Pundt Beach

My SIL told me about this great white sand beach she had gone to with her kids and they had a blast! So we thought we'd try it out in late Spring.  It was white sand alright! And only 15 minutes away!

It was really hot and the kids started exploring and digging so we quickly changed into our suits.

We need to invest in a large canopy to give us some shade.  It was REALLY HOT!! Too hot for it to be as fun as it could/should have been.

Emily was brave enough to get in the water.  She's such a brave country girl and kept the coolest of us all. She loved it!

We buried each of the kids in the white sand.  It was super soft sand! Each child was made into a mermaid or merman.

Jake decided to cool off with Emily in the water.  We wouldn't let them get too far.  But I could have just pictured one of those long ropes to swing on into the water.

Mermaid Avery

Our Sandman Josh.

We definitely will come back with inner tubes, a large canopy, and LOTS of water!

Mother's Day

This was my Mother's Day morning.  All of the kids climbing into bed with me. 

Good Morning!

The rest of the day was wonderful!  Church, dinner at Grandma Christie's, and early bed.

Emily Turns 6

I know this is super late and Emily turned 6 in May... better late than never!

It was a school day and we started a new birthday tradition of putting a dollar in the number of balloons that child is turning.  It was fun!

The daily walk to school, with puppy.

The birthday girl, really grumpy & hungry and hiding in this picture, choose a favorite bbq restaurant nearby.  Grandma Christie came along too and brought a special birthday girl gift from her sister, we call her Grandma Judy.

Emily and each of the kids took a turn wearing the special birthday tiara.

(I can hear the excitement as Josh wears the tiara! Please excuse the mouthful of food!)

There's a waterfall & fountain in the restaurant that the kids like to make wish in....

Emily found a friend just her size.

So glad Grandpa could make it....

presents for our big 6 year old girl

Emily wanted an ice cream cake.  Pink with butterflies.  Avery & I did  our best with those butterflies.

the ice cream cake.  It was easier than I expected.

popping the balloons with cash inside

another new tradition: Silly String.

The kids had a blast and Emily is such a good girl to hand out the cans of silly string and share in the balloon popping.  She may be a bit of a wild one but she sure is sweet!  Love you my sweet Emily!

Family Campout

We'd always wanted to go camping as a family and so we did.  We went with cousins and it was super fun!

We had most of the necessities except a large enough tent.  Well that's changed now. There's plenty of room for our family even as the kids do grow up.

Aunt Gloria taught the kids how to make their own spoons from a stick.  She went to a Survivor-type camp years ago and learned how to literally live off the land.

Spencer and Jasper bonding,

close talking, so sweet,

and getting kisses. Check out Jaspers long tongue!

Still sweet talking and loving.

The group that put together our tent while I watched. I'm so terrible for not helping- but I did organize & pack the food, and get four kids clothes packed, along with tolitries for everyone.

The girls went and picked flowers

while some of the other kids played down by the lake.

One of our cousins made a fishing rod out of a stick and some fishing line. I don't think they caught anything.

The sunset was pretty

The boys went exploring

This was our group of cousins that went camping.11 kids and three dogs.

We only stayed one night the other two families stayed both nights and were joined by 5 more cousins.  I heard it was a lot of fun!

Date at the Shooting Range

 I am proud of these pictures I got of Spencer shooting his gun. Love that I got it two different times!

 Yes, we own guns. Yes, we keep them in a safe. There are two different safety's on this particular gun.  Anyways, one of our date nights was to a local shooting range.  It's good practice for us both.  It's not the most romantic date but it was fun! I don't particularly like guns but I think it's important to know HOW to use a gun since we own it.

 Spencer brought the shotgun too.  This was really LOUD!  Grateful for ear protection!!

I even got another picture of him shooting the shotgun.