Happy 4th of July

We have had such a wonderful holiday weekend. Friday Bree and I spent the day at Splash Kingdom Water park. We got season passes and Bree absolutely loves to go and play in the kiddie castle. She crawls on her hands thru the water and says to me, "Look Momma, Me swimming!" She is such a hoot!! The things she does and says keeps me rolling! So we spent the day there having fun. Then that evening we went with Kerry and Gramps over to A Taste of Italy which is overlooking Lake Hawkins. It has the most beautiful patio out on the lake. We enjoyed dinner so much!! Great food and an awesome view. Then we rode around the lake site seeing. Something Kerry and I love to do together. Sat. morning we were complete lazy bones. The three of us slept in til 11:00. Wow!! It was so nice!! So once we finally got around we headed out to Lake Tawokini where we met up with the Dugan and Tolar family. We spent the afternoon out boating and swimming and man was it a fun trip. Bree is fearless. Which is cool, but scary for us as parents!! She, like her Daddy & Momma, is a water person. Put me out in the water and I am content for hours...that is exactly how she is. She loved it!! Then Sat. evening we headed over to the Hill's home for a fish fry and pool party. More swimming and fun. They have a gorgeous home on 80 acres and from their balcony we could see numerous firework shows. We had a wonderful 4th!! Thanks everyone for spending the holiday with us. Sunday at church the Children's Director told us that Crew(Bree's 1st cousin) and Bree were so cute hugging and talking to each other but that they may need to separate them. I am sure they were too busy talking to each other to listen to the SS lesson. It is sweet tho how good they get along and how close they are. Bree will definitely be taken care of by her 3 big cousins. Sunday evening Gramps and Bebe brought Parker, Brett, Crew and Kate over for grilled burgers and hot dogs. Then Kerry made some of his famous homemade strawberry ice cream(actually the recipe is my mom's, but Kerry is getting pretty good at it!!) The kids had a fun time playing on the playground and then they helped Kerry and Gramps pick and shell some peas from our garden. Which I must give Kerry and Gramps props for cuz we have gotten all sorts of fresh produce from our garden. It is therapeutic to work in and man are the tomatoes delicious!! Kerry also made some pickles that I swear are the best I have ever had!! We are enjoying our garden and I am checking the watermelons daily to see if they are ready yet. Last weekend we met Kerry's brother and his family, his parents, g-parents, and his aunt and cousin along with his wife and daughter at the Alligator farm. This was such a cool place. The kids got to pet the baby alligators and watch as the big ones swam and ate. We had lunch and the kids enjoyed playing and then we finished the trip off with homemade peach ice cream. It was a great day!! We have been busy this summer introducing Bree to all the wonderful things of summer. Bebe and I took Parker, Brett, Crew, and Aubree to the Blueberry patch in Edom to pick blueberries. The bigger boys were a lot of help but as for Crew and Bree well they spent their time playing in the dirt. Which was really pretty cute...Thank goodness we brought a change of clothes cuz Bree was covered in it!! No kidding, head to toe covered. We did pick a large bag full of blueberries and then the kiddos enjoyed some blueberry lemonade. What a treat!! We stopped at an amazing bakery for lunch and enjoyed some delicious food. Another wonderful day that I can't wait to scrapbook about. We have been enjoying this summer so much. I am a summer girl for sure!! I love the water, sunshine, camping and the beautiful scenery of the flowers and green grass around us. We have enjoyed hanging out on our patio most evenings enjoying the fresh air and the quietness of country living. Last Thursday we had the Stewart family over and it was so nice to sit and visit and watch the girls swim. I even commented on how precious it was to sit and hear the girls sweet laughter as they played. They had so much fun. Which is what summer is all about. I hope you all are enjoying this wonderful season!! XOXOX