Memorial Day

Thank you to all those who currently serve and who have served our country!  Thankful for those who have given their lives for us!

 

The kids' silly shot sporting their patriotic gear from Gigi!

We went over to the Lowhorn's house on Monday evening.  The kids had a blast playing together.  Long gone are the days of toddlers fighting over toys!  We have big kids, for the most part, anyway!  The boys played outside most of the time.  I think they played just a little baseball, and then moved to football (once someone got hit in the face)! haha!  We enjoyed burgers, Rachael's famous baked beans, chips, grapes (Joshua's favorite), and homemade ice cream.

After dinner, and some football playing, we went outside to do a bonfire.  The kids roasted marshmallows, and ate some without roasting, too.  The bonfire was the biggest bonfire I've ever seen.  It was quite monstrous! 

the kids

getting ready to start the fire

Mercy and Charis

the flame

woohoo!  Ryan and Daniel with the kids

 This video cracks me up!  Yes, it is sideways, but I LOVE Aedan's comment at the end!

another flame shot

I think this picture is a little out of order.  This is Daniel and Ryan getting it started.

 

Rachael and I with some of the kids 
The fire was so bright, that the camera didn't even need a flash!

Charis' moth
It was given freedom at the end of the night.
Here is a picture to remember him by!

The moth and I

girl shot!

 

Dollywood

We went to Dollywood last week with the Ledbetters.  The Ledbetters were gracious to us and allowed us to use their "friend" passes, which meant our family got in free!  We left around 8:00.  Mercy rode with the Ledbetters, in their car, and BJ came over to our van to ride with us.  We had a great time!  Here are some pictures and videos of our day!

Our kids with Vivian, BJ, and Emma

Once we got into the park, we headed to the kid rides!  Mercy picked the pigs to ride!

 

And of course, a video:

 

 

The veggie roller coaster!  Mercy was able to ride this one now!  She is sitting behind the boys with Vivian.

 

 The video...the boys are in the very front!

 

I rode the elephants with Mercy.  They actually go pretty fast, but Mercy loved it!  She wanted our elephant to ride high!

 

Tea Cups!  Josiah sat this one out for some reason.  Mercy is riding in Vivian and Brian's tea cup.  You can see her pink bow! 

 

 

 

Here's a bigger ride the boys rode!  They are in the back.  Josiah is with Ryan and Aedan was with BJ.  You can't see them too well in the video since they ducked.

 

We saw a Birds of Prey show.  Josiah loved it, of course.  Check out his face below!  hahaha!

Mercy was happy to see a Dollywood Princess!

BJ and Aedan.  Aedan loves hanging out with BJ!

Mercy was also big enough to ride this water ride this time!!!  She wasn't a huge fan! hahaha!  She got really wet!  I had a change of clothes for her, though.

Lastly, the cars!  What kid doesn't like driving a car?  Look at them go!

Once we left Dollywood, we headed to Fudruckers for dinner!

The silly shot!

1st day of summer break

Today is the first day of summer break.  Josiah is out for the summer!  He was so excited to complete 1st grade, and even more excited to bring home his 2nd grade supply list for next year.  Even more excited then his all A's report card!  We didn't do anything today.  We just stayed home and it was nice.  The boys played outside much of the day, and Mercy even was able to go out and play with Hannah, our neighbor some.  I cleaned a little and did some laundry.  Tomorrow is a day of errands in the morning, and probably more outside play in the afternoon.  It's not too hot yet, so the kids are having a blast!  We have somewhat of a CRAZY busy summer ahead.  I am looking forward to it, but I'm sure I will blink and the end of July will be here. 

 

Some pictures of our day:

 

Josiah's morning drawing

Josiah's outstanding report card!

Josiah and I are reading chapter books together this summer.  We started this morning and took turns reading the first chapter.  I think our goal should be to read 3 together over the summer.  We'll see how it goes.  1 chapter down, and 9 more to go in this book.

Josiah also did some artwork in a doodle pad that Aunt Caroline gave him.  It's pretty cool.  The black stratches off, and there is various colors underneith.

the final product

I forgot to post this on Mother's Day.  Josiah drew a picture of he and I.  I love our Clemson outfits!

Aedan being silly.

Mercy being silly.

 Outside play

The kids did this completely on their own.  It is a spider web trap.

Josiah in the tree.

Here they are trying to trap Hannah, our neighbor.

Josiah in the tree.  At this point in the afternoon, I decided it was time for mosquito spray.  Hopefully, I wasn't too late!

Adjusting the rope

Fixing the rope...so focused!  I forgot to mention that I love this tree!