VBS

This past Sunday wrapped up our VBS at church. It was a little different this year and was a hit with most people. Caleb wasn't feeling it though and didn't attend all week. The kids ages 3 through Kindergarten learned some new songs and performed them after church on Sunday. The older kids (1st grade through 5th grade) put on a musical production called LOST..but Now I Am Found! If you didn't want a speaking part you could help work on sets or costumes. Taylor auditioned for a lead and got it. She had quite a few lines to learn and some new songs too. The the play was about 30 minutes long and was wonderful! Those kids worked so hard, only getting to practice the whole thing together once on Friday night. Taylor got the part of "Sweety Waters" which was like Mrs Hal from Gilligans Island. I am super proud of her for learning all those lines and then getting up in front of everyone at church and performing! Taylor you are definitely growing up into a beautiful young lady....I am so proud to be your mom!

Taylor modeling her costume


Madison singing away while also making sure that I was not moving from my seat


Taylor as "Sweety Waters"


Singing

Sprinkler Park Fun!

Friday was another hot day with temps in the upper 90's and I only had Madison, Kelsey and Shelby so we decided to head to the nearby sprinkler park to try and cool off. It wasn't very crowded and the girls had a blast running around staying cool. Shelby isn't a fan of having water spray her in the face but she warmed up quickly and had a good time once she saw the Kelsey and Madison having fun (and she got hot real quick).

Shelby is standing as close to Madison and Kelsey as possible w/o actually getting in the spray!


Having to stand on those tiptoes to use the seahorse!


She finally got hot enough to brave the sprinklers!


Taking a water break!


Kelsey manning the wheel that made the bucket dump on everyone!

Yes, we went to Dollywood again!

As you can tell Dollywood is a theme on my blog...we love going and get season passes every year. When we get our season passes we always receive some "free" coupons. June is Kids Fest so we had 4 tickets to get a child in free. We took our nephew the 1st weekend he was here and planned on taking our nieces once they got here. This was a first for them as they had only been to Dollywood one other time and it was a Christmas a few years ago so they really hadn't experienced the park. The only day we could do it was Father's Day. We prayed it wouldn't be too crowded and thought it probably wouldn't b/c it was going to be so hot. We were right...there was only a wait on 1 ride, The River Rampage which neither Shelby or Madison wanted to ride. We enjoyed the kiddie area for awhile and then headed on over to Adventure Mountain again and some of the roller coaster/water rides. The oldest 4 loved Adventure Mountain and would have stayed for hours. The 2 little ones enjoyed the kiddie Adventure Mountain so it worked out well. Riley decided he wanted to ride his upside down roller coaster...I was concerned he might need new underwear when he got off (and I wasn't convinced he would ride once he got up there)! He surprised us all by riding it and not needed new underwear! After that he felt like he could conquer the world and rode Thunderhead and Timber Tower! We were so proud of him as he is afraid of heights so this was a HUGE accomplishment for him :) We have loved having them visit with us and look forward to doing it again next year!

Matt with 5 of our 6 kids riding Shooting Star...they all loved this one!


Matt, Caleb, Nona, Riley, Taylor and Kelsey rode Daredevil Falls numerous times


All of us atop Adventure Mountain


We got soaked on River Battle but they had so much fun!


Matt, Taylor and Riley on Timber Tower


Matt and his babies on Father's Day


The whole gang!


Matt, Riley and Taylor on Thunderhead

Farragut VBS closing ceremony

Last week we attended Farragut's VBS. This is a regular VBS for it and I love it b/c it is in the morning which means I drop my kids off at 8:30 and pick them back up at noon. It is my "me time" during the summer! On Friday the kids always sing a few songs they have learned. It is always so cute. After wards there is homemade ice cream, hot dogs, popcorn and snow cones which is a big hit. They also rent a giant slide and bounce house. The kids look forward to this all week. This year we had our nephew Riley with us all week and our nieces Kelsey and Shelby joined us for Thursday and Friday!

Madison and Shelby enjoying the highlight of VBS....homemade ice cream!




And then it was on to the snowcones!






And here Caleb is thinking..."no more pictures mom" and yet I took one!

Dollywoood

This past weekend we decided to take our nephew to Dollywood for the day. He has only been once before and it was at Thanksgiving so he got to experience a new side of Dollywood. We were thrilled to go too as there is a new section open called Adventure Mountain. It is a ropes obstacle course that is a blast! Madison isn't big enough to do it yet but they have a smaller course set up on the ground that she had a blast conquering! We have had the best luck lately at Dollywood with hardly any crowds and absolutely no waits on the rides! It was really hot on Sunday but we just hit a water attraction whenever we got hot.

A trip to Dollywood wouldn't be complete w/o riding Thunderhead!


The kids love shooting the riders on River Battle with water guns stationed around the ride!




Riley found out that the riders can shoot you too!


The entrance to Adventure Mountain


Taylor crossing Geyser Gorge!


Riley crossing one of the obstacles


The whole gang!


Caleb decided to try one of the harder ropes and did it all by himself!


Matt, Caleb, Taylor and Riley rode Daredevil Falls


And loved it!


Madison enjoyed the sprinklers while Matt took the other 3 on The Slidewinder


Sweet girl!


The whole gang enjoying the sprinklers!


Madison on the little tot version on Adventure Mountain




I took the kids on Adventure Mountain the 2nd time on a different course....this attraction is a workout!

Still Busy!

What happened to the "lazy days of summer"? I seem to be busier right now than when school was in! Since school got out we have been busy trying to get settled into the new house....we (and by we I really mean I) are slowly accomplishing that. We are completely moved in and there are only a few boxes left and I am thinking I won't even unpack them right now since I don't know where to put the contents :)

We went to Nashville this past weekend for Lydia and Andrew's wedding. It was lots of fun and I was so excited to see Cecily! I haven't seen her in months and really miss getting too.







We also squeezed in some quality time with Matt's brother, his wife and their 5 kids. The kids enjoyed playing with the kittens, jumping on the trampoline and playing kickball in the dark! We ended up bringing our nephew Riley home with us for the next 3 weeks. We have been trying to get him up here for years to attend Concord Quest which is this awesome VBS my in-laws church puts on every year. Last year they had over 5,000 kids attend! Anyway, we decided at the last minute he would come back with us. He is just going to stay b/c he was coming the next week with his 2 younger sisters while his mom and older sister attend Middle School Camp at their church.





We stopped by Cookeville on the way home Sunday to see Matt's twin brother, his wife and their 2 daughters, one who is only a month old. We were so glad to see them too. They will be leaving to go back to China in August so our time with them is short and sweet. The kids loved getting to love on Laura and play with Hannah. We played a game of croguet and James and Caleb won with me and Madison coming in 2nd. Sadly, Matt and Riley came in 3rd and Taylor and Uncle Daniel came in 4th. The kids were so excited as they found a turtle while playing in Jim and Paula's backyard. They put him in a shoebox but somebody "sprung" him and boy was I glad! I didn't want to bring that turtle back to Knoxville!















Today began our 3 week marathon of VBS. This week is Concord Quest, next week is Farragut's and then finally our church is the 3rd week. Once we are done with VBS we will just hang by the pool for the rest of the summer....maybe, that is when the lazy days will start!