Kentucky Trip - Part Two

Saturday around lunch time, I headed to Hopkinsville (only about half an hour from my hometown of Madisonville) to meet Mike.  Our friends, Scott & De Anna graciously offered a bed at their house.  So I went straight there to meet Mike and we threw on swimsuits and hung by their glorious pool for the afternoon.

Scout.  I tried to put him in my truck & bring him back to Memphis more than once.  I was unsuccessful.

After a great day in the pool, we all got cleaned up and headed to Mike's 20th reunion.

This was the only group pic we got.  I hurriedly set the camera up on the table and set the timer.  The angle is horrible and so is the lighting.  Best we could do before the guys got too impatient for the pictures. But at least we're all together.

CLASS OF 1990!

Mike & a few of his best friends.

The wives:  Mrs. Marcum, Mrs. Daniel, Mrs. Battah & Mrs. Noffsinger

On Sunday, we all brought our kids to Scott & De Anna's house to enjoy the pool for another day.  Keegan & Presley were in heaven!  Kids to play with and water!  And it was Father's Day.  It was neat to see all the guys with their kids together.

7 kids total and while you'd think it would be total chaos, it was actually great fun.  I hope we can all get together again real soon!

Kentucky Trip - Part One

Mike's 20th reunion was held in Hopkinsville, KY last weekend so we packed up and headed to Kentucky to have a little time with my family (it had been WAY too long) while Mike enjoyed time with his best buddies and old classmates.  Friday night was a classmates only kinda deal so the kids and I dropped Mike off in Hopkinsville and headed to Madisonville for the night.  

Here's Keegan playing checkers with my precious great-grandmother.  

And here's Miss Presley getting some loving from her Nani.  Nani will not be happy about this but if I always listened to my mom about taking pictures of her I'd NEVER have any pictures of her with my kids.  So suck it up, Mom.  Loving you....

One of Keegan's favorite things to do at Tataw's house - drag out whatever toys he can find.  It's like Christmas time there from all the grandkids & great-grandkids leaving toys behind.

Presley just drug the toy basket around for a bit.  I think she was dreaming with her eyes open.

Before I headed to Hopkinsville to join Mike for the reunion, I stepped out into my great-grandmother's garden to snap some pictures.  I've told you I'm a tad obsessed with Photography these days, but COMPLETELY obsessed might be a better description.  But I am amazed that Tataw can still grow these at 96 years young....

Pretty amazing, right?  She's amazing.  Can't wait to go back & spend more time with her.  These are all straight out of the camera shots.  I hope to edit some of them and add them to my photography page.

Pics of Mike and the old gang will be up soon!  Stay tuned!

An Early Father's Day

The kids and I gave Mike his Father's Day present early because we knew we'd be in KY over the weekend for Mike's class reunion.  I took the kids out and took these pictures and framed them for Mike to hang in his office.  He loved it and the kids loved doing it.

Hope all you dads out there had a fantastic Father's Day!

He Loves to Paint!

Keegan loves to paint.  He's always asking if he can paint something.  So one day while we were at Hobby Lobby I picked up this birdhouse and he was thrilled.  He could hardly wait for his sister to take her nap so he could paint.  

I hope to get a picture of the finished product once we figure out where to put it in the backyard.  Keegan can't wait to see a family of birds move into it!

Swim Lessons - Week Two

Week two was a little more of a challenge for Keegan which was a good thing.  He needs to be challenged or gets bored.  And in trouble.  He was thrilled that his instructor suggested we get him a pair of goggles.  

But he didn't like how much work the new class was.  He was fussing five minutes after it started about being tired.  He's the youngest and smallest in his class.  

He did, however, love learning to dive.  

And at the end of the class when his instructor allowed the big kids to jump off the diving board, I don't think anyone expected Keegan to jump up there to jump himself.  He's not putting his hands over his eyes, he's pushing his goggles so water won't get in right before he jumps.  He had no fear.  

Unfortunately, we didn't get to finish the week due to some thunder & lightening one day and then us leaving town the next.  But Keegan gained some new skills and confidence.  

YAY For New Toys!

Reading the title, you might think the kids are excited about some new toys they got but what this post is really about is this:

This is OUR new toy.  A 2008 Stingray, practically brand new.  We picked it up Saturday at noon and had it on the lake about and hour and a half later, enjoying a great family day on the water at Pickwick Lake.

It's going to be a FANTASTIC summer!

Painted Piggies & Pigtails

One of the fun things about being a girl is painting our toes.  I couldn't wait to paint Presley's little toes and thought she would get a kick out of it.  I was right - she did.  She loves her painted piggies.  

And get this - Pics of the toe painting process courtesy of my 4 1/2 year old, Keegan.  He catches on quick!

I will admit, it's a little difficult to paint squirming toes.  But for the most part, she sat still.  

Presley would take a couple of steps and bend down, touch her toes and say, "TOES!"  Then she proceeded to show everyone her pretty pink toes.

Another first this same day was putting her hair in pigtails.  Her hair has finally gotten long enough to pull it back.  While the back is long enough, the sides seem be taking forever to grow out.  She left them in for a while and then yanked them out.  She's a hair twirler and likes to put her hands in her hair when she's tired or upset.  Having it in pigtails during those moments was a bit distressing to her.  

But she left them in for quite a long time.  And during Keegan's swim lessons, I think she was much cooler.  Waiting for her hair to grow is like waiting for water to boil.