Excuse The Length

I titled this post "Excuse the Length", because it's going to be a LONG one!  We spent the past 4 days with Em and her family.  They came out for a visit and we packed a lot of fun into those 4 days, let me tell ya!

Pete and Jeff golfed each night and while they were golfing, Em and I stayed with the kids.  They had the best time too!  We quickly discovered that Avery really, really likes her big cousin, Noah.  She loved seeing what he was up to and would sit by him all the time and play peek-a-boo with him.  It was really cute.

I always try and pass off toys and stuff to my nieces when they visit.  This was Livie's first dance recital costume from a couple years ago.  Pink is Kendalyn's favorite color, so we knew she'd love this and, boy, were we right!  She just thought she looked like a princess in it. :-)

For dinner that first night, it wasn't too hot outside and we had no place for everyone to sit for a sit-down dinner, so we sent the girls to eat on the patio.  It was like a picnic, so they thought it was great!

After dinner, we headed over to the local state park.  Look at Kendalyn's Hello Kitty glasses.  Aren't they hysterical?!  Love them.  Kendalyn and Livie have always been best buds.  They always play together and want to be together all the time.

We got them to sit for a quick picture by the river.  These cousins sure do love each other!

The boys skipped rocks with the older kids for a little while, before we continued our hike.  We got to see several deer while we were out.  Guess it was the perfect time for them to be out eating.

The next morning we left early to go strawberry pickin'!  I'm glad we got there as early as we did (9:30), because it was getting very hot, very quickly.  That didn't stop them from getting lots of berries!

When we got there, we found out that they not only had strawberries ready to pick, but raspberries too.  They all helped each other get their baskets filled.

Kendalyn focused on filling up hers with raspberries.

Avery, even though she's not even 2 yet, did an amazing job picking strawberries!

After that very hot morning filling our baskets, we headed home, had lunch, and spent some time in the sprinkler/hose.  Avery just liked staying wrapped up in Noah's towel.

They all had fun, though I think Tater had the most fun of all.  He was HILARIOUS with the water!  He kept jumping to bite it and running up to the hose to eat all the water.  Sooooo funny!

We went shopping together and out to lunch on the next day, even though we were surrounded by thunderstorms and it was pouring rain on us.  That didn't stop us one bit!  We almost thought, though, that we were going to have to suspend our plans for today, because of the rain, but it stopped this morning and we were able to enjoy a full day at the zoo without any problems at all.  It didn't even get as hot and they were expecting, because the clouds kept the sun at bay.  It definitely got into the mid-80s, but that's better than the mid-90s!  This is a picture of Em, Jeff, and the girls.  What a fun time we had with them!

We went and checked out the sea lions.   One kept barking loudly at something.  It was fun to see.

Noah wanted me to take his picture on this giant walrus. :-)

Livie did too. :-)

We got to see all the big cats and a sloth bear that just had 2 cubs.  So cute!

We got a really close-up view of the leopard.

I mean, look how close he was!

Uncle Pete helped lift Kendalyn up high enough to see some of the animals and carried her throughout this exhibit.  I think she liked being up that tall.

The dinosaur was a hit as always!  Avery was so excited to see it and kept growling at it.  We were cracking up!

Just a picture of my wonderful family. :-)

We took the tram around, which was a nice break after lunch.  We needed time to relax a little after so much walking!  You can see the silliness was abounding!

So.  Much.  Silliness!

We got to see the butterflies.  This exhibit was closed earlier that day, because the entire computer system was down!  They were only accepting cash in most of the places, because they had no way to run credit cards or anything.  Kind of made it a little difficult, but we managed.  The reason this was closed was due to the doors being unable to open and shut properly.  They got it fixed though, so we got to go.  It was so pretty and all the kids loved seeing all the butterflies flying around.

Isn't she a doll?

They both wanted a butterfly to land on them, but those darn butterflies wouldn't cooperate.

Noah got down really close to see them.  I didn't get as many pictures of Madie as I did the others, because she brought her own camera and spent most of the trip taking photos herself.  She got some really good ones too!

Yet another futile attempt to get a butterfly to jump on her.

Our last stop (though my sis and bro-in-law continued after we left) was The Swamp.  This was an old sawmill they had inside.

When we were getting ready to leave, we saw a Mamma Peacock and her two baby chicks.  Madie had her  camera out, ready to get the perfect shot!  It was a great end to a great few days.  Can't wait to do it again!

Outdoor Service and Father's Day

Today is Father's Day, but instead of talking about F-D, I wanted to share some pictures from the very special service we had at church this morning.  We didn't have our service inside the sanctuary.  Instead, we had it out in our parking lot and invited another church, Calvary Baptist, to join us.  It was a fantastic morning!

When we got there, almost everyone was there already, with their chairs set up and ready to go.  We quickly got ours set up too.  The weather was perfect too.  At first it was cloudy, which was nice, because once the sun came out, it got pretty hot, but you can't complain when it's sunny and 80 degrees.  It was wonderful!

Pete kind of stood off to the side, so he could help carry chairs or lead people to the bathrooms and stuff.  Plus, he ushered, so he was put to work during our service.  Dave and James, who are standing with him, had active roles today too.

The kids lead us off with a great song - "Come, Now is the Time to Worship".  They did a wonderful job!  Always so proud of them when they sing. :-)

John, our pastor, and Pastor John from CBC were funny and engaging and did lead us into the relaxed atmosphere of our service.  Pastor Johnson had us saying Amen so many times, that I think I said it more in this one service than I have in my whole entire life combined.  It was great!

We had several people lead us in song, the music team and choirs included.  We basically spent nearly the entire 2 HOURS just singing or listening to other singers share their gift.  SO FUN!

This quilt was raffled last week, after many weeks of selling tickets, and the Mestelles won. All the fabrics from this quilt were brought back from one of the Ugandan mission trips.  All the proceeds were given to the school and church they've built over there.  So cool!  I was so hoping we would win, but super-glad our friends did instead. :-)

Matt, Randy, and Sam did a great job leading the music today.  Always loved when things get rockin'!

After the long service and hot temps, we headed over to Cracker Barrell to honor Pete for Father's Day.  There was a short wait, so the kids played checkers.

Pete's friend, Jeff, has been in town for a few days.  He works at the plant with Pete sometimes.  He lives in WV and works at that plant, but will come and spend time helping in Pete's too, when there is a special project.  He's a super-nice guy.  We just happened to run into him at the Barrell, so we invited him to join us.  He's originally from China, so his wife and children are there right now visiting family, so we didn't want him to spend Father's Day all alone!

After lunch, we had to come back and take pictures.  This is a well-loved daddy!

This picture is the one we got him for Father's Day.  He loved it!  Let me just say that Pete is seriously one of the most kind, understanding, patient men I've ever met and is one of the best dads I know.  Can't say enough about him as a dad, only that I know Madie, Noah, and Livie are blessed more than they know to have one so special.  Happy Father's Day to my amazing husband.  You are a gift to us!

A Couple Random Pictures

Thought I'd post a couple unrelated photos that I have. My dad was out here last week and we had a great time with him!  He and Pete got to do a quick 9-hole the first afternoon he was here with plans to golf 18 the next day, but a reactor blew up or something crazy and he wasn't able to get out of work early.  So, dad took the opportunity to hang out with the kids and relax instead, which he says he always enjoys. :-)

We went out to dinner that night once Pete got off work and went to the store, where he once again spoiled them rotten.  We took him out for lunch before he left the next day.  It was a short 2 1/2 day visit, but it's always great to have him out.  Hopefully he'll do it again soon.

This picture I took today during our trip to a local state park.  We went with the idea that we could let Tater run around in one of the big grassy areas and play frisbee.  He was way too interested in sniffing around and exploring to care at all about his frisbee.  So, we just walked around with him and let him explore.  I LOVED this picture of him with the kids.  Best decision we made as a family was to add him to it!  He is well loved, that is for sure!  So, we had a fun time at the park.  The kids found a dead fish that they liked poking in the eye with the stick.  They played on the playground, ate some ice cream, and found treasures like old fishing line and a piece of rope.  It was a great way to spend our afternoon!  Hope it's this beautiful all summer long!

Soccer Camp

Livie has been talking about how much she wants to play soccer for a good 5 months now.  So, as soon as I saw the local rec group offered a camp this summer, I signed her up!

She started on Monday and got to take it for one hour (10-11am) each day this week, with it ending today.  She had the BEST time, though she complained that she didn't want to learn "skills".  She just wanted to play.  But, she worked hard and had a lot of fun doing both the skills work and games.  Just wish they offered soccer around here, so she could actually play it all summer.

Her group followed the younger kids who had their camp the hour before ours.  We quickly discovered on our first day that we had lots of friends that were taking the camp too.  That was fun for me, because I had lots of people to chat with during her practice. :-)

It was fun watching her kick the ball and play the goalie.  That hour always ended too quickly.

Madie's friends, Emma and Tessa, were there each day, so she was very happy to have someone there to hang out with.  They played MadLibs and MASH.  It was really cute. :-)

This is a picture from our last day today.  Had to get a picture of the girls with one of our favorite families!  You'll notice Noah isn't in any of the pictures.  He had his basketball camp during her soccer camp.  I would drop her off and hang out for about 10 min, then load Noah up and head across town to drop him off at 10:30.  I'd come back and hang out for the last 20 min or so of Livie's camp, before heading back across town to pick Noah up around 11:45.  I wish I had pictures of his camp to share, but it's a closed camp, so we don't get to go in and watch.  He said he's having a great time too though!  Definitely puts him in the mood to play at the school level once it starts up this fall.  I'm so excited to see him try something new and work hard at it!  His last day is tomorrow.  So, our first full week of summer break has been off to a great start!  Next week, we don't have any camps planned, so we hope to fill it with other fun activiites.  YAY SUMMER!

Livie's New Bike

This is going to be the year that Livie learns to ride without training wheels!  I've told her that, so we'll see if she actually cooperates and does it.  But, in order for her to learn, we figured we should get her a bike that is actually her size.  We discovered that her other bike (the one that we passed down to her from Madie) had a flat tire.  That worked for us, because we knew it was too small anyway.  She's not quite ready for a 20" bike like Madie and Noah (and I) have.  So, we decided that an 18" bike was just perfect for her.  She found this one today with it's bright pink wheels and peace signs all over it and she knew this was the bike for her!  Those legs things she's wearing are her new soccer shin guards.  She starts soccer camp on Monday and is so excited that she won't take them off.  So, she's been spending her day, playing soccer and riding her new bike.  Can't wait to teach her to ride like a big kid and now she has the bike to do it!

Dance Recital 2013

This weekend was our recital weekend!  Lots of busyness leading up to their performances, but it's the kind of busyness I like.  This is always something special that my girls and I share together, so I always look forward to it. :-)

Pete's parents came out to watch them perform.  The girls were in full hair and make-up when I took this picture with Nana.  She is always as excited as I am to see the girls perform!

We usually give the girls a small present as a congrats gift for a job well done.  I wanted to get them flowers, but Livie reminded me that flowers die, so she wanted a toy. ;-)

We had to be there an hour early, so the girls and I left and headed out to get ready, while Pete, Noah, and his parents stayed behind to come later.

With that extra hour before the show starts, the girls are able to play around and I was able to get some cute pictures of them.  This is Livie and her friend Julianna.  Julianna is in Livie's class at school too, so it's really nice that she has someone there that she knows.

This is Livie and Madie with our new friend, Lindy.  She is a neighbor from down the street that we've been getting to know.  She's a real sweetheart!

My sister and her family, and my dad were all supposed to come, but had to cancel due to work stuff.  So, we invited some friends to join us instead.  I think Noah liked having his friend Tessa there.  He actually sat and watched the show instead of grump and groan about how much recitals are "lame".  He came up to me at the end and said, "You know, that wasn't so bad."  Hooray for that!  He was talking earlier about how dying a slow death would be better than sitting through a recital, so it was a big deal when he said that he actually liked it!

This was Madie's jazz outfit.  She performed in this one last.  This was in the second act and she danced to "Material Girl" by Madonna.

Her class did a great job!

This was her tap outfit and my favorite!

I always love watching the tap routines.  They are so on point!  I don't know if I can easily point out which one is Madie.  She's right in the middle, in the front.  Does that help?

This is Livie's costume.  She also did a tap routine.  Her first one too!

In this picture, she is the second one from the left.  She did a great job!

This was Madie's first outfit - her ballet costume.  This was her favorite.  We all liked the feather one from above, but it was constantly shedding it's feathers.  It got kind of annoying.

I took all the performance pictures the night of the dress rehearsal, because you're not supposed to use flash photography during the actual recital.  Of course, no one did that, because the crowd was literally the rudest crowd I've ever been a part of (long story).  But, anyway, that's why you see all the empty seats.  There wasn't a seat to be had the night of the recital.  It was sold out!

I threw in this picture, because I always take one of them on the stairs of the school.  This was the night of their dress rehearsal. :-)

Because we're there an hour early AND have to wait for them to be called up, depending on where their act is in the show, there is quite a bit of free time.  Livie was in the big music room with all the preschoolers, kindergarteners, and other 1st graders.  They played hard and ran around and made conga lines. ;-)

Madie was with just her class of 12 yr olds.  They opted for texting and drawing on the board.  They are much too mature to make conga lines. ;-)

The recital on Sat night went until about 9:40, so Livie fell fast asleep on Pete's lap sometime during the second Act.  She was out for the count!

Because she was so tired, she didn't want to get in the picture with Madie, Noah, and our friends, Jenna and Tessa.  It was fun having them come to watch the girls perform!  We had a great time at the recital and the girls did a great job on both Sat and Sun.  So proud of them!