This is always one of the best weekends of my whole year!!
Well, that is, after the packing and loading is complete!! =)
But then, once we are loaded (which is quite the process), it is all fun and games!
This year, due to some chilly weather and rain, we tried to get down a little early to beat it with no such luck.
So this just meant more inside sweet time with our cousins!
And we always manage to find something to celebrate while we are there!
In the past it was Chandler's 1st birthday, Gibson's gender reveal party, last year we had a surprise engagement party for Brady and Valerie, and this year we celebrated Dad's birthday!
Love (Griffin or Palmer) giving DooDad the triple hat look!!
And then, of course Natalie nailed it again with the crafts! I love that she found something the big kids enjoyed, but even something little G could do! Color a beach ball with a sharpie! Who wouldn't love to do that?!? AWESOME!
The next day is our typical lake day, but we changed it up due to rain. The guys went and played golf in the rain! Aren't they fancy???
And the girls and kids stayed home and played!
But don't worry! We were fancy, too!!
Mom saw a picture of this hair-do a few weeks ago and threw down the gauntlet for me (a closet hair-dresser wanna-be) to try to duplicate it...
Not to brag, but...Nailed it!
The kids all had so much fun staying home and playing together! They put on a dance recital. Each girl performed 2 solo's and Hudson did an amazing Michael Jackson routine complete with a perfect Michael Jackson costume!
Mimi got to spend some 1 on 1 time with the sweet fella pictured above!
And, of course, Nat continued her streak of craft perfection as they all did their Christmas in July themed crafts!
When the guys returned, the rain had stopped, so we all put on jackets (Yes, Jackets in JULY!!) and went for a boat ride.
There is nothing better than being out on the lake...with your family...in cool summer weather!
Not a bad view either!
Then we returned home to eat some meat that Landry had been carefully smoking for 24-hours!!
YUMMY!!
And then some after dinner playtime!
Making so many fun memories!!
Not pictured here...Game time for adults!! This is probably one of the highlights of my weekend! After all the kids go to bed, the adults stay up and play and laugh hysterically!!
People seemed surprised that 19 of us stay in one house with no drama, but we all genuinely like each other and there is really no adult drama (occasional kid drama, yes...but none with the adults =))!
Then finally, we woke up Saturday, Eddie's parents drove up, and we all hit the lake hard!!
This smile could brighten any day!
Chandler wanted to go tube behind the other boat, but needed help getting over there...Uncle Brady to the rescue!! He even survived the choke hold!
Chandler LOVES to be a snuggle buddy and Aunt Natalie was up for the job!
I'm so sad I don't have more pics, but G on the water is kind-of a full-time job and I mostly tried to keep my camera/phone in a safe and dry place because I was everywhere chasing him around!!
We did LOTS and LOTS of tubing this year, behind both boats and the kids loved it! We also went near the dam where the water is CRAZY cold!! Each year, a few crazy kids/adults jump in. This year, the temp was so cold outside already I didn't think ANYONE would jump in. Let alone, my super-cold-natured daughter!!
But she did it!! And wasn't even that traumatized afterwards. =)
And then we had one more night at the house to enjoy together!
The twins (all the cousins actually) were so sweet and helpful playing with G-man!
The kids all thought Hudson's breathing treatment was super-cool!
Last bit of playtime before heading back to reality!
The Christmas in July tree complete with all the appropriately themed crafts!
The kids got to get a little more playing in while the grown-ups packed up!
The Whole Crew!!
#willnevergettiredofthisvacation!
