one we landed in austin after an even longer delay on the runway (no fun) we were rescued by the chance family and were able to stretch our legs and grab something to eat only to hit the road again about an hour later. we spent the weekend camping at inks lake. which proved to be a little challenging but all together fun. deuce loved the outdoors and running all over the place (he had a little trouble understanding the whole boundaries thing).
only a couple of hours after being there deuce was suited up and ready for his first boat ride.
he even got to take a little swim in the middle of the lake. i can only imagine the smile mom had on her face.
well the kiddos weren't the only ones having fun. on day two i think we popped the first beer at like 10:30 am (now i can only imagine the smile on dad's face). while the kids slept at nap time us girlies were able to float and enjoy a few more. daylight soon faded to dark and we proceeded to drink some more and play dominoes. some obviously drank more than others.
we returned from the lake on sunday afternoon and then deuce was picked up by nanna and the gang and traveled to h'ville for 4 days while i worked a good 'ol basketball camp. i think i have been working them for 7 yrs now. nanna returned deuce on thursday afternoon and on friday we loaded up once again for the wonderful 7hr trek to never never land aka levelland. we made pretty good timing on the way there except for the 45min stop at the mcdonald's for diaper changing, changing out of pajamas (did i mention we left at 5am), getting some food, losing the keys and changing diapers one more time (thanks deuce). once we arrived in never never land we stopped at.....McDonalds (yes again) but this time the kids were able to run around and play after kinda eating. i know deuce was super excited to just be able to stretch his legs.
deuce and nathan playing on the slide
after we ate and napped the kids were outside and ready to go. here is where deuce discovered his theme for the weekend. BUBBLES. POP!
the next morning we attempted to get a niece n nephew picture. as you can tell it didn't go over very well. i think the only to that actually cooperated were nathan and klayton and i think kenzie would have had deuce just quit crying in her ear. nonetheless we tried!
we then went on to the first of many activities that aunt carrie had planned. you guessed it .... silly string. i don't think the kiddos were too sure about it but it was fun for me!
ok next was finger painting and then water fun but i managed to get the two pics out of order and can't get them back so you'll just have to make do with it. as for the finger painting i think deuce painted more on himself than the paper, oh well. water play was a big hit with everyone but i think deuce had hit his melting point and just never quite got into it.
the four monkeys also enjoyed a wonderful fourth of july picnic. this is actually the table that they attempted to eat at all weekend. i say attempted because im not sure how much eating actually took place
after the trip to levelland deuce returned back to h'ville with nanna and i returned back to jacksonville to prep for the sisters (and husbands) visit up here. they arrived here late thursday and friday morning we hit the floor running. not really, i don't think we left the house till after 11. anyway, first we visited the battleship uss north carolina. i think it was way more exhausting than we had planned for. if i remember correctly it took us 3hrs?
us girls (kelly went first then carrie n i) decided to check out the sleeping conditions on the ship. not very roomy
here dave is checking out some gun of some sort!!
after the long tour of the battleship we stopped off at the beach for a little stroll. and took some time for some great photo opps.
nice backside boys!
aww family!
the next day we were supposed to head to the duplin winery but after having so much fun the beach the night before we decided to nix that idea and head for the beach and a day of fun in the sun! we were able to relax and just play around for most of the day. check out the bathing beauties!
after all the fun in the sun it was back to the house for a bbq. chef dave was hard at work and the rest of us continued on with the theme of our weekend.... drinking.
richard and his flowing purple goddess! (that's a direct quote)
chef dave hard at work!
after dinner we played a round of this wonderful game of nertz (spell?) where we drank some more and it got a little intense and kelly said...... well i'll let her tell you!
well i will leave you on that note. all in all it was a wonderful couple of weeks and great family time. just makes me wish i was this close to my family all the time! deuce returns tomorrow so look forward to a post with all the fun he has had back home with nanna and popo.oh i almost forgot...i wanted to at a comment to kelly's last post about kevin and father's day. i wanted to add one more reason that we all think kevin is such a wonderful father. on monday after returning from the lake kevin decided to take the kiddos to the pool to cool off from the 105 heat. unfortunately the pool was closed for cleaning, so they went to riverplace (?) and that pool was closed as well, so then they went to aunt laura's pool but it was closed too. next the traveled to volente beach but refused to pay an arm and a leg for just an hour of swimming. kevin was so determined to let these kids swim or at least play in the water he brought the pool to the backyard.
the whole thing was just too stinkn cute and the kids had so much fun! i guess my point is that most of us would have just given up and said that we'll try the pool another day, but not kevin. so hats off to you kev on being such a wonderful dad!until next time,
luv mel, dave n deuce!
