Saturday June 28th we packed up the family and headed out to the airport. Thanks to technology, the kids were amazing during the flights and long layover.
After landing in Nashville, we drove straight out to Tim's Ford lake and met up with the rest of the family. Brad's parents rented an amazing house out there so we were all able to stay together and enjoy the lake all the way until Thursday the 3rd. Despite the fact that we had some major water vehicle problems, we had an amazing time! It is such a gorgeous lake with warm water. Being able to walk down to the dock and play in the water while some were napping in the house was so nice! We played lots of games, ate lots of food, did crafts, watched movies, played at the dock, and just hung out - it was a blast.
As was the case last year, Eden and Craig continued to be best buddies. They were together most the time just giggling and having tons of fun.
Sometimes being down at the dock with Eden and the littlest babies was a bit stressful so we had a little pool out on the deck to keep them entertained which kept Julie and my anxiety down a little more. :)
Brad found a toad and being the good daddy that he is, he shared it with the kids. Bentley was so nervous at first, I love that he wanted to hold it and had to do it with his mouth as wide as it could go. After holding it for a bit though, he was able to close his mouth. :) And Eden, of course, loved it too. Thanks to Brad, holding strange creatures is totally the cool thing to do as far as my kids are concerned.
So in regards to the water vehicle drama referenced above - here's the scoop. The week before our trip, Jeff's boat took a dive and stopped working. It was in the shop when we were at the lake. So we didn't have a boat, but we did have two jet skis and one is a super powerful one so the kids were still able to go tubing and knee boarding and stuff. A few days into the trip, Greg accidentally sucked almost a whole ski rope into the motor so that one was done for the trip. That afternoon Brad and Greg were using the other jet ski to tow that one back to the marina to load it onto the trailer. Once they got a good distance from our house, the good jet ski died on them and left them stranded out in the water. They waited for a bit hoping to flag down a boat, but unfortunately for them nobody was out there so they ended up having to swim back to our house pulling the jet skis behind them. (obviously everyone finds this story very funny except Brad and Greg). So now we were left with no boat and no jet skis. So in order to get the skis back to the trailer, they had to go rent a boat from the marina. We were hoping since they were having to rent one anyway that they might be able to get something we could use for the next couple days and still go tubing and wake boarding, etc but the only thing left to rent was a beat up old fishing boat. Greg says it even had plants growing on the inside of the boat. ha ha Here are some funny pictures Brad took while on their journey:
Kirma turned 70 in June and even though we were a couple weeks late, we wanted to surprise her and give her a big party. She was definitely surprised and very happy. We had three very yummy ice cream cakes which were devoured rather quickly.
After leaving the lake house, we spent the remainder of the trip hanging out at grandma/grandpa Justice's house and Jeff/Julie's house. It was so nice to just hang out and enjoy each other's company. Eden and Bentley love their cousins so much. Those kids are all so incredibly loving and sweet with them, especially Eden. She is so affectionate towards them and they give it right back to her which she absolutely loves. There was lots of hand holding, and sitting on their laps. She spends each day there feeling incredibly loved and is so happy. It makes me so grateful to watch my kids enjoy being with their cousins.
Ha ha Olivia's cute bum crack -
And at some point, the guys got to go out for lunch together and the girls got to go out together. It was really fun - except the fact that Brandon broke his arm while all the moms were away.
Keegan's birthday was coming up in a couple weeks and it's his first one out on the mission so Greg and Steph got a cute picture of all the kids to send to him for his birthday. We definitely missed him there this year, but he is so happy and doing amazing in Alaska!
We also celebrated Barry's birthday a couple days early while we were all still together.
Brad, as usual, brought the fun to the party and wanted to get all the kids involved so he bought over 30 cans of silly string and ambushed grandpa when he came outside. It was really fun for the kids - for grandpa... I'm not so sure. Lesson learned though - silly string in ridiculously messy and hard to clean up.
And of course, there was lots of bug catching going on. There are some interesting hairy caterpillars there in TN, and of course, the fireflies are tons of fun. The kids used their jars of fireflies as night lights going to bed that night, and Eden fell asleep giving hers a little bear hug.
Grandpa also let the kids destroy his front yard again with a giant slip and slide. The kids waited in line very patiently and Eden always kept her spot very close to Craig. :)
Isn't Barry and Kirma's house beautiful?! It looks like this should be in a magazine or something.
The 4th was tons of fun, and Brad put together a very impressive fireworks show. He loves this part and is like a kid on Christmas morning as he arranged the fireworks and lined them up for the show.
Grandpa got the bummer job of having the "rules" talk with all the kids, and Brad. :)
Last year Bentley was already in bed before we even started so this was his first time doing all this stuff. For me, this was definitely the best part because he was so amazed by it all and he was precious. It took a little convincing to get him to take a sparkler, but once he tried it the first time he was hooked. Eden was like an old pro and danced around with hers.
Once the real fireworks started, Bentley was so amazed! He would yell and make such funny excited noises every time. Some were really loud and with those he always snuggled up close and said, "Mom hold my hand" but he was so happy. It was really dark so the picture came out horrible, but I was able to capture one of his reactions. He was precious with his mouth always hanging open in awe.
Our family photo on the 4th:
On the last night out, Julie secured a couple babysitters and all the adults (and Olivia) were able to go out to dinner. As has become the tradition, we hit up Bosque's on the "All you can eat crab" night. I think all the girls ordered from the menu, and the boys all ate a disgusting amount of crab. It was a lot of fun.
For the trip home we had to head out pretty early to get to Nashville so with an early morning, on top of the exhaustion from a fun filled week, we were all very worn out. The kids did great on the flights, and almost everyone got some sort of a nap at some point.
Overall it was such an amazing trip. Eden has asked several times since if we can move there. :) I'm so grateful we could go and spend time with family. We feel so blessed and look forward to our adventures in TN next year!
