Lily's Home!

She seems very content, and pleased that her pasture has grown up so much while she was away at 'Summer Camp'. The kids are thrilled to see her - both 2 & 4 legged.

Many hands...

...make light work! The kids are building rock walls around my flower beds. They look awesome!!

Sisters

New Rear-end

This week we had a new rear-end put on our Ventura, which makes it run so much better! The new chrome cover is all shiny, which attracts my Muscovy ducks & guineas.

Ancestry

One of the annual traditions during our reunion is walking over to the family cemetery. Here you see one of our twins 'meeting' her great-grandparents...the kids really like to read all the headstones & hear all the stories...we need to get them written down before our memories fail!

Fun on the Trampoline!

A Milestone!

30 years of marriage...and still able to kid around with each other - that's something to celebrate!

BIG DOG!

Diesel, the English Mastiff, came to the family reunion yesterday in his very own car...

Good Sportsmanship

Here you see a vicious head-to-head battle for the finish line between the twins! I can't wait to see the time because I'm sure it will be blazing fast - neither of them wanted to let the other one win! Of course, only one could win, but her sister took it very well & just shrugged her shoulders because she knows that she's not the one with the strongest competitive streak. And that her sister would kill herself trying to win. But, she grinned because she didn't make it easy for her!!

Personal Strength

I think this is what I like the best about the kids competing in track - they get to learn what they really can do; sometimes more than they ever thought possible! While our oldest daughter was competing at the high-jump, they called her over to run the 800 meter race. After running a very tough race, she had to go back to the high jump and finish competing there. But, since she was the last of her age group to compete, she had to do all of her jumps one right after the other! I felt so bad for her because she was so hot and exhausted, but she kept throwing herself up over that bar until she just couldn't do it anymore...

My son was incredibly helpful, bringing his step-sister a bottle of water and an ice-water soaked bandanna to help cool her down...

Track Meet

I don't know if you happened to know, but the temperatures here today were in the upper 90s (Farenheit). I am not complaining 'cause I LOVE hot weather! However, the kids had a track meet today, so the heat was a factor. Fortunately we were prepared with spray bottles, ice-water soaked bandanas and lots & lots of drinking water. We had a great day and I just couldn't be more proud of my kids.
My son showed his team spirit by running in a relay race, even though he had already competed in 3 events. And then he helped me by supporting his step-sisters while they competed in their events, by bringing them drinks & other items to help cool them down. When I didn't think he could get any kinder, he let his oldest step-sister borrow his sneakers because her sneakers were hurting her feet! So, there he was walking around barefoot while she ran around in his shoes...

To be continued...

HANG ON TIGHT!

Our oldest daughter, climbing the fake tree at the Waterford World's Fair on Saturday evening, not the least bit scared, but pretending for the crowd. She crazy about thrills - bungee jumping, rock wall climbing, flying trapeze, etc. I just think she's crazy!!

Tradition

On Saturday we went up to Paris Hill Founders' Day & toured the awesome automobile collection that is on display there. I asked the kids to pose in front of the carriage from "Gone with the Wind", one of my personal favorites...
Check out the photos from 2006 & 2008! I can't believe that the boys have grown that much!! Our family has grown too, which is a very good thing.

The Best Kind of Kiss

Right on the super-soft nose of a horse...

Coach's T-shirt

The 8 & under girls LOVE their coach - she's a great leader for them!

Stretching & Yawning

Looks like some of the kiddos didn't get enough sleep!

Encouragement

Core Strength

1957 Chrysler Imperial

If only we had $18,000 to spend on a car...this would be so cool to drive around town!!

With a 392 Hemi under the hood, I bet it can get out of its own way quite nicely...

You're Busted, Buddy!

I peeked through the leaves & caught my little guy jumping his dirt bike! The bad part was that he tried to lie to me about it...wasn't he sheepish when he saw this photo...boys will be boys! No, he didn't get into trouble for the jumping, that was minor & not really very fast thanks to a super small bike, but he did get a very stern lecture about not lying. It's so not worth it!

Blueberries

One of the first berries on our new bushes...we shared it. It was yummy!

Breakfast!

Picture perfect danishes & they were as yummy as they were pretty! They were gone in the blink of an eye...mmmm...

Look at her go!!

I love the smile on her face...it will stay there 'til the finish...she loves running!

Shot Put

She's so focused on that ball, in that moment, visualizing throwing it as far as possible...

Can you see the ball? A real challenge for the photographer to capture it in the air, somewhere that it can be seen! She threw it more than 13' - really good for a first try!!

Up & Over

She had never tried competing in this event before Thursday's meet, but she tried really hard & did extremely well! I told her that about the only way I could get over that 3' bar would be to fall over it!! That made her giggle...

Spotted at Today's Meet

Goat Girls

We got baby goats!! It's been so hard to keep quiet about it, but we wanted to surprise the girls - they sure were! And super excited too!! We're gonna have way too much fun with these little guys...I can't wait for the boys to meet them when they get back from camp this weekend. They've been asking for pack-goats for years...

It did fit!

Today at lunchtime I picked up a kiddie pool for the ducks to swim in...there was some speculation about whether or not it would fit in my Suburban, but, by golly, it did!! My son's ducks are gonna LOVE it...

Happy 4th of July!

Newborn

Is there anything cuter than a baby goat? This LaMancha/Pygmie cross doeling is just 2 days old! What a little sweetheart...

Sheer Determination

Final lap of her first 1500 meter race...beyond exhausted...but, she just caught sight of that finish line & found a little bit more inside herself...I was so proud! She was so proud of herself too & coming in third place was the icing on the cake.

Wait for me!

In between events the kids had some 'down-time', which they used for rough-housing. It was fun to watch them...