Summer on the Lake

We spent quite a bit of time on the lake this summer. For the past 4 years I have either been pregnant or had a small baby during the summer. Don't get me wrong, I have totally enjoyed these past few summers. However, I was looking forward to this summer. All of the girls are older and are able to enjoy the boat and the lake more. (After all the fun this summer, I am so excited about next summer).

We spent quite a few weekends plus three full weeks at my dad's house on the lake. It was wonderful! Peyton and Laila love jumping in the water and swimming like little fish. Laila even jumps from the top of the boat with her daddy. No fear.

Even I got to enjoy the water and the sun some. And Mika... oh that sweet girl.... she liked the water, but was happier with a Capri Sun and some Pringles. Love her.

So I thought to commemorate our Summer on the Lake I would do a Top 10.

Top 10 Things I Loved About Summer on the Lake 2011:

10. Sun-kissed skin.

9. Swimming with all three girls.

8. Watching Peyton find her courage in the water.

7. Watching Laila jump from the top of the boat with Jared.

6. Pizza on the boat for dinner.

5. Swimming with our lake friends.

4. Exhausted little girls on the ride back to the dock.

3. Just the five of us taking the boat out early one morning.

2. July 4th on the lake... all day. Ending in a fireworks show.

And the number 1 thing I loved about this summer on the lake is.......

1. Making memories with my family that we will always hold in our hearts.

We will always cherish our times out on the lake. We are so thankful that we are able to spend so much time there and we know what a blessing it is.

Love.

Last Weekend on the Lake

Labor day is the unofficial end of summer. So we celebrated with one last weekend on the lake. Jared's parents went with us and we had a great time.

The weather was great - not too cool and not too hot. The girls enjoyed swimming, jumping in and snacking.

They even got the rafts out for some raft surfing! They LOVED jumping from the boat onto the rafts. It was very cute and funny to watch.

**Side note : how cute is my hubby??? Love that man!

We did the lake for a couple of days and really enjoyed being all together. We did miss Whit though. She had been sick last week and decided to stay home and rest.

We got up Monday and headed to the barn after breakfast. At first the girls weren't too sure about riding. They haven't been riding all summer and I think they were just a little nervous because they couldn't remember riding before. Peyton warmed up to the idea first.

She rode with Pappy for a while. This is what Laila was doing while P was riding:

Cautiously watching from behind the fence. Eventually she decided to give it a try and I couldn't be more proud of her!! Laila is very cautious around animals and I was convinced that she wouldn't ride at all since she wouldn't even get near the horses at first. But she decided she wanted to ride so we let her...

I just love the look on her face in this picture. She was still a little uneasy but she was determined to do it! Dollar was such a great horse and the girls both really loved him. After a minute of riding with Pappy, they were ready to ride on their own. How big are they??? I love this picture of them! I can't express how proud of them I am. I love them so much it hurts. Sweet sisters.

We also played a little on the RTV out at the barn. Peyton really liked it (as did Jared!).

Overall, it was a nice weekend. I'm so thankful for my family and the good times we have together.

And I believe the other day I was saying that Mika has started picking up food to eat. Here is a picture I snapped of her stuffing her face. Ha! I can't believe how fast she is growing... she's really started crawling around (army crawling) and tonight she took her first bath in the big tub - no baby tub. Oooooooh, I just love her so much.

I hope you all have had a wonderful Tuesday!

Love.

Weekend at the Lake

J had Friday off so Thursday afternoon we headed to my dad's for the weekend. We were both SO READY for a fun, relaxing weekend on the lake. I knew we were going to have fun when the girls wanted to jam out to Bon Jovi and Daughtry in the car on the way there! It was hilarious to see them "dancing" in their car seats.

When we got to dad's Thursday night we met him at the store to get what we needed for a cookout that night with some friends. Burgers and hot dogs... perfect. We finished the evening with cake and ice cream for the Birthday Girl.

Let me just go on the record saying that I can't believe she is two! TWO! My heart is having a really hard time with this. Thankfully she will still let me hold her.... sometimes.

Friday we hit Wal-Mart early. Pappy had to take his girl birthday shopping! We also needed a few things to take to the lake with us... yippee! Dad and I were talking Friday and we decided we needed to buy another life jacket in the 30-50 lbs size. It was time for Laila to move up to the bigger life jacket. So while we were filling up the boat at the marina, I went in and got a new life jacket. Little Girl LOVED it! This year she has been preferring to sit up on the boat and snack rather than swim.... until now. Now that she has her new life jacket she has more freedom. She was moving around and swimming on her own within minutes of getting in the water. She has never really swam on her own with a life jacket so this was a BIG deal!

So Friday we swam, then came home and had pizza and hung out. It was a perfect Friday, in my opinion.

Simply beautiful.

There is a big fireworks show on the lake on Independence Day Eve. My girls have never seen a fireworks show... I know, I know, I'm a lame mother. :) It just hasn't ever worked out with their ages and with Jared's work schedule and such. But this year we did it right!

Saturday morning we got up and had a huge breakfast (thanks Dad) and early naps before we headed to the lake. We got out about 2pm and got ready for a long, fun day on the water. Let me just say, my girls were nearly perfect. I only had to get on to the big girls a few times and Mika Lynn was as good as can be. We swam and swam and snacked and played. We met up with friends and tied up together.... think of the song "Redneck Yacht Club" and that was pretty much us!

Sis and me! I know I desperately need a tan, but it is so hard to get one when I spend most of my time outside making sure Baby Girl stays in the shade and cool. 

This is how it goes when I try to get a picture of all three girls....
Take One:

Take Two:

Take Three:

The last one would have been good if my hand hadn't been in it. They are such a mess, these girls!

Mika Lynn and I hung out in the back of the boat, in the shade. She was especially fond of Pappy's Captain's Chair.

Ooooh, I love this baby. :)

We were out on the lake for over eight hours. I am still in awe at how good my girls were. And I must say that I had a great time. The girls spent the afternoon and evening jumping off the boat and swimming. They had a ball and I loved watching them. As long as my girls are having a great time, I don't mind being the palest person on the lake!

Seriously, this is one of my favorite pictures - how cute are these two "Whitneys"?! Laila Whitney and her Aunt Whitney, they are big buddies!

SPLASH! I kept trying to get an in-air shot of Peyton jumping but she jumped too fast and I was always too slow with the camera. Eventually I'll get a good shot of her jumping. She did so good!!! I'm so proud of her for jumping and Laila for swimming and jumping so well. They amazed me!

A little sass for the camera! She was posing and showing off some dance moves on the boat. Needless to say, we were cracking up. So much personality wrapped up in such a small package - love it!

Here we are, our little family, waiting on the fireworks show to start. The girls loved it! Peyton got super excited over the red ones (her favorite color). And after each firework went off, Laila would either say "Oh that one did" (I think she meant that one exploded) or "that was cool". They had a great time and I loved every minute of this special day with them!

I hope you all had a wonderful celebration of our country's independence. We definitely did!

Where Have I Been?

Well.... what started out as a week-long trip for the girls and I to visit my dad ended up lasting a little over three weeks! Yikes! Things just kept coming up with Jared's work and it seemed to make more sense for us to just stay with dad then come home. Boy, did we have fun at Pappy's house! Sit back, relax and enjoy some picture highlights from our time there!

Two little girls watching Pappy and Daddy get things ready to go out on the boat!

Pappy and two of his girls.... such sweet times.

Momma and Mika Lynn - my sweet little baby girl! She is growing way too fast!

Mika and Whit Whit!

Little swimmers - these two fish LOVE the water!!!

Daddy and his big girls!!

Love this face! 

Family photo - J, Mika Lynn, Me, Laila, Whit Whit, Peyton, and Uncle Brent

Nice Shades!

Pappy and his lake buddy - this may be my favorite picture of him ever!

Me and my sweetie!

This is how Laila spent most of her lake time.... snacking!

Laila Bean and Momma!

We had so much fun!!!

Uncle Brent was giving piggy back rides on the raft!

We got home Saturday afternoon just in time to clean up the house and yard for the annual crawfish boil and fish fry our family has. We started partying Sunday afternoon and it was a blast! I took some pictures of the girls playing with the crawfish (I never thought my kids would do that, but they sure did when I wasn't looking!) but the pictures didn't turn out because of some crazy lighting. I did, however, get one good picture of Laila after she ate the red ice cream cup that Belinda gave the kids..... can we say Bozo the Clown?! 

It has been a crazy month and apparently that isn't going to change anytime soon. J is still having crazy work schedules and we have birthdays and reunions and holidays all coming up. I'm looking forward to all of it but it is a crazy time!!

Happy Summer everyone!