Summer Swimming

All summer long I have been meaning to get pictures of the kiddos at the pool. We are there at least 2 times a week, but these kiddos keep me very busy at the pool, sometimes stressful with three kids that can't swim. Every Wednesday the ward has a playgroup at the pool and today we had pizza too! The kids love pool time, and I love how exhausted everyone is afterwards! 

Dantz loves the water, but is very cautious and doesn't go near it without her floatie! Her hair is getting so light with all this sun, but her skin has stayed nice and fair, just like I like it.

This girl runs everywhere, in and out of the pool.  She has no fear of the water, which scares me even more.

She demanded to feed herself, and ended up with pizza sauce everywhere!!

Snuggled up after three hours at the pool.

This dude could have been at the pool for another three hours. He has really improved this year and is swimming with no floaties with a parent watching.

Uncle Paul

Uncle Paul is amazing!! He is 6 weeks shy of being 102 years old, wow. He has had a bit of a rough go the past month. He has fallen 3 or more times and been to the hospital and a rehab center.  He is no longer walking but still such a wonderful person. Yesterday he was telling us about last night he felt like he was drifting between this life and the next, coming and going back and forth. He is ready to go, but feels guilty to "want to die". He still jokes around with us and is mentally all there. We sure love him, and will miss him.

He calls Dantzel "shoogy" to be like sugar, I believe. 

Uncle Paul told Brett that if he'd had a son, he would have wanted him to be just like Brett.

Uncle Paul calls Kelsey "puddin' head". We sure love this guy, it has been such a blessing to visit him.

Haircut

 Remember when Dantzel was about 18 months and I decided she would see a lot better if her bangs weren't in her eyes. I combed her hair down and cut straight across, right at the eyebrows. This is a classic amateur mistake, and the bangs ended up in the middle of her forehead. From that point on I vowed never to cut the girls hair myself again, and that I would leave the work to the professionals.
Well, last Saturday I had to run a 10 min errand and left Jeff with the kids. When I came home he had her in the bathroom and it was too late...her bangs were already in the middle of her forehead. Let's just say he was in BIG trouble. Kelsey was laughing, I was crying, Brett was reassuring me it would grow back, Dantzel was asking daddy for a haircut and Jeff was in denial that the haircut was terrible.
I took her to a professional yesterday and had it fixed. Jeff calls her Fraulein Maria, or Sammy boy and I keep running my fingers through it hoping it will grow in the next week before our California/Idaho trip (of course this had to happen 1 week before our trip to see family that hasn't seen her in over a year).

They may have funny haircuts, but they are the sweetest, funnest most beautiful girls. I am one lucky momma!

Par-tay Boat

Every year we go to Lake Travis with members of our ward on a two-story party boat. It is always a good time with great food, good music, dancing and swimming. Once the boat is out in an open area the motor shuts off and the slide turns on, and then the party starts. The kids are going crazy jumping of the top and going down the slide. Brett was really excited to go down the slide by himself this year, Dantzel was not interested at all. The only hiccup with the trip was Jeff, trying to show off, acting 20ish...he did a canon ball near the side of the boat. soaking the entire lower crowd and all our plates. I didn't see it happen so I asked, who in the world just soaked the boat? Didn't even need to ask, of course it was Jeff, the problem was he hurt his back, really bad. That's another story. The night was perfect and beautiful and a highlight of our summer!

My awesome family!! 

The water was so warm and wonderful, Kelsey loved it!  And I'm lovin' her chocolate chip smeared face, YUM!

Ready to go on the slide by himself. 

Action shot. He only stopped for food when I forced him. He wanted to jump and slide and swim and that's it!

My  girls! We spent quite a bit of time in the water, but these two really like being on the party boat. Kelsey stole the show with her dancing, it really is precious.

Brett came to ask me if he could jump of the top of the boat. Of course being the good mom I am I said no. He said, "no mom, I'm going right now". Jeff followed him up and tried to go down with him holding his hand. Brett wouldn't have it, he just jumped right in, no hesitation. Immediately after he surfaced, he turned to Jeff and yelled, "oh my gosh, Dad, I love it" 

4th of July

Our 4th of July was eventful! We left from our camping trip the morning of the 4th and stopped for donuts on our way out...yum, we needed supplement after eating camp food for 3 days. Then Jeff decided to stop and see uncle Paul in nNew Bruanfels since it was on the way home. We all piled into the old folks home looking like we had been camping and not showering for the last three days, and obviously we were not sporting our red, white and blue...those outfits were for after the showers! We thought we would be safe to slip in see Uncle Paul and run but not so. The senior center was having lunch and 12 for residents and all family members, and uncle Paul really wanted us to stay, so we did. Now I am feeling a little more self concious about our lack of cleanliness. To top it all off, we ended up sharing the table with the mayor of New Braunfels all spruced up in red, white and blue having just come from the parade...ug, pit in stomach. It ended up being a wonderful lunch, but wow, who would have known!
We had a fun get together with friends from the ward, with great food and activities. The night ended with fireworks, which the kids had to plug their ears for the entire time.

Looking at this picture, you would have never known the above story happened.

The kids raced, and raced, and raced on the court most of the night. Brett loves to race kids, even if he does not win. Side story: We were at the Y and Brett saw a brochure with kids racing on the front. He turned to me and said "mom, put me in that race and I will win" he couldn't stop talking about wanting to run in a race.

Datnzel being the caboose for the race! Love her.

Little toot, was trying to keep up with big kids. She was squawking and squealing and having a great time.

Pretty backdrop and goofy girl!

Camping - Guadalupe State Park

July 2,3 and 4

We had promised the kids we would take them camping, but never got around to it in the spring (spring and fall are camping seasons in Texas, not summer). We thought we would have to wait until October, and then the strangest weather came about. Low 90's during the day and low 60's at night, perfect camping weather!! We picked a walk-in camp site that backed up right to the guadalupe river. We spend the hot days swimming in the river and exploring. At night we saw raccoons, who tried to eat our food, armadillos, fireflies and rabbits. The kids slept great in the tent both nights, and we all had so much fun with no mishaps!

Kelsey had only been walking about 2 weeks when we went camping, so the uneven terrain was a little tricky. She was covered in dirt most of the time, but seemed quite comfortable in it! 

Too cute to be camping! Dantz hauling in her pillow to the campsite from the car!

We had a small  hike from our campsite to the river. Water was chanelled using rocks to create a rapid section and let's just say Brett was in heaven. He probably went on the "slide" 50 times in our three trip to the river.

Buddies.

Dantzel organized the chairs like so, they are such cute friends.

We survived 3 days 2 nights camping with a 4, 2, and 1 year old and we had a GREAT time, with lots of fun family memories.

Birthday Girl

It has been over a year since I have blogged. I have really missed writing and reading stories about the fun outings and goings on of our little family. So here we go again...its like a journal right? That should help motivate me!

My last post was Dantzel turning two and here she is turning three...wow, still can't believe we have had this sweet, angel girl for three years! We are the luckiest parents. Dantzel loves anything pink or purple, of course, and loves to round up things into piles. She will find anything pink and purple in the house and stash it all in her shopping cart, or behind a couch, or in a closet. She does't love sweets and would definitely prefer something salty. Loves to eat salad, and still "Mmmmmm, mmmmm" while eating, which I love so much. It will be a sad day for me when that ends. She is happy and sweet and such a joy to have around. The other day she said "you are my favorite mommy"...lump in throat.

Princess party! She was so excited and surprised when the house was decorated when she woke up!

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Brett set up all the balloons and had a little photo shoot with the birthday girl, I love her face in this picture.

Her favorite birthday girft - mega blocks. $1 from a garage sale, love it!

I asked Dantzel if she wanted a cake or cupcakes for her birthday and she said both. So here it is, she really loved it. At the end of the day I asked her what her favorite part was, she said "blowing out my castles, but bretty did do it too, but that's okay"