Fourth of July Fun - Boating, Friends, Food, and lots of rain

Our first stop on the boat- The Rock Quarry. Devin was really interested in jumping off some rocks. We found some smaller ledges that all the kids enjoyed jumping off. 

Tate's turn to jump!  

He's so graceful!  

Addy was up next. 

Then Devin showing them how it's done. After this little ledge, we moved to one that was a little higher. 

"CANNONBALL"!

Splash down.

After enjoying the quarry and eating some lunch we found a large cove to go intertubing. Devin and Addy were up first. 

Then Tate took his turn. He does like any crazy rides.

We headed back to the resort, because there was a huge line of storms coming. We did have enough time to enjoy the swimming pool before the rain hit and our dinner reservation. 

We got all cleaned up and ready for dinner. That's when the rain started and never hardly stopped. Devin, Addy, and Tate in front of the water wheel at Patti's. 

Tate was ready to eat one of Patti's famous pork chops!

Devin eagerly waiting some tasty food and amazing dessert. 

Tate and Mom selfies

Mom and Devin selfie. 

The kids at dinner. We had a really enjoyable day and the rain never stopped us from having a good time. 

Labor Day - Soup Festival & Fun

Happy Labor Day Weekend.  As coined by Devin "Soup Festival".  Our Saturday started bright and early at Grandma & Grandpa Wolsing's.  The weatherman was calling for a very hot & humid day, so we figured we better just get started.  We got the fire started, and water boiling.  Then we quickly started adding ingredients.  While the meat cooked, we started chopping the cabbage and potatoes.  Then let the stirring begin.....  

Hanging out around the fire pit, in the shade, in front of huge fans, stirring-stirring-stirring.  

That's how we made burgoo this Labor Day weekend.  

There's no better way to beat the heat and enjoy the last few days of summer than spending time on the lake.  

Devin & Tate enjoying a fun ride on Grandpa's new inner tube.  Uncle Eric and Mom pulled both of them.  Uncle Eric is definitely the tamer driver.  The kids cracked up when I would knock them off the tube.  

Cousin fun on Grandma & Grandpa Wolsing's boat.  It was a perfect day to enjoy the lake.  The water felt amazing.  It was "just right".  

In between our boating and tubing adventures we enjoyed some time on the beach.  All the boys love digging in the sand - even Grandpa.  He was digging in the sand for treasures.  He spent time metal detecting while the little boys played.  While we were there he found a few treasures.  

We voted on where we should have dinner and the little guys decided on the ice cream factory (Dairy Queen).  We enjoyed dinner out on their patio.  Then we headed back to Grandma & Grandpa's house to watch a movie.  We decided on Indiana Jones.  Tate passed out hard, he didn't even eat all his popcorn first. If you know Tate, that's quite surprising!!

You know it's been a great weekend by how quickly your road trip partners pass out in the back seat.  They didn't even make it 10 minutes.  

Swimming, Boating, Fireworks, & Friends

Tate enjoying the pool at Green Turtle Bay.  The kids were so excited to go swimming.

 

Devin figured out every possible way to slide down the water slide.  This picture cracks me up!  I didn't realize until I was editing photos the expression I caught.  Devin's face and pose is to funny! 

Dad joined in on the pool action.  He didn't want to be left out of all the fun.  Thanks to Uncle Matt for the beach balls.  They were put to good use this weekend!

Devin stopped for a quick second to snap a picture. 

Tate flying down the slide.  I am not sure how he could come down the slide in so many crazy ways.  He starts off so well....then it quickly goes wrong.

Kinda looks painful to me.

Tate and Ms. Lisa riding on the inner tube together.

We found a cove, dropped anchor, and all went for a swim.

Addy & Devin tubing.

All dressed up for the 4th of July.  We had just eaten dinner and were getting ready to head out on the boat to watch fireworks.

Showing off their patriotic outfits.  Thanks Mamaw!

Family picture on the 4th.

Patiently waiting for the fireworks to begin.

I packed a bag full of glow items for the kids to play with while we were waiting on the fireworks to begin.  The kids had a blast playing with all the glow sticks. 

 Before heading out, we stopped by the marina to see why they named the area Green turtle bay.

There are hundreds of turtles in the area. 

Devin, Tate & Addy enjoyed feeding all the turtles.  They laughed as they fought over pieces of bread.

This is a picture of one of the larger turtles.  The kids decided that it had to be the Mommy of all the other turtles because it was so large. 

 

Boating on Rend Lake

So we finally had a free weekend and had to go boating. We hit Rend Lake with Grandma & Grandpa Wolsing and Eric & Xavier. We cruised around the lake for a little while before heading to a sandy beach. We spent sometime swimming and playing in the water.

Mommy and Devin where brave - they were the first group to try inter tubing.

Xavier and Uncle Eric enjoying cruising on the boat.

Tubing on Rend Lake

Enjoying his first inter tube rides of the season. This actually isn't the first time he had ridden an inter tube before. He rode last summer for the first time. He really enjoyed riding with everyone. We had such an enjoyable day and the water couldn't have felt any better!

Also wanted to go for a ride with Grandma Wolsing.

Really enjoying the few waves we went over. He really liked when the tube would bounce up and down. This is Devin's best impression of "No Hands"!

Cute smile for the camera!

Hit the Water & the Park

Grandpa Wolsing teaching Devin how to drive the boat. This is definitely his favorite seat in the boat.

Trying to keep warm after we attempted to swim. The water was a little cool and it had decided to sprinkle a little bit. Needless to say the brief shower didn't slow us down.

On the way back to Grandma & Grandpa's house we decided to swing by the park. Devin loved climbing this rock wall and sliding down the twisty slide. It was one busy day, but we all really enjoyed ourselves.