's a crawler!

5/18/10

Preschool Graduation

On Sunday, May 16, these two handsome fellows graduated from preschool!

They had lots of family that came to support them and to cheer them on...

They each had the opportunity to walk across the stage, say their full names, and accept their diplomas. Way to go, boys!

(Maddox was on the run!)

Congratulations, Hudson and Maddox!! We are all so very proud of you!!

Andi Cate is 5!

On May 15, Andi Cate turned 5-years-old! She was very excited about her birthday, and she had a wonderful birthday party at her backyard pool with family & friends!

Birthday girl is a super swimmer! She's a little fish :)

Here's birthday girl's sister, Jesse. She got in the pool & floated around with the bigger kids. Birthday girl's brother, Brooks, was out there, too, having a grand 'ol time!

Cade was funny when he first got in the water. (This is their first time in the water since last summer.) He jumped right in ready to go, then quickly got a panicked look on his face. He, of course, was fine... He had on his swimmies & was treading water, but began shouting, "I'm sinking! I'm sinking!"

After he'd been in the water a little while, though, he was swimming & jumping off the diving board with the best of them! Go, Cade!

Hudson is doing a great job swimming this summer already, too! He was so proud... no swimmies!! He even jumped off the board & swam to the side all by himself! (He still makes me nervous, though :)

Callie Jewel had her FIRST swimming pool experience today! She wasn't real sure about testing it out at first, but, she did get in and had a good time, too.

Fun was had by all!

Thanks, Andi Cate!

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY!

Callie at 8 months

On Sunday, May 9, our baby girl turned 8 months old!!!

Callie is a busy, busy girl! As soon as you put her down, she almost immediately goes straight to all fours. She's crawling... well, sort of :) About a week ago, she figured out she could move her knees & hands while on all fours. She started out moving about 2" at a time before falling on her tummy... now she's up to about 6". Don't underestimate her! If she fixates on something, she's going after it with everything she's got!

She gets frustrated with it all, too. If she can't get what she wants, or it gets taken away from her... woo-hoo! She lets you know she's UN-happy! Callie rode in the grocery cart this week for the first time (not in her car seat). She could not keep her hands off of the groceries! She was grabbing everything she could get her hands on. And when I moved her hands away & tried to distract her with her toys, she was having NONE of it! Oh, my!

In these pictures, Cade thought he could move his toys away where she couldn't get them. Ha! She just followed along right behind him! It took her a little longer, but she got there!

Callie is eating well. She likes most all of her baby food (except green beans & peaches), and she's done okay with the few bits of "big people food" we've mashed up and let her try. She LOVES tea, and sipping out of a straw!

Callie is a good sleeper, too. Even when she wakes up early, she plays in her bed until we get her. This outfit is evidence of all her "wiggly-ness"! Her legs are sometimes hanging out of her clothes... with them still snapped up!

I don't know if you can tell from any of her pictures, but her little hair grows & sticks up like a mohawk. Poor thing! It WILL grow, baby! She's still a cutie, nonetheless!!!