Gotta Love Summer

Do you remember how much you loved summer as a kid? I still love summer and wanted to give the kids a summer to remember. Collin starts school this fall and the school year doesn't leave a lot of room for family vacations or trips. We surprised the kids by taking them to a different part of the NC mountains. We stayed in a cute cabin in Bryson city. We spent time playing in the river, enjoying the hot tub at the cabin, and even surprised the boys with a ride on Thomas the Train. We also visited a great small "zoo" in Cherokee before we headed home. We had a great time. No one wanted to go back home. Dalton even said on the way home, "Let's pick up kitty and go back to the cabin" :). Here are some photos of our adventures:

The small zoo:







4 cute boys in a hot tub


Catching various creatures in the river




The day with Thomas







At the end of June we traveled with a group of friends to the Lazy 5 Ranch. We had not been in a while. The temperature was blazing, but the kids enjoyed it just the same:

Baby Ostrich

We were a little worried when this big fellow stuck his head in our van, those horns could do some damage!









The boys rode with some of our friends from church and absolutely loved being in the back of their truck with their kids:


There have been so many adventures and many more pictures. Will try not to wait another month to post, but no promises, time just flies way too quickly!

Fall Fun

Though I always hate to see summer end, I do love many things about fall. My favorite fall childhood memories are of jumping in the leaves, making a "dummy" for the yard, and of course the pumpkins. Living in the country is so much fun in the fall. Here is the crew enjoying the new hay bales in our field:

What is fall without pumpkins?

This past Saturday we went back to Lazy Five Ranch to see it in the fall with their pumpkins, etc. I'll post more photos of our trip later, but for now, wanted to post just a couple of my favorites:


Friday night I made a cake. The twins wanted the beaters when I was done making the frosting, but Daddy said not before bed. As you can see, they found a way to get to it :) Don't you just love Dalton's hair do?

Last night I made a soup named Cheesburger in Paradise. I take out the Jalapeno and mushrooms to make it more "kid friendly". The last time I made it everyone loved it. I was trying to explain to the boys that that was the name of a song. I then remembered I had a Jimmy Buffett CD and I put it in the computer to play while we were all getting ready to eat. I had to shoot this video of Nathan and Collin dancing away. They loved the song. Too bad they didn't like the soup as much. Tristan loved it so I guess getting one of them to eat it was a small victory :)




Finally, I leave you with one of my new favorite pictures. I generally dislike any picture of myself, but what Mom could not love a picture of all her boys? A mom's arms are never too full and neither is her heart when it comes to loving her children.