Monday, August 22, 2016

The Rest of July...

Luke went to House of Boon to celebrate his buddy Owen's 6th birthday. Based on how sweaty he was, I think he had a good time. 


Caleb and Luke worked all summer on their Lego city.

Caleb and I went on a lunch date to Sake Blue at his request.

This bike and scooter rack has been a major garage game changer. A co-worker of mine made it and it has made things so much nicer!

The boys went dress shopping with me and were rewarded with lunch out. And by lunch I mean an Icee and a sugar cookie. :)

Creed and I had a great time at Churchill Downs for the last night races of the season. 

Saturday, August 6, 2016

Lake Life

Looking back at my pictures from July and the beginning of August, the vast majority were taken at the lake. After spending the first week of July in Virginia at Claytor Lake, we managed to visit three other lakes that month, which was simply awesome. We all enjoyed our laid back lake days.

We spent three days at one of our favorite lakes in Kentucky, Lake Cumberland. We went with Grandmom and Grandpa, as well as Uncle Luke and Aunt Briana and had a great long weekend. 




We found a waterfall back in a cove so Uncle Luke and Aunt Briana took the boys up there to feel the icy cold water.

Wild tube rides...


I LOVE Caleb's expression...obviously he was having the time of his life!

While we stayed in a cottage at the State Park, we met up with Uncle Mark and Aunt Cathy on their houseboat. Caleb and Luke think houseboats are just about the greatest thing, so they were happy as could be. 


Aunt Cathy and Luke went exploring around the cove that they were anchored up in. They were probably gone an hour checking out rocks, fish, turtles, and anything else they could find.


We ate three meals on the lake at Fishtales at Wolf Creek Marina. It was a favorite for sure! (So was their ice cream!)

The following weekend we went on a couples (NO kids!!) trip to Nolin Lake. It was so relaxing! Most of the weekend was spent either floating on a raft or laughing...I laughed so hard my stomach hurt on more than one occasion! Such a fun time with friends!

Me with Ashley and Nikki

Katie and I got up the nerve to do a little cliff jumping. It didn't seem like it was high at all but was much higher once we got up there. ;)

 While we were away, the kids played! Caleb and Luke got to go back to Lake Cumberland that weekend and spent the day on the houseboat with family. They didn't miss us at all.

with Caroline

The following day they went kayaking down Floyds Fork with Grandmom and Grandma.

Nope- they didn't miss us at all!

There was also lots more fun to be had at Taylorsville Lake this summer!

We took our neighbors (They have 4 boys but left the baby with a sitter for the day!) and all the boys had a blast playing on the water.



Back to Claytor...the boys and I decided last minute to head back to Virginia for a quick three day trip the first few days of August. Our happy place...


The rainy morning didn't stop the boys from swimming.

Since Creed couldn't go, we sent him lots of I miss you and wish you were here pictures like this one.

Our last family Thursday at the lake before (the dreaded...) school starts.


One of the best things about having a slip at the marina is being able to get under cover for the pop up rain showers that have come so much this month. 

Whew...summer went by in the blink of an eye. Way, way to fast for my liking. Nothing beats these lazy, sunscreen filled days.
 Let's just hope for sunny and warm weekends these next few months. :)

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

4th of July Week

We had an incredible 4th of July week with family at Claytor Lake in Virginia. It is our one, week-long family vacation of the year, and probably our favorite week as well. We packed the lake house for the first part of the week with 13 people this year, 11 of which were adults- a record. ;) It was a blast! 

The week was filled with swimming, tubing, fishing, boating, skiing, surfing, dock jumping...the list goes on an on. There were lots of laughs and memories made. While with most vacations we are ready to come home at the end, we would have stayed another month if we could. Luke wanted to "just drop Daddy off at home" and the rest of us were trying to figure out how to sneak a few more days there before summer ends.  It's definitely our happy place.



We rented paddle boards for the week and they were a big hit with the boys.


Popcicles at the General Store

Can you spot Caleb? 

Little brother conquered his fear of dock jumping this trip and ended up loving it.

Caleb & Uncle Drew

The guys played lots of (pretty competitive) corn hole games. One night my brothers and their friends were up til after 3am, trying to finish a "best of" series in the rain. Ha! Oh, to be young again.


Creed figured out how to surf with both boys this trip, and while they both had fun, Luke was obsessed. We couldn't keep him off the board!

We even got a few videos this trip...








We had one really cloudy day so Creed and PeePaw did a float fishing trip down the New River. We went to a playground and ended up finding them as they passed by.



Caleb was determined to learn to ski this trip so Creed got in the water with him and explained how.

He was able to get up but never made it for more than a few seconds...

On our last day we got out early so Caleb could try one more time.

And he got it! Can you see that smile? He is a skier!

Not to be outdone by Caleb, Luke decided that he wanted to try. He fought pretty hard but never got up, and with it still being a little cool that morning, he decided that he would wait and learn behind the pontoon. 

Before we left Creed took one more picture of the view from the house. 
Our version of paradise. :)

Thanks, PeePaw and Grandma Beth for another fantastic week!