Kaleigh's Photo Contest

Kaleigh is looking for some advice from some photo-savvy bloggers. She took some pictures over vacation and is trying to decide which one to enter in her 4-H photo contest in 10 days. Here are the choices.....
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Our Vacation - Day 9

There is not a whole lot to write about for our last day of vacation. We packed up and were out the door by 9:30. It took us 11 hours to get home which was not as bad as I initially thought it was going to be. The funny thing that I want to remember is that Blake played his DS the ENTIRE ride home. Stopping only when the vehicle stopped and we got out to use the bathroom or get food. We was happy to report that he beat the game a few miles from home.

Our Vacation - Day 8

Sunday we had the privledge of going to John and Lee Ann's church for to celebrate Father's Day and Levi's dedication to the Lord. It was a fabulous service and the Pastor is blessed by God with delivering God's truths with passion and clarity. It was nice to go into a church and see how others are doing things. I think you get so used to doing things a specific way you tend to forget there might be a way to better what you are doing. I really enjoyed the way they did the special music at the church. The singers were off to the side where you couldn't really see them and you were focused on the power point that was playing along side the singing. It was beautifully done.


After church we all went out with LeeAnn's parents for Mexican. Let's just say my children are not a fan of Mexican food.

After lunch we went back to John and Lee An's relaxed, played some cornhole, and loved on baby Levi.






Everytime Parker tried to hold Levi, Levi would start to cry. Poor Parker :(

Our Vacation - Day 7

On Friday, John took all five of us on the river! Here we are just getting out of a rapid they call 'Surprise'. The kids absolutely loved it and wanted to go back and do it again.


We stopped along the way to take in some beautiful scenery.




(Kaleigh took this shot!)

I wouldn't do this post justice if I didn't mention that the only reason this got to happen was because the river was really low and running slow while we were down there. This meant that the rapids were not real dangerous. John and Eric were even able to take some hits on a two dollar Wal-Mart raft...

Here is a video I attempted to take while Eric was going through a rapid on a raft.


My River Rats!

Our Vacation- Day 6

John had to work on this day, so Eric tagged along. Don't feel too bad for him that he had to go to work with his brother. After all, his job is to take people down the New River, white water rafting. Not a bad gig to get paid for, right?
So they kids and I decided to spend our time at the college's poolside.






After that, we decided to turn on the GPS and see if we could find a mall to walk around in. We were successful and ended up in a music store with walls and walls of guitars. Parker was in his glory!

Parker's Recital

On Sunday June 27th Parker had his first-ever guitar recital with the Music Center, in which he has his lessons. We absolutely love his instructor, which he got to do a duet with. He was definately nervous because right before the show he was able to play these two peices flawlessly. He, however, will never admit that he was nervous. So here's Parker who has been playing for 15 months now.

Our Vacation- Day 5

Thursday June 17th was a sad day for me because I had to say goodbye to my father and step-mother who I adore and see not nearly enough, but the anticipation and excitement of meeting my new nephew in West Virginia made it easier to say goodbye. We were on the road by 9:30 am and this time the drive only took about 5 hours. We rolled in to John and LeeAnn's around 2:30 and wasted no time getting to know Levi.

I will probably get in trouble posting this but it was soooo cute. As we were sitting around talking to baby Levi and saying what we thought Levi would call Eric...Uncle E....Blake busts out with "Hey Ugly. He thought Uncle E sounded a lot like ugly. We all busted out laughing, Eric however did not think it was so funny.


After relaxing a bit, John took us to a nearby lake for a dip.


Isn't the scenery just gorgeous?

Our Vacation -Day 4

On our last day with my dad, I just wanted to relax. We had a full day of driving and two fun-filled days so, we spent our last day relaxing on the porch reading and doing crafts, swimming in the river and going for rides around the campground. It was nice and just what our tired bodies needed!


My dad's golf cart must have gotten 100 miles put on it while we were there.


Parker putting mud on Pepere


Blake jumping off Daddy's shoulders


Parker's turn


Pepere squirting an unsuspecting Memere Liz.


Got her!

Our Vacation -Day 3

On Tuesday, we headed out to King's Dominion, a very big amusement park, in Virginia.



This was the first ride of the day, which everyone but Pepere and Blake chickened out from.



Next, it was on to the little roller coasters. We were able to coax Kaleigh on with Memere Liz.


The little roller coaster was definately a confidence booster for Parker because he went on EVERY roller coaster from then on...like this one:

and this one.......

and this one....which incidentally, the 305 stands for how many feet tall this ride is...


Here are a few more rides....




This floom ride was a big hit and after the third time, we told the boys if they wanted to go again, they would have to go by themselves...so they did!

My father was impressed that the children opened and closed the park, we assured him that that was common practice for them...LOL!

Our Vacation- Day 2

Day two of our vacation (June 14th) was spent on the river. We all went out on my dad's boat and anchored out near a sand bank. We had to tie floats and rafts out for the kids to grab ahold of so the current wouldn't carry them away. They spent a good hour jumping off the back of the boat into the water and climbing up the ladder to do it all over again. It amazes me at the joy these children find in the simple things.


After floating a while, we did some tubing. It was priceless to hear the giggles of Blake while we were 'rolling on the river'.

Parker and Pepere took a turn on the tube too!

Even Kaleigh and Parker got to drive Pepere's boat!


The entire day wiped out two of my boys who took a cat nap before dinner...man I love those two!

After dinner, everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to me and I even got a birthday cake and some awesome presents!