BackYard Fun

This is the first summer we have had last minute friends who like to come over and hang out. We have had such a blast bbqing, swimming, talking and just hanging out. The last time we got together our kids put together a concert in the backyard complete with music, dancers and costumes. It was really fun until after 40 minutes they said intermission and then we want to do it all over again. We applauded and encored and went inside to play cards. It is finally stating to feel like home here(for me). We have a church family and friends and the kids have friends. I don't think we ever gave any of our other moves a chance to get this settled. Anyway, it is awesome to have such fun family times for free.Kylie loves to sing and is good at memorizing the words. She knows all the High School Musical songs and some of Camp Rock already. Our church is starting a kids choir in the fall and I am so excited for the girls to have a place to sing as worship.
Dancing girls:)
Cara taking her turn at the mic.

Karissa sings really well she is just a bit bashful about it.

Caleb and Shermy (Jeremy) in the tiny pool. Randyll, our foster dog,chewed our big one up.
Cara enjoying the slip'n'slide.
Karissa sliding down our backyard hill.
Caleb enjoying the freedom to eat without mom watching how much he eats!!

Wichita Falls

Bobo & Caleb

We had a great visit in Wichita Falls. The air conditioner in our van went out Sunday night so my mom came and got us Tuesday to go to WF. We were supposed to meet her half way so Kirk could keep the car and we wouldn't have two in WF but since our air went out we didn't. Tuesday night my mom and dad's air conditioner went out in their house! We slept in their camper the first night and then the air was fixed. Kylie had a second birthday with grandparents and cousins at Chuck E Cheese. We also got to swim a couple of times at our cousins houses. We hooked up with some old friends and Kirk and I even got to go out with friends with NO KIDS! Overall, it was a fun and relaxing trip. We also got to attend the baby shower for our niece, Emma. We can't wait until she arrives next month. We came home and hooked up with our frinds who had been out of town most of the summer and hung out at the pool most of the day. After seeing all of Kelly's rearranging in her house I have the bug to rearrange, too. We'll see if I actually do. Karissa stayed for some me time with her grandparents. We will pick her up Friday at my brothers, in Krum.

Kylie's Birthday Party

Kylie is officially 5. She had an awesome birthday party last night. This is her first time to have a friend party. We invited four friends but had 12 kids due to all the siblings. The kids had a blast. Kylie wanted a Princess swim party. So, we filled our backyard pool and made a Fish with Ariel Game and a pin the bow on Snow white game. Then the kids had an all out water fight with buckets and cups and whatever else they could find. All the parents sat on the patio talking and enjoying being with other adults. The weather was nice and Kylie had a great time. She did not participate in the water fight but had fun watching. She got tons of Barbie stuff but at the end of the night she said"I wish I got more clothes. I really like dresses and shoes." Everyone went home around 9 and we were all exhausted. Kylie is such a sweet girl. She loves pretty things. She is very accomodating and is generally happy with most anything you do for her. Karissa drew Snow White and Ariel for the party games. She did an awesome job. She could be an artist someday!!

Vacation Part 2

After, the Naval Aviation Museum (and lunch at Hardee's!!)we went to Pensacola Beach. It has much clearer water and an awesome pier that provides free shade on the beach. The kids played on the beach and collected shells. We saw a few jelly fish but no one got stung. Our friend, Christy is from Pensacola and was there visiting her mom. She invited us to a real shrimp boil. We went to the fish market and even saw the fishing boats right outside.

We drove to Christy's mom's and Caleb fell asleep in the car(at five in the evening). He slept through the entire visit. We had AWESOME shrimp and corn and potatoes and homemade hush puppies!!! I don't even like shrimp and I loved this. Of course, none of our kids would touch it so they had fries and chicken nuggets. The kids had fun playing with their friends (Christy's kids) and it was a nice change of pace. We headed home as it was getting dark and Caleb finally woke up. On the way home, we found the Florida state line for a picture. That night all the guys played guitar hero and Caleb stayed up until 12pm with the big boys (due to his late nap). He really bonded with Scooter and Dillon and had a balst being BIG.

Monday, Caleb woke up in our bed, as usual. He laid back on Kirk and crossed his arms and said"What's Up" in this really ultra cool voice. We decided to go on a Dolphin boat ride in the afternoon. We saw a baby dolphin and two dolphins "dancing." We took pictures of the dolphins but most of them ended up just being water. We are hoping to get some still shots from the video. It was fun but very hot and long. The boat also took us back into a bayou to see alligator paths and wild birds. The driver of the boat let all the kids "drive" the boat. Caleb is the only one who actually moved the steering wheel. He thought it was cool to drive.

Vicki, Dillon, Scooter, Stephan, Jessica, Mark, Jennifer, Kylie, Kirk, Caleb

Front: Karissa, Hannah, Cara, Aidan & Ella

After the boat trip, we headed home to grill burgers and make smores. Then we headed to the beach to see the sunset and play in the sand at night. The beach was very relaxing. Kirk and Scooter and his daughter took off for a bare foot run down the beach. Caleb and I sat on the beach and listened to the waves come in. The girls dug huge holes to catch the water. Caleb and I headed back first, we rinsed off in the pool and headed to bed.

Tuesday, we headed to the surf shops so the kids could buy souvenirs. The girls are feeding the neighbors dogs and checking his mail for the whole month of June. So they all had money they had earned to spend. We went to the most ostentatious shops around. One had a sharks mouth for an entrance and the other had a huge octopus over the door. The kids picked their treasures and we headed home for lunch on the beach. We packed a picnic and headed to the beach. Christy and her kids drove down for the afternoon so the kids got to play with their friends from Texas again.

After naps and dinner we cleaned up and headed to the Wharf. It was a bit touristy but still fun. We rode a huge ferris wheel and had ice cream and a leisurely stroll. It was fun to be out of the condo and off the beach for awhile. Karissa opted to not ride the ferris wheel and chose Starbucks over ice cream! We headed home and the adults stayed up until after 2 am playing Phase 10. Vickie was the champion of the trip!!

Wednesday, our last morning Jessica and I decided to get up at sunrise and collect shells. It was awesome. There was a storm a little ways off shore and I got some awesome pictures. We saw lightening and heard the thunder rumbling in the distance. Storms are very different on the beach than in Teaxas.

Isn't God Awesome!

It was also a great way to start out our day of 14 hours in the car. We collected shells for over an hour and headed back to feed the kids. We saw tons of jelly fish in the water and on the shore. I also saw a baby shark that a man had caught in a bucket. He was about 6 inches long and looked like a miniture shark. Jessica and I also found several whole sand dollars.

After breakfast and loading up we trekked back to the beach for a group shoy with the tees we made the kids.

We saw the sign for Brett Favre's family restaraunt (which no longer exists) and we drove through Kiln, MS(Favre's hometown). The trip took 14 hours and it was a long tough drive especially the last two hours. We arrived home at 1am and fell into bed. Our kids were up at 7 am and Kirk had to work. Welcome to the real world:)

The sun setting as we drove through Louisianna.

Beach Vacation

Pensacola Navel Aviation Museum

We missed the Louisianna sign but we'll catch it on the way back.

We were crazy to think leaving at 3AM with four kids was a good idea. Our children did not sleep!! I think the three youngest slept an hour of our 13 hour trip. The kids actually did great until about lunch time. We stopped every 3-4 hours to eat, or pee or whatever. When you are travelling with 9 kids and 6 adults no one ever needs to pee at the same time. The last 35 miles took us an hour or so to drive due to all the traffic. We went across some great bridges and one cool underwater tunnel. Needless to say, we were exhausted when we arrived. We checked out the beach and went to bed. Our condo is great and clean with plenty of room for the 10 of us. We are here with two other families from our church. Here is Gulf Shores, Alabama

Staurday, Kirk took all the kids to the beach while I went to the grocery store. I got home just in time to fix lunch and put Caleb down for a nap. His first reaction to the ocean was"Wow." Then he liked jumping the waves, until water got in his mouth. Then he just wanted us to stand in the water and hold him!! He had some issues with poop and swim suits and sand and major chaffing!! I finally made it down to the water around 3pm. It was hot and the kids were tired of the beach and wanted to go to the pool. There are jelly fish warnings right now and three of the kids in our group got stung. My kids are pretty freaked out and don't want to get in the water much(so is Kirk). Kirk's feet and legs got blistered. He didn't put sun block on his legs or feet because we don't at the pool but then he didn't get in the water (jelly fish) so his legs were exposed the whole time to the sun. He is in pain.

Today, we went to the Aviation Museum in Pensacola, florida. The Blue Angels have planes there and it was really cool. Caleb loved all the planes and ships.Then we drove to Pensacola beach to see a sand castle contest. The kids were sorta impressed but couldn't wait to get in the clear water. To be continued....(when I am not so tired).