6 Year Anniversary!

So I pretty much just forgot to make a post about our anniversary. Oops! It was the 28th. I guess it's because we didn't really do anything this year specifically for it...we were at the lake all weekend which was wonderful, so I guess that was our little anniversary trip, except we had Braden with us! :) Oh well....maybe our big romantic getaway will be in the works for next year...hint, hint Chris!! Ha! Six years ago I definitely changed my life forever by marrying the greatest guy and best daddy I could have ever wanted! Love you babe!!

Dale Hollow Lake

This weekend we went to Dale Hollow Lake and had an absolute blast!!! There were 4 families that went with us, The Johnsen's, Thomas', The Vaughn's, Jen's friends from college, and a wake boarder guy that brought his cool mastercraft boat so we could all wakeboard, ski, wreck whatever off of his boat. :) We got to try surfing behind the boat which was new to me-so much fun and kind of made me feel like a California girl. :) Besides a blown out tire on our boat trailer on the way home, the weekend couldn't have been any better. :) Unfortunately, my camera battery was dead and would not charge! Ugh!!! You know that it absolutely killed me to not have pictures, but I thought I'd just sum it up with a few borrowed images. :)

This was pretty much Chris...just chillin' enjoying the weekend...he also did a lot of skiing too. :)

This is Braden...absolutely loving the tube and wanting to go "again, again!" He also entertained all with his inopportune times of having to poop which always seem to happen in the middle of the lake! He and Chris always swim to shore so he can go on the bank-yucko! :) Time to invest in a small trashcan I think.

And me! I am SOOOOO sore right now and just a tad stiff in the neck. I'm thinking I'm getting just a bit old and out of shape for so many spills in a day. Maybe I need to head back to the tubing and laying out days. Ha!! It was such a fun weekend and we can't wait to go back to Dale Hollow-what a beautiful lake! Thanks to all of our awesome friends for so much fun!!!

Preschool Open House

Last night was our preschool's open house. I went up early to meet all of the families of our school and Chris brought the boys up a little later. Braden is officially going to be in his own class this year with his age group! I am thrilled. He has been with me for 2 years which was nice, but I think it will be better for both of us if he has his own teacher and is will his age group. He will still be in the class right next door and I will see him at outdoor playtime so it's a perfect situation. :) He was really excited to see his teacher last night and play with all of the toys. Ethan also had a ball and thinks he's ready for school too! :)

Family picture-Braden wore these goggles all night-ha!

Ethan was big stuff! Everyone kept saying, "That is NOT your baby?!?!" He almost blended in with some of the toddlers that were playing. :( Mommy is not ready for you to be that big yet buddy....sniff, sniff.

Crack me up! Braden loves the dress up clothes!!! He had to get this outfit on right away and wore it all night to play...such a silly boy! Right now he's looking over my shoulder saying, "I'm a building man mommy!"

Mrs. Amy had a special gift for Braden. :)

Enjoying the weather

The last few days have been SOOOOO nice so we have taken full advantage of being outside as much as we can!

chillin' on their rides in the front yard :)

Braden always thinks I want him to pose like this...it's usually a happy moment for a few seconds until he almost strangles Ethan....

Yesterday at Silver Creek Park. Ethan was enjoying the slide until...

Boom! Guess who came down the slide too :)

I tried to take some cute pictures of them together...don't they look fully interested?

Taking a drink break from playing :)

KY State Fair

Tonight we ventured over to the Kentucky State Fair for some fattening food and smelly animals. :) Braden was really into all of the animals. I think he could easily be one of those farm kids but his mom...well not so much!

We were all fascinated watching the sheep get a haircut

This sheep got pretty close to Ethan and he was definitely interested until it let out a big "BAAAAAAA" and then Ethan's eyes got huge and Braden was a little scared. Ha!

Why else do you go to the state fair and pay a fortune to get in? To ride the escalator of course. :)

Both boys were completely obsessed with every car at the fair. Some of themn you could get in like this one..but there were many that were just for looking but Braden literally tried to get in every one of them. "Braden, No!" "But why?" Sheesh...over and over the whole trip :)

Such boys!! They all had to give the controls a try!

Ethan LOVED driving all of the vehicles and would pitch quite the fit when we took him out.

Safety town-this was cute. They had to stop at the red lights and stop signs and then listen to the police officer. Check out my boy!! He's actually listening. Hee hee

The highlight of the whole trip. This was pretty cute to watch! These little piggies were just trying so hard to get their mommy's milk. Of course mama pig was exhausted and just taking a nap the whole time (can you imagine having that many kids?!? I'd be exhausted too). Braden did not want to leave. He kept saying, "They sure love their mommy." It was so sweet!

Ha! The annual family picture! Ethan was throwing a fit because he wanted to see the fountain and Chris had turned him around for the picture. Poor baby :(

Happy again!!!

The zoo..finally!

Last week we finally made our first trip of the summer to the zoo with the neighbors. Last year we went all of the time, but it's just been so hot we've kind of skipped it this year. I was so glad we finally made it. Ethan had never been and Braden was super excited to see all of the animals. :)


It's a little tough getting them both to look at the same time these days :)

Ethan loved the playground swing

Almost as big as a gorilla :)

Ethan grunted at the gorillas and Braden kept saying they made a big mess (the lettuce spread out). :)

Last stop, the water park. Braden and Sophie went down the slides over and over. Ethan and baby Ava just stayed in the shade and watched. As long as Ethan is entertained and has snacks, he's good to go. :)

11 Months

This post is a little dated now but Ethan is 11 months and nearing his first birthday!! I love looking at these monthly pictures and seeing how much bigger than the bear he is compared to the beginning ones. He is such a sweetie pie and just melts my heart with his giggles and "talk." I love you punkin!!!

Check out those top teeth finally coming in!!! He's been waiting on these because he wants more big boy food!!!!!

Such a ham!!!

Wakeboarding

So I tried something new tonight on the water...wakeboarding. I've been wanting to try for weeks now because I keep seeing these crazy wakeboarding people that are doing huge flips in the air and it just looks like so much fun!!! Not that I'm planning on doing any flips, but I just wanted to try it. Tonight we hooked up with Nick and he had his board so I gave it a try. The good thing was I got up first try! The bad thing was I thought I broke my neck 3 seconds later. Ha! Since I wasn't expecting to get up I guess I didn't' know what to do once I got up and flew off the board forward and hit the water just right, face first that my head and neck were throbbing when I came up...and I mean throbbing!!! I told Chris, I could deal with a broken arm or something but I'm not really interested in breaking my neck. :( Maybe that's why I see wakeboarders wearing helmets. Sheesh! Anyways, I waited awhile for my head to feel normal again and for the fear to leave and got back on. Love it!!!!!!!!!!!

Rough River

This weekend we took the boat to Rough River for some boating fun. The Johnsen's came too. :) I had never been to rough river and I'm still trying to figure out if it's a "river" or "lake." It's the joke in this house that I think the river is nasty (not that the lake isn't) and so Chris kept saying Rough River is a river that they dammed making it a lake???? So does that mean it's super nasty gross or just semi-nasty gross? Not sure, but regardless it was a new fun lake to boat on. :) The secretary at Chris' school offered us their lake house which was so nice and gave us a chance to stay and boat for two days.

Typical trip with the Johnsen's. Matt is the kid magnet and always entertains the boys! After this we packed up and headed on the lake. I have no pictures from our first trip out because no sooner had we rode all the way across the lake, anchored down, and jumped in did the clouds start to get dark. In a matter of minutes, a beautiful sunny day turned into a windy, kind of scary storm. We had to race across the lake with rain pelting us. Poor Ethan screamed the whole way because he hated the towel being over us and of course Braden loved the whole scene. After drying off and eating dinner Matt, Chris, and I took the big boys out for some more boating. Carrie stayed back with Ethan and Lexi since she was pooped anyways from her race that morning.

Braden & Jace enjoyed watching the skiers...this is Chris

CHEESE

The water was SO smooth and perfect for skiing. :)

Matt showing us all up with his slalom. :)

Braden is loving the tube. Chris has to be the all time tuber from now on until we get a bigger tube. I know a little too much information here for you, but sitting like this just makes my fat bum jiggle way too much in the water and literally feels like it is bruising!!! On the other hand, Chris has no butt and so it doesn't hurt his. :) It's funny, I don't remember this hurting like this in the 7th grade....hmmmm, it must be the extra cushion I've acquired post children!!!

Day 2: We headed back out but this time had a pretty day and no rain. :) Ethan always finds something to get into and play with on the boat. Such an easy going baby. :)

Jace & Braden were taking big jumps off the island into the pool area.

Sweet Lexi

Cute boys

Alissa's 18th

I can't believe my niece is 18!!!!! This means I am really getting old! I can remember like yesterday playing with Alissa when she was just a toddler! She was so cute and SO funny!! Now she's an 18 year old and a smart, beautiful young lady (I hated when people called me "young lady...rather, she's one cool, sophisticated chic!) Happy birthday Alissa! We love you and are so proud of you! :)

Blowing out her candle...notice who thinks they are also helping. Ha! My mom made her a double decker basketball cookie cake and it was super yummy!

My brother Jim with Alissa and Dylan

Braden & Aleah waited a long time for their cupcakes and cookie cake!

Bloomington's Wonderlab

On Friday the boys and I headed up to Bloomington for the day. We had my niece's 18th bday party that night so we headed up early and made a day out of it. We met a couple of my high school friends and their boys at Wonderlab which is a really cute science museum. All of the kids loved it!! I think Braden could have stayed all day and Ethan had plenty to do too! Thanks Tab & Hope for meeting us! It was great seeing you and your cuties!

This was Braden's favorite. It was one of those contraptions where the balls go down different levels and you control their path. Maybe he'll be an engineer when he grows up?!?! :)

Braden & Colton loved the water area. It was so fun! I kind of wanted to play too. :)

Ethan liked the water too (notice his wet shirt :)) but I had trouble holding him and getting pictures too...poor second child seems to be my quote these days. :) He loved this magnetic board and I could take his picture doing this. ha!

This was a cool drum. He loved banging the sticks and licking them too! Icko!

We loved this!! This was a bubble coming out of a machine that was full of mist. It was so cool!!

Hee hee!

Checking out the fish-look at that sweet face :)