All Star Swim Party

Loogootee 7U All Stars

What a fun bunch!  We did win a game which was quite a feat because we played mostly 8U teams.

It was fun to watch them improve from the beginning to the end of the season.

AJ, Alex, Aiden, Landon, Kendall, Koen, Ryken, Gunnar, Josh, Pax and Joe

 Joe hit really well off the 40 mph machine.

Played outfield for All Stars

Last week our tourney was in Loogootee

and that marked the end of our All Star Season

And so tonight we celebrated with a pool party

We had a fun pitch in with some hot dogs and all the fixing.

Gorgeous July weather

Mid 70s

Of course whiffle ball was a big part of the night

Sam's at Camp!

DH took him yesterday morning to stay until Thurs for Bible Memory Camp.

He learned 32 verses and did lessons this year too to earn his way to camp.

He sent me this picture of Sam with the tshirt he earned for learning verses.

The caption said...Do I have to leave him?

I was the nosey mom today and headed over to see him.

Grandma needed a few supplies for the kitchen so that gave me an extra excuse.

I saw Dryce, he didn't act like he saw me :-(

And then I spied Sam and he could not stop his game, too intense for that but in between matches

he came for a quick hug.  He was doing great, said he slept great.

He didn't really need the visit.  But, no shame here

And I saw Tyson, he didn't want to see me, but he wanted to see Joe lol!

I always wanted to do summer camp, probably wasn't brave enough if I had the chance lol

DH did summer camp every year, hope my boys continue to love it!

Fiesta Rainbow!

For a girl who loves her Fiesta, 

who is trying to decide if she should make her guys pull in

 and wait on her while she shops for dishes...

and then we spot

a rainbow coming out of their sign...really?!?

Dan pulled over without even asking, LOL!

My mama loved this store, so I love keeping her memory alive!

I am way behind on having all the latest and greatest of colors,

but I picked me up a few pieces of pottery love in many colors of the rainbow!

Celebrating Family!

Today, we would have celebrated our dad's birthday.

He would have been 70 years old.

It is hard for me to get my mind around that.

He has also been gone for almost 30 years.

I have two great representations of him though.

Look at these guys, I am so proud of them.

They are both fair, hardworking, loyal, family loving men

and remind me of who my dad (and mom) were and the values they taught us.

I bet my parents could not have imagined what their family would look like,

How they would have gained 2 daughters and a son

and then 3 granddaughters and 4 grandsons.

How we would still be doing life together.

How these cousins would love each other like siblings.

How above all others, family is our priority.

We spent the day at the Little League field watching two of the grandsons play

All-star baseball. I am certain that dad would have been right there soaking it all in,

it was certainly a place that he loved to be!

Gatlinburg and Cherokee

We headed over to Gatlinburg early on Tues morning.

Some of the shops weren't open yet but it wasn't crowded either.

We headed towards the sky lift and realized it was open.

Both boys were game, so we headed up!

Sam usually doesn't like rides, but Joe was a bit more squeamish this time.

They also gave a free extra ride because of camera malfunction

Is he a stud muffin or what!

 Never know what he is up to

By the time we took our return trip they both loved it so we all three went

 We had a blast taking old time photos, grabbed some lunch, and a special treat for friend Nakia

 (that place reminds me of her sooo much - and today she selflessly donated her kidney to a friend of hers)

We decided to drive up the mountain and ended up driving all the way to Cherokee.

It was a GORGEOUS drive, perfect day.

We put of feet in a mountain stream, Sam of course slipped and got wet pants

 A boy, his ice cream and a view of the mountain stream.

We had a low key dinner and relaxed the night away for an early trip home today

so that we could be home for more All Star games.

Race Cars and Dixie

Monday was full of race cars and other fun games.

We went to NASCAR and it was probably the best value of the vacation.

20 bucks for unlimited rides and then a few more dollars on the inside arcade.

I forgot how little we spend on our beach vacations since we 

use the beach and pool for most of our entertainment!

He was all smiles after his races.

I hit a couple outlet shops while they raced, came back to join them

so that we could split up and Joe could ride some other stuff.

He was all smiles after he rode the small roller coaster.

Double decker carousal

1st scrambler ride, he made some buddies riding these rides.

Then we played some mini golf that was included too.

But we got super hot, so we quit early...glad we all agreed on that!

We cooled off inside playing a few arcade games.

The arcades were everywhere and Sam saw every.single.one.

He might also spend every.single.dime he owned at one if we let him!

DH and I took a round at the dancing game too,

no proof of that though

We found all three boys new tennis shoes at the Nike outlet, Ill call that success

and so did they!  They went to get an afternoon snack and left me to shop a bit more.

We ended our night at the Dixie Stampede.

The pre show was great too, favorite part was one of the singers getting covered in TP

from a roll attached to a fan, hilarious.

DH and I had been but it was the boys first time.

Sam told Dan that he could have his food

because he was too busy watching.

Joe really got into cheering for the North and South.

We loved seeing the wheel all light up when we came back in the evening.

We had a great view of it from our hotel room.