Busy 2 weeks of FUN!

My Mom and Dad came to Kentucky for two weeks to visit us! Here is just a sample of what we've been up to!

Isaac wanted to look "nice" for Grandma so he got into my lipstick.


Went to the Newport Aquarium in Cincinnatti. This place is one of our favorites (ok...one of Cameron's FAVS). He loves sea creatures you could say. It was fun and all the kids are excited to say they got to pet a shark.

Celebrated my Mom's birthday! Fun to be with her for her birthday this year! She is such a great Mom.


We went to Michigan to welcome home my nephew Briton who just got back from
his mission in Uruguay! So good to see him and have him home. Ellie was happy to
see her cousin Caitlin...she loves her lots! (We all do.)

We took a ride on Uncle Mike's Boat on Lake St. Clair....so so much fun!

We all got turns on the jet skis...here's Kelsey and Ellie on
with their cousins Caitlin and Briton

Everyone (even Isaac) went for a swim in the lake and loved jumping in off the
side of the boat!

Here's a picture of Uncle Mike's boat...he let everyone have a turn
to "drive" the boat. The kids loved it!

Fun at the Louisville Science Center! In typical Kelsey fashion...she had the whole
pretend "market" store all organized and whipped into shape as she pretended to
be the Store Manager. She takes charge!

Chuck E. Cheese's....my kids LOVE this place. It's heaven on earth for them!

Visited the Louisville Slugger Musuem...where they make the famous Louisville
Slugger Bats! It was fun and pretty interesting to see how they make all those bats. At the end of the tour, they give everyone a real miniature bat (which of course all ended up being put up on top of the fridge at the end of the day because kids were whacking each other with them). This is Cameron holding one of Micky Mantle's bats.

So its amazing how fast two weeks go when family comes to visit! It was a great trip. Blaine got to know my Dad and little better on the drive up to Michigan which was good, and we made some good memories with our great Grandma and Grandpa Despain. Thank you Mom and Dad for all the fun!! We love you...see you in October!

Summer of Swimming....

This is the way we roll in the summer....hang out at home in the morning, do chores, have naps, and then hit the pool for the afternoon when everyone is telling me, "I'm bored" or "It's hot" or "I don't want to play outside". I miss the pools we had in Lexington, but we have enjoyed the YMCA pool here a lot. I love taking my kids swimming. They all LOVE it and swim their hearts out till their exhausted and then we go home, eat dinner, and send them to bed! Great times!

Chasin' Isaac at the pool is all I do...this is a picture of his cute little footprints on the cement that go everywhere!! Part of me can't wait till I get to be one of the moms who get to sit in a chair on the side and read and book....but until then I have to be right in the action to keep up with this kid!

Ellie likes for me to make her a "dress" out her towel when we're all done swimming.
Cameron likes to cross the sponge pads. He's always been such a little fish and is a great swimmer.

Is that a boy having fun or what??

For some reason this pic won't rotate...but here's us having fun together. When Blaine gets to come to the pool the kids are so thrilled...its much more fun with a Dad to climb on and play with.

Isaac loves the slide! Especially when his big brother takes him!

Our Little Mermaid Kelsey

Is she a cutie or what? Growin' up too fast!

Summer is going way to fast, but these are the days I'll remember!

Night at the Zoo...

We had a great trip to the zoo Friday night. It was perfect weather,

not crowded, and best of all our Dad was there with us for

a fun time and picnic dinner together. Blaine promised to fight any goose that tried to eat our food. Our kids are terrified of the geese at the zoo....they're very aggressive when it comes

to getting food! And we caught the LAST

carousel ride of the day (thank goodness!)

Budso loves his dinner....

Love this boy so much. Here he is totally enjoying his dinner
of chicken and rice.

I Heart Summer....

Summer is here and its been HOT and HUMID here! We've been having fun and trying to keep cool and busy!

The hose gets turned on A LOT lately for a fun waterfight! The laundry has been out of control because clothes are getting soaked and dirty all the time but hey...it's fun for the kids.

And nothing beats popsicles on a hot summer day...Isaac is crazy about them!

Pictures from the pool and our new trampoline coming soon!

Cub Scout Day Camp

Last week was Cub Scout Day camp for Cameron. I got to go with him one day to be a Den Mom. It was so fun for Cameron (and me!). He was so excited about being able to shoot a REAL BB Gun and shoot a REAL bow and arrow!

Making a boat out of a bar of soap!

Getting sprayed by the Fire truck! What boy doesn't think that is awesome! And it was H-O-T!

Cameron at Archery. I gave it a try...it's harder than it looks!

Cameron's favorite event..BB Guns. He was awesome at it! He got a bunch of "bulls-eyes" on his target! Guess what he wants for Christmas? A Red Rider BB Gun.

Everyday they had a special "Guest" come to teach the cub scouts about something. The day I went they had a Life Flight Helicopter land on the camp field and the boys got to ask questions and check it out. It was pretty neat.

Our special visitors....

My best friend Shelley who lives in Utah was visiting her sister Holly who lives in Tennessee and she (being the great friend that she always has been) drove 4 hours to spend about 4 hours with us and then drove 4 hours back to TN. Is that so nice or what? It meant so much for me to have her here in my house so she can see where I live and a little more of what my life is like here in Kentucky. I didn't want to let her leave, but what a great day it was. I'm keeping the hope alive that someday we'll be neighbors.

Our kids had a blast together. It was so fun to see our kids playing together. Wish we could do this all the time!

Enjoying some popsicles!

And playing in the mud! Look at Gardner!! This kid is awesome!

Thanks again for the great visit Shell....can't wait till the next one!