Draven's 16th birthday...

For Draven's birthday he wanted to spend the weekend at the lake with his friends. What a perfect idea! We sent the girls to go stay with family and we had a teen/adult party at the lake.

Bubba (Draven's godfather) hooked us up with a double decker boat at this really cool place called Serenity Point. The boat had a slide and a top deck great for jumping off. When we got back we played at the marina. They had all kinds of fun lake toys. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to drown. We had a bonfire one night and did lots of swimming. I think Draven had a great Birth-weekend!

Here's a pic of D's friends on the way to the boat. Check out how pretty it is!
The boat and the captain!
I made all the boys wear lifejackets. I know, not cool. But at least I didn't have to worry about them drowning each other.
There were many jumps off the top deck and only a few painful belly flops.
One handed over the rail!

16 and behind the wheel with his Bubba Mike.
Behind the boat wheel.
Looking up at the boys on the top deck.
The slide off the boat.
Great pic of the boys.
The trampoline at Serenity Point.
Out in the backyard of the lake house.
Searching for treasure with the metal detector.
No one ever spells Draven's name right on his cake so we went ahead and ordered it wrong. "Happy Birthday Darven"

Oops, I forgot the candles. Abe came up with a plan b.

The highlight of the trip were the toys at Serenity Point. You can play King of the Mat and try to push everyone else off. We were laughing so hard I thought they were going to kick us out!
Walking (or jumping) off the plank. It is about 20' high. It doesn't look that high from the ground but when you are up there it is pretty scary!
The stairs going up to the plank.

The aftermath...

weather...

Oh my! It has been so hot this summer. That is an understatement. It has been ridiculous. We not only have had temps in the 100s we have had many days over 110! Wow!
Not only does it make you sweaty, it leaves you cranky. On edge. In a bad mood. When I'm hot I don't want to even hold Phoebe. I'm sticky. Ewww.
I got in my car last week after softball practice and the temp read 116 degrees. Crazy hot.
I got home and this is what I saw.

Lillie had on coat, hat, scarf, gloves and was doing snow angels on the hardwood floors.
I guess she is ready for summer to be over.

After many days of excessive heat, we are finally getting some relief. It has rained every day for about a week. It has still been hot, but better.

We sat outside and watched this storm come in until the lightning got too close.
Watching the storm from inside.
Playing in the rain.

And now today is glorious! A storm came in at around 5am and it has been raining ever since. No sign of stopping. Me, Phoebe, and Auntie watched the rain from the Red Cup porch this morning. Now Phoebe is asleep, Lillie is at school, and it is quiet in the house. I can hear the rain outside, the flash of lightning, the sound of thunder.
Ahhhh...
It is amazing how weather can change your mood. I want to soak it all up.
Come on fall...

They grow up...

Way too fast!

Here's a pic of Lillie after school. After she finished her Fro-Yo she grabbed this magazine and kicked back for some light reading.

First Day of School!!!!

Draven started school on Monday. He is a sophomore! All went well. He is excited about his classes and the teachers he got. So far so good. Since he is (almost) 16... I did not get one back to school photo. I knew that he would just glare at me and be bothered by me wasting his precious time.
Lillie on the other hand... Allowed me to take a bunch of photos! Today was her first day of Preschool. This girl has been asking to go to school since she was old enough to talk. She couldn't wait. Last night she did her homework, can you believe it, homework before the first day of class! I kid. Anyway... The assignment was to tell about yourself.
Name: Lillie
Age: 3
Favorite color: hot pink
Favorite food: mac mac cheese
Favorite book: My Little Pony (Chris was disappointed in her choice, he was hoping for a classic)
Favorite animal: unicorns
Favorite thing to play: Ride Bike (Chris was hoping for cook)
Then on the top of the page she wrote her name, I did the rest of the writing. The only problem is, when she writes her name she doesn't like the duplicate letters in "Lillie" so she only writes the L, I, and E. That's right. She puts on all of her drawings, coloring, and homework "LIE".
I'm sure the teacher will figure it out.