A full day at Roaring Springs

The girls and I went to Roaring Springs today. We got there shortly after 11 and didn't leave until it closed at 8:00. We are very exhausted but we had a great time. It has been a couple of years since I have been and boy I forgot how many people they can pack into that little park. I was a little nervous but tried to stay relaxed so the girls could have a good time. Madison is getting old enough that I am comfortable to let her go ride rides with Allison and then check in every so often. They had fun riding rides while Ashley and I hung out doing the stuff that she can do. She was in heaven. I think she was meant to be in water. I wish I had half the energy that she has. She kept on going and going. She wanted to do everything but was bummed because she was 1 inch to short to ride the family ride. When she first saw the big family slides, she ask what they were and I told her they are the family ride. She then said, "oh darn we have to wait till dad comes so we can ride it." She was bummed that she didn't get to ride it but it was more to do with her height. She was able to ride a few of the other big slides and she loved them. On the racing rapids after her first time I ask her if she liked it and she told me that I put her in the slow lane but that didn't matter we rode it again. At the end of the day when the lines were short we rode them 2 to 3 times in a row. She probably would have rode them more but I was getting tired walking up the stairs carrying the floats. I am very grateful for the kiddie area. It kept her busy while I needed to take a break. She loved all the rides. I wasn't comfortable letting her ride the yellow one by herself so she had to wait till her sisters came to ride it with her. Allison was all for it and rode it a few times with her. I wanted a picture of them all so I had Madison and her friend Alli go too. They were good sports to do that for me. I wish that I could have spent more time the other girls so I could have got more pictures of them. They had a great time too. Allison loves that she is tall enough to ride all the rides. She had ridden them all now. Her favorite is the one we call the toilet slide. It is hard to tell what Madison likes the most. She looks like she had a good time but it a lot like me and doesn't express it as much as her sisters. We really had a great time. I am so glad that we were able to go. It was so much fun.

Allison's swim lessons

We decided to put Allison in a second session of swim lessons. She has never liked water in her face so she struggles with her front crawl. She really worked hard at relaxing when she had to put her face in the water and worked on blowing her bubbles out and breathing. It isn't perfect yet but she improved considerably. I think she really liked that she got to do something without her sisters. The extra attention really helped. I feel bed for her because I think she gets lost because she is the middle child. I am glad that she was able to do this and that she enjoyed it so much. She is very comfortable on her back. She does her back strokes almost perfect. It is really fun watching. She also can tread water really well. She treaded water for 60 seconds today without breaking a sweat. Her instructor was very impressed with her. She really had a great time. I am so proud of how hard she worked.

It is so sad to say good bye

My parents packed up and headed home this morning. The girls were upset that they couldn't stay longer but we hopefully will be with them at their house for Christmas. The girls haven't been to Texas for over 6 years and they are very excited to go visit Grammy and Papa. We always love to see my parents and can't wait till the next time. The girls had so much fun with them they were wore out and all took a nap today. I hope my parents drive safe and make it home safely. We will miss them.

Pail Nolish and day two of camping

The girls had a great time with their grandparents today. We went to swim lessons, went shopping and then had a wonderful meal that Kevin grilled. It is amazing that there was no meltdowns with the late night last night but what kid has a meltdown while their grandparents are visiting. They are saving those for me tomorrow after my parents leave.

After dinner the girls sat down with their Grammy and painted nails with pail nolish as Ashley would say. I have been trying to get her to say it correctly for over 6 months. I have finally given up and figure it will happen when she is ready.

They talked about doing Papa's but that didn't happen.

When it was time for bed, the girls were ready to give camping a try again so we got them already to go outside. Ashley changed her mind at the last minute and decided to camp by the side of my bed like she did last night. Kevin stayed strong and didn't let her stay in our bed last night. We did have to bring her mattress in from her room but at least I didn't' have to share my bed. Madison and Allison were actually happier not to have her outside. They have heard Kevin and I talk about how she turns into a octopus in her sleep and they were not excited to experience that. Grammy got tired of waiting for everyone to go to bed so she went out by herself. The girls of coarse had to wake her up to make sure she was ok when they went out.

Camping with Grammy and Papa

My parents just arrived tonight and the ultimate vacation for my dad is camping so they are camping in my backyard. My kids were so excited to hear that was the plan so they are in the backyard with them. The kids were a big help to Papa when he was setting up the tent. Aren't they cute. If only they stayed outside. While I was writing this blog it started thundering so now my kids are inside debating where they are sleeping and my only thing to say about that is no one is in my bed. I don't know why they don't just go get in their beds. Allison is on the couch, Madison is in her bed while Ashley is trying to convince Kevin that it is too scary to sleep on our floor and she needs to cuddle with him all night. I will have to see who wins on that one. Kevin has a hard time telling that little girl no. I guess they can try again tomorrow.

Ashleys first talk

Ashley gave her first talk in Primary today. She did a great job. She actually spoke loud enough that Kevin could hear her at the back of the room. It is funny to see my out going, bouncy girl get shy in front of a room all focused on her. She carried her talk around with her all day. She was so proud of herself it was cute.


When I downloaded the pictures off the camera I found a little surprise. Apparently the girls like to play with the camera when I am not around. Some of the pictures were to funny not to share.

Funny kids.

My wonderful little girls

Every so often I scrub, strip and wax the kitchen floor. It is a very long tedious process and I dread it. I have had it on my list of things to do for the last two months but have kept on putting it off. My girls have been so willing to help this summer that I thought I would make it a project for all of us. The girls were on board because they know the sooner we get my to do list done the sooner we get to use our Roaring Springs tickets.

So today after Allison's swim lessons we got to work together on the kitchen floor. I am so thankful that they were so willing to help because this is normally a whole day project for me but we were able to get it done in a little over three hours.

I am so glad that they helped me out. The job got done a lot quicker and my hands won't be messed up for the rest of the week. When we were almost done with the kitchen, I joked that we needed to move onto the laundry room. Madison was such a sweetheart and she went and did the laundry room all by herself while I finished the wax on the kitchen. She is such an amazing little girl. When the floors were done we headed to McDonalds for smoothies and half price Happy Meals. I had four coupons for free smoothies so went in and got our smoothies so the girls could order their own and then went back through the drive in for dinner. While I was trying to find out what smoothie Ashley would like she only had one thing on her mind. She wanted a Happy Meal and wanted nothing to do with the smoothie until she confirmed she was getting a smoothie. I kept on asking her what kind she would like and she kept telling me a Happy Meal. The cashier was laughing at us because she was not giving up on the Happy Meal. We did finally get her smoothie ordered and I assured her that she would have a Happy Meal for dinner. She is one stubborn kid that once she has her mind set she is not easily swayed.

We had a great day and I am so grateful for the help. I have the most wonderful girls.

Smores please

Tonight we had a Family Home Evening on Pioneers. We really had a great lesson and the girls participated and enjoyed hearing all the stories. Several times they would say oh I have heard this on that CD we listen to in the car. A couple of weeks ago we got a CD called Trek a Nashville tribute to the Pioneers. Kevin and I really enjoy it so we have been listening to it nonstop in the car. I didn't realize how much the girls were enjoying it too. I didn't realize that they were actually listening to the stories that it tells. I love these little teaching moments that we have as parents.

At dinner tonight Kevin suggested that we have smores for our treat and thought that would go great with the lesson that we were having. I think it has been since last summer that we have done smores so we were all excited for them. Madison likes her marshmallows burnt while the rest of us like our's golden brown and Dad does those the best. Allison had a hard time getting her marshmallow the way she wanted it. She was beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with her marshmallow because I was able to roast 5 before she got one done. That first bite for her was so good since it took so long to get. Ashley was too nervous to roast her own so she just enjoyed the smores. It was a great night and the smores were oh so yummy.

Swim lessons come to an end

The girls finished swim lessons today. I am so proud of all their hard work and how much they learned. This was Ashley's first year and she was so excited. At first she was tense and couldn't relax the first day but soon got over that. I am very proud of how comfortable she became in the water. She would go to the bottom of the deep end and get rings with her instructor.
She jumped off the diving board with no problem. Amy her instructor had confidence in Ashley on her last day that she let her swim to the side of the pool by herself. I can't believe how much learned and how wonderful she did. She was also our little social butterfly. She would always go sit on the wall with her friends when she was done and Allison was in the pool.

Allison grew so much this year in her swimming abilities. Allison has always been nervous when it comes to water and has a hard time relaxing. This year they worked on helping her relax and breath so she can slow down and do the strokes properly.
She learned how to dive. Learned how to tread water. This was not her favorite thing to do and I had to explain to her why this is so important. She understood how one day it could save her life if she was ever in trouble but still didn't like it. She made such great strides that we are considering another session to cement what she has learned. It is nice to see her getting more comfortable.

Madison was a level 6 swimmer which means that she fine tune her strokes and learns a few life saving techniques. She wasn't sure she wanted to do swim lessons but when it was all over she told me that she had a great time and is glad that she did. She worked on her dives. By the end of the week they were just beautiful. She does a great breast stroke. Madison was in heaven when Christine told her she had the best breast stoke in the class. She also had to tread water but she got to hold a 10 pound brick while she was doing it. She had a great time and said she will let me know if she wants to retake it next summer as a refresher coarse. I am so proud of all the hard work that the girls put into to swim lessons. I am also so glad to get back into our routine. I am warn out from all the running around.

Summer time fun

The girls have been complaining that summer has been no fun. We have been consumed the last two weeks with swim lessons so haven't had much time to do much. The girls have been very helpful around the house this week so I thought it would be nice for them to have some fun. The girls invited the Moeller's over to run in the sprinklers with them. The water was freezing but that didn't stop them. They even got very inventive on how to fill a bucket up to fill the water gun. Ashley would hold a Frisbee over the sprinkler while Hailey would hold the bucket off to one side where they would let the Frisbee up to let water out. I thought that was pretty inventive of a 4 and 5 year old. Allison has never enjoyed water or cold so it doesn't surprise me that she is behind the gun to get everyone else wet. Madison wasn't into the sprinklers. The girls really did have a great time, even if sometimes they didn't look like it.

I finally did it

I love to take pictures and then do something with those pictures, like scrapbooking. Before Ashley was born I was pretty on top of things. I was a year behind in scrapbooking and feeling pretty good. Then I had Ashley. She required a lot of my time when she was a baby. I didn't worry that much about the scrapbooking but then as she got older I started to get back into it. I wish I could say that I have caught up but no I haven't. I am 4 years behind and it really makes me depressed to think about it. I know that one day I will be able to get things back in order but I have found a solution that helps until that time. This blog. I am able to capture all our memories and not lose anything. The next thing to do is get it in a hard copy. I have played around with several different blog book programs but decided on blurb. I have had my book already to print for a few months but just haven't ordered it. Last week I ran across a coupon code to where I could get my book for $39.99 off. I was so excited and jumped right on it. It came in the mail today and I am so happy. I don't feel frustrated about our family memories being lost. I spent this evening reading through and remembering things that would have been lost if I wasn't blogging. I am so happy to have this book.

4th of July

We had a great time for the 4th of July with our friends. The Ewings invited us over to their house with the Moellers and the Pickers. We had a wonderful dinner and then sat and visited and played games for the remainder of the evening until it was time for fireworks. With so many kids around the girls stayed mighty busy. Capri and Brittany put on a puppet show. The kids loved it. We had a theft. Your items are not safe when Dawn is around. She will put anything in her backpack.:)

The kids had a great time playing in the back yard. While the adults played some games or watched a movie. Allison and Alyssa had a performance for us. I think they are starting to make this a tradition.

It was fun watching everyone playing and having fun. The evening moved on and we were able to start fireworks. We started out with every one's favorite the sparklers. Ashley was all excited to do a sparkler by herself until Mr. Dave went to light it. She dropped it and Kevin had to hold if for her. Later on when sparklers were bought out again, Ashley decided she might try again. She patiently waited for Kevin to get it lit but you could see the concern in her face. I was quite impressed that she held it all by herself but then a squealing firework was set off and she jumped and was done. Kevin had to jump in and help. She is getting braver each year. I was glad that she just able to stay outside and not have her ears covered up. Fireworks is a healthy fear so I am not complaining. We really had a great time. I am so grateful to have such great friends that we can get together with and make such wonderful memories. Can't wait for the next 4th.

Unfortunatly before we left Madison was running around saying goodbye to everyone and didn't see a tree branch and ran right into it. Thankfully she is just scrapped up and there was not any big damage. She had her glasses on and I think that is what saved her eye. It was really close. When she went to bed we thought for sure, she was going to wake up all swollen and bruised but this is what it looked like. I went ahead and postponed her swim lessons for a week since her nose is so sore. She does a lot of under water swimming and there is no way that she would be able to wear goggles.

Allison and Ashley did start swim lessons today and I was a bit nervous for Ashley since this is her first year but she did great. Before she realized that she could touch in the pool she was a little nervous but soon warmed up and even made herself a friend. She is very ready to go back tomorrow. One of the last things that she asked before she went to sleep is if she will go to swim lessons tomorrow.