4th of July Weekend (Monday)

New found BFFs!

*The girlies*

Yes I am 8 inches taller than everyone on my left.

(We had so much fun with y'all this weekend!)

*CAKE POPS*

The girls (all my little cousins, + Audrey & Hadley) all helped with pouring, mixing and even breaking eggs.

Taking turns mixing in all the good stuff.

Stirring in the sprinkles and helping me dump it into the pan.

After baking we added the icing and made them into balls.

When working with almond bark, NEVER use a water base food coloring (only alcohol base) or it will do this.

Luckily I have an amazing husband who ran and got me another block of almond bark.

TA*DA

The kiddos had a blast on the JumpJump and swings. There was also grown-up fun to be had as well with horse shoes, bocce, and volleyball.

The food was amazing. BBQ pulled pork, potato salad, veggie pasta salad, several desserts including but not limited to: homemade orange creamsicle ice cream, s'mores and fruit pizza.

MINUTE TO WIN IT

We pretty much botched all the rules but hey it was our own twist, right? We'll do better next year since this was our first try.

I actually was running the stop watch on the first one, What a Racquet, so there are no pictures. While holding the racquet between your legs you must land a marble in the center.

I promise that is really what it was called on the website.

Despite my lack of knowledge on how the games were to go it was still a lot of fun.

*FIREWORKS*

*S'MORES*

Hope you had a GREAT day celebrating our INDEPENDENCE!!

Thanks for checkin' in!!

4th of July Weekend (Sunday)

Sunday morning was church and we all went together. Nothing says family get together like taking up 3 rows at church on Sunday morning. =) After church we headed over to mom and dad's for lunch. My Uncle Keith made the most amazing ribs.

Apparently our family was thinking the same thing getting dressed.

(orange, stripes, or both)

As I said in an earlier post all you need to do is push Hadley in the swing and you can be instant friends. Well Sunday she got pushed by Beth and then got to swing in the hammock with both Uncle Willie and Audrey.

THE SHOWER

After lunch we headed over to Grandma & Pap-pap's for Laura & Ben's shower for their little girl. They got lots of goodies and we all got to enjoy some chocolate-chocolate cake.

Beth organized a really fun game too.

She handed out index cards with hints on them and then had a pile of different kinds of candy on the floor. Once everyone had their hint she gave the word and we all went searching for our corresponding candy.

*Mine was Twin Boys:Mike & Ike*

All the little girls, as well as Laura, got a candy necklace. Hadley ate all of hers and when she got done she kept hopping up in Laura's lap and eating all of hers as well.

After the shower fun the girls played and colored.

Probably the most entertaining thing was when Audrey and Hadley started to wrestle. I'm not sure where they got this idea or what brought it on, but it was so funny and they knew we were all laughing which kept them motivated to keep doing it.

One of my favorite things about getting together with family is that we have all harmony parts so guess what?

We broke out some old school hymnals and sang for about 30 minutes, LOVE!

After singing we all enjoyed some of the most mouth-watering creamy goodness peach ice cream EVER that my Uncle Kevin had made the day before.

Then it was back to Jolene & Ryan's for some chit-chat and American Idol Finale clips.

(I don't know that I've mentioned this in any of the earlier posts but my family has not seen Ben and Laura since they got married, 11 years ago!! This was such a great weekend of catching up!)

Thanks for checkin' in!!

4th of July Weekend (Saturday)

We started the day with breakfast at Mimi & Pap-pa's. Pap-pa is a master at breakfast. He made waffles, pancakes, sausage and biscuits with gravy. Mimi made this amazing orange sauce that taste really good over your waffles and then Pap-pap made Belgium waffles so we had quite the selection.

After breakfast we did some shopping and then headed back to the house for some Beatles Rockband.

We ate a late lunch/early dinner and Hadley was in charge of taking the paper goods out to the pavilion. The food was great: corn on the cob, grilled chicken, coleslaw, and baked potatoes. Afterwards cousin Ben pushed Hadley on the swing. (If you're ever wondering how to become a quick friend to Hadley pushing her on the swing is the trick.)

Shortly after swinging it started to rain, HOORAY!! Jake and Hadley were having so much fun so they ran around in it for a while. That is until the hail started, then playtime was over.

Thanks for checkin' in!!

4th of July Weekend (Friday)

So Friday Jolene and I took the girls to Silver Dollar City for the morning/afternoon. We had a blast and to our surprise it actually wasn't busy at all. Also, for those of you who know me and how easily I get car sick you'll be proud to hear I did NOT throw up on this Branson trip, HOORAY! (First one in a while.)

So first thing when we got there we got the girls measured to get their bracelets and see what rides they could go on. They were both in the same height bracket so they could ride all the same rides and some they could do all by themselves.

After getting measured the girls (and their mommas) road the little roller coaster. Hadley had a death grip on my arm at the beginning and by the end was yelling with her hands in the air, she's a natural.

After the roller coaster we headed to the frogs, which Hadley was able to do last year. The difference was last year she had to do it with me and this year it was just her and Audrey. I'm not gunna lie I was kinda freakin' out, but they had a blast and laughed the whole time.

Then the ladybugs.

No parents are aloud on this one so Hadley wasn't able to ride it last year. Audrey lead the way to get in and showed her the ropes.

Another classic is the butterflies. Again, this was Hadley's first time to ride it without Andrew or myself, sniff.

As it was most places in the country, Silver Dollar City was blazing! So we took a quick snack/frozen lemonade break then headed to the splash pad at Geyser Gulch.

Even after the lemonade and splash pad the girls were still hot so we headed over to The Lost River. (Yes, believe it or not Hadley is now big enough for that ride too.)

Added Bonus:

There wasn't a line when we got done the first time around, so we went through again for another quick cool off.

After that we were all ready for some real food so we made a lunch stop. The girls had chicken rings and corn on the cob and Jo and I shared and amazing pulled pork BBQ sandwich. I know the picture looks a little messy and gross but it was fabulous!

After lunch we went on one more wet ride, Tom & Huck's River Shoot Out, or something like that. Anyway everybody has a water gun on the boat and you try to shoot people that are walking around. Tricky part is if they can find them, they have guns too and can get you all wet, which they did. =)

Then, we decided that it would be a good time to start riding dry rides to prepare (dry us off) for the trip home so we headed to the carousel.

And what better way to dry yourself off than to spin in circles.

(Note how long Hadley looks in the big picture, crazy!)

After the swings we let the girls play for a bit at Half Dollar Hollar and then walked out to the car. Hadley didn't make it all the way there before she passed out.

Both girls took naps on the way home and were energized to play when we got back to Jo's house. We hung out there for a bit and then headed back out to eat some pizza with my family at Mimi & Pap-pa's house.

Finally, it was time to get ready for bed.

We let the girls stay up a little later to see their 2nd cousins Beth, Laura and Ben, but once they greeted them it was off to bed.

Thanks for checkin' in!!

A New Bed for Miss Hadley

Well, when we got back from Andrew's parents Hadley's extenders came for her bed. So we finished the conversion from a toddler bed to a full size bed and she loves it!

Hadley having a jumping party on her new bed.

Since the summer began Hadley has been having problems staying in bed after we have done her bedtime routine. Well, with the help of my new friend Dr. Kevin Leman, author of Have a New Kid By Friday, we just told her it was time for bed (without going to get her or making eye contact) and then proceeded to let her "cry it out" in the hallway. Well, she cried for a good 45 minutes in the hall and then this....

Hopefully this catches on fast, without falling asleep in the hall.

Thanks for checkin' in!!