Laughing All The Way To The Riverbank

It is becoming tradition and might I add a great tradition that we head south each summer to see Nates cousin Andy and his family.  Our first day there we spent some time with Corey and did some carp feeding and a little fishing.  Our next adventure was a short journey to Hot Springs North Carolina.  Carol had arranged for her sister to watch all the kids so we could go to dinner and head to a hot tub rental filled with natural spring water.  We had a lovely dinner, I don't think any of us had laughed that hard in a long time (especially Carol and I!!)  After dinner each couple headed to their respective hot tub for the hour rental.  It was so nice!!  The next day we headed to the Smoky Mountains to do some camping.  I guess you can call it camping, we each had our own cabin complete with bathroom, fridge, stove, and tv.  I know not exactly what you call roughing it!!  We enjoyed lots of delicious food cooked over the campfire.  Nate always does a great job with the food.  I think our favorite meal was steak.  Of course there was lots of s'mores to be eaten also.  We enjoyed several trips floating down the river on inner tubes.  There was a scenic drive near where we were camping so one night near dusk we took the tour.  We were lucky enough to see a mother bear and her cub!  On our way back to Andy's house we stopped in Pigeon Forge for a little shopping.  We were planning to make one more stop for ice cream after our last stop at Bass Pro when a huge and super ugly storm decided to blow in.  We thought we would be safe to get ice cream and then head for home.  When he got to the ice cream store the rain had already started letting loose and was coming down in buckets!!  The ice cream store had the doors locked, but thankfully they saw us and let us in.  When we got inside they let us know there was a tornado warning.  So we went ahead and ordered our ice cream and made our way to the back of the store away from the windows.  Nate was watching the radar on his phone and felt the coast was clear, so after a short time, but still very much in the storm we ran to cars to head home.  Thankfully Nate was right and we drove out of it shortly after leaving.  So after all the excitement we made it back to Andy and Carols safely! 

S'more Summer Fun

A favorite summer activity is eating s'mores.  It doesn't get much better than eating s'mores with Aunt Kyle and Uncle Tim!

Puppa Chester

Chester continues to be a great addition to our family.  He is growing by leaps and bounds.  Both of the boys love their puppa dearly!!  The last picture is of Winchester and his mom.  The dog breeder invited us to a dog show where they were showing his mom.  They also wanted to get Winchester acquainted with being at a dog show, since they may show him in the future.

Bye Bye 7

Leland turned 8 back in July.  He really had his heart set on a big party, but that did not transpire.  Instead we had a family night out at the restaurant of his choice.  He chose the Chop House, which was no surprise since he would eat steak and a baked potato everyday if we let him.  Even though Leland didn't have a big party this year he was happy with his meal and all his gifts.

Iowa Bound

The first road trip of our summer was a trip to Iowa to see my brother and his family.  We had a great time!!  It is always nice to see them since we don't get to see them very often.  We stayed busy everyday we were there.  We had fun at the water park, a hands on museum, watching Skyler play a baseball game, having ice cream, playing at the park, playing miniature golf, and racing go-karts.