4th of July

(Linda, Janet, me, Heather, Joy, Cheryl & Stacy)

I always look forward to the time every year when I get to see my best friends from college. We try to get together at least once a year. We have the best time & the past 2 years we've had our annual gathering at the Boiling Springs YMCA waterpark. It's really perfect because we have plenty of room & the kids have plenty of entertainment. The only downfall is that we just don't have quite enough time to talk. Anyhoo... we had our gathering today & had a blast as usual. Only one of the girls was unable to make it this year but the rest of us were there. We keep growing in numbers with more kiddos being added each year. We'll have two more little ones next time we meet because Heather & Linda are both expecting. I love these girls so much & I'm so thankful that we have all remained friends through the years. Even though I don't get to talk to them as frequent as we would probably all like, we have all remained close.

Here's a group shot of all of us... minus Leslie & her family.


You can check out the rest of my photos on Facebook or here

Happy 7th Birthday... Carter!

Today is my little Carter-Loo's birthday. It couldn't have come soon enough for him. He's been wanting to be 7 really bad now for about 6 months. First thing when he woke up this morning he said "yes I'm 7" with a big fist punch in the air. Fresh out of bed he ran to the kitchen to find his present. Luckily, it was what he wanted... (no, not a dog... that's what he "really" wanted) a Lego City Police Station.

We went to the pool to swim today. This really has been a blessing for us this year. It gives the kids something to do & there is always a sloo of friends there for them to play with. The boys decided they wanted to learn to dive this year.
Chandler almost has it perfected.

Then, there is Carter. He thinks he's got it. However, you can tell from the picture that he's heading for a big, fat belly buster. He tried so many times the other night that his whole chest/belly was bright red. He's still not giving up though.

Then there is Kensley who just wanted to sit with her new Dora towel & eat a snack.

It's a tradition in our family that we take the kids out to eat on their birthday & they get to choose where they want to go. Carter chose Arbys... well, okay, whatever... it IS after all his birthday. So we get there & after I ordered all the food they tell me they are out of roast beef. Seriously!?! Isn't that what Arby's primarily serves... roast beef? I was pretty upset, but everyone conceeded to have chicken & stayed. Carter brought his friend Peyton home today after the pool. He joined us for supper as well. They had a great day!

Carowinds

We had a family trip today (minus Kensley) to Carowinds. Literally, it's been about 5 years since I've been (and that trip consisted of standing in the wave pool for a few minutes-not swimming b/c there was no room- waiting in line for an hour & half to ride one of the water rides & ended up having to leave b/c we ran out of time and riding 1 roller coaster & a few kiddie rides) and I forgot that I wasn't missing much.

It was great family time today & loved spending some time with just the boys, but I am getting too old to do the roller coaster thing anymore. We were all super pumped walking into the park & gung-ho to ride every ride. Well, then... uh, we rode 1.... and ummm.... well, it wasn't great. Chandler & Corby rode the Vortex first (the stand up coaster) and got off & Chandler said he had a headache. So then we make our way around the park to ride a few more rides & the kids keep asking to go to the water park. We were trying to hold off on that as long as we could. So we hit Thunder "beat me to death" Road and were going to ride as a whole family. Carter chickened out last minute, so Corby went out with him and me & Chandler rode it. What was I thinking!!!!????? I forgot how badly that thing jostles your brains. It wasn't fun at all.... my boobs were practically coming out of my shirt by the time the ride ended. I quickly tried to pack everything back in before we came into the station so people wouldn't think it was an x-rated ride. Oh, what a headache. I just wanted something to drink...but we kept walking. We rode a few more rides, had lunch and then gave it up & headed to the waterpark. Now that was fun. We should have spent most of the day there. The boys loved it & we got to ride everything together as a family. We hung around there until it closed & decided to hit a couple more rides before the park closed.

So the "all new" Carolina Cobra roller coaster was right in front of us. It looked so intriguing and fun so me & Corby decided to ride it. Big mistake.... I didn't open my eyes once & after it was over we both looked at each other & said "no more coasters". We both had a headache & I felt sick to my stomach. I was tired, hot, had a headache & felt sick. I just wanted to go home.

All in all, it was a fun day. We are all pooped tonight & I feel sure we will sleep very well tonight. Here's a couple pics I took. The quality is not great b/c it's my camera phone, but it's all I had.