Well, as sad as it is, we are on the way home. Jaycie even tried to convince daddy to let us stay until tomorrow because everyone else is leaving tomorrow, but he has to go back to work. We have had lots of fun on this vacation!

Somehow of all the people in our group, I am the one with the most sunburn. I don't know why it ended up that way because I have put sunscreen on just like everyone else. I guess it's just been building up each day. So, John suggested we go to Moody Gardens in Galveston to get out of the sun. So, our family is on the way there now. It's supposed to be even better that the Dallas World Aquarium. We'll see!

Today has been fun! This evening we went down to the jetty and saw dolphins and big ships! Then we made a bonfire on the beach! We are having so much fun!

Yesterday we decided to all go to galveston and go to schlitterbaun. It was a lot of fun! I got dumped on the whitewater rapid and hit my head on the bottom of the concrete rocks so, i had a headache the rest of the day. The kids all had a great time though! Today we're going back down to the beach for some more sand and sun!

We rode the Kemah Boardwalk Bullet Rollercoaster! It was awesome! Everyone got to ride and had a blast. It was worth the drive.

We are on our way down to surfside beach! I sure hope black marly, chuck, stays in asbel's backyard! Already had one call that he was out. Hopefully that's it!

Last day at the lake. We're on the way home. We had lots of fun with the family.

Day 3: Well, it rained all morning and we slept in because of it. Zach made bacon and eggs for breakfast. There is a 4th of July Parade at 4:00 today and then a dinner in the park. My Aunt Dee volunteered the Barnhart Family to run a tattoo booth, so we will be tattooing little kids :o) My Great Uncle Jim (Grandad Bob's brother) and his wife Louise came up to see everyone. We are having a great time! Happy 4th of July!!

Day 2: After getting up this morning, we had to run to Wal*Mart to get some groceries. Then we came home and went swimming for a long time! Then, we ate dinner and watched fireworks. We are having a great time hanging out with family!!

Night 1: Okay, so we get to the lake house about 12:30 in the morning and we have to vacuum to make sure there are no spiders, since no one has been living in Grandma Bea's house for over a year. We finally get to bed about 1:30. Then it starts storming about 3:00 in the morning and wakes me up, everyone else sleeps right through it. Then, I finally get to sleep and I hear a weird song chiming over and over. It's Zach's alarm at 4 in the morning! I get up, turn it off and go back to sleep. It happens again at about 5:30, Zach's second alarm. I get up, up turn it off and go back to sleep, again. It happens again at 5:50, this time its Becky's. So again, I get up and repeat the process. Then, at 6:03 there is another alarm! Ugh! I cannot believe I am the only one hearing these! This time it was Cameryn's ihome! Then, I finally get to sleep again when Emmie and Case start waking up about 8 something. Oh, well? Good morning everyone we're at the lake!

Day 1: Riding in the car with dustin, laura, cameryn, and jaycie. Looking forward to some fun, family, swimming, and fireworks! Happy 4th everyone!

So, Lisa and I have become addicted to painting pottery! It is so much fun and the girls like it too! This time Kenadee decided to do a mosaic flower which was good because it took her a long time! Jaycie painted a bear and a little ducky hatching out of the shell. Cameryn and Hannah painted zebras and Lisa and I worked on plates. I can't wait to see them when they are glazed and fired!

Our Three Girls

Dustin's Birthday Dinner

My brother-in-law Dustin's birthday is coming up on June 30th, so we all went to dinner at Genghis Grill. This is one of his favorite places to go and it is new to us. He thought we would all have fun trying something different.



So, you go through the line with your little bowl and you pick out what kind of protein you want. Becky and I had a hard time getting over the fact that is is all RAW! Jaycie almost cried when daddy put chicken in her bowl because it looks so weird. We laughed and made faces as we put stuff in our bowls. Next, you get to put your own spices, vegetables, or fruit in the bowl. There are many different kinds of sauces you can pick to have your food cooked with too. Then, you choose rice or noodles and they take your bowl away and cook it on a big round grill. It really is cool how they have it sectioned off and they use these big wooden stick things to move it and turn it.

Then they give you a number and you take it to your table and they bring you your food when it is all cooked. It actually looked pretty good! I have a hard time trying new and different things, but we'll see! Here is the finished product! Yum!

We all had a lot of fun and enjoyed eating at a new place. Dustin was glad everyone came and liked his special restaurant! Thumbs up Dustin!














Then after dinner, some of us decided to go next door and have some dessert at Piccomolo. It is Italian Ice Cream called Gelato. It is different. I'm not sure we really liked it. I think everyone likes regular ice cream or frozen yogurt better, but it was fun to try it. It is really cute inside with neat little chairs. The kids all had fun eating with the little shovels, lol!



(Silly Zach, sticking his tongue out, LOL!)



What a fun day, Happy Birthday Dustin!

Pottery Time

On Thursday, Lisa and I took the kids to paint pottery. We had so much fun! Cam and Ken painted the first letter of their name, Jay painted a bunny, Lisa painted a cupcake and I painted a plate with Cam's handprint in the center. I have a plate with all my girls footprints on it, but I don't have any handprint plates. I've decided I would paint one of the girls hand each time we go. So, I have to go back 2 more times! Fun, fun! This is after we finished painting, before they glaze and fire them. I can't wait until we get to pick them up!!

On this particular day, we were sitting around painting and laughing when the news of Michael Jackson's death was announced over the radio. We were all very shocked and sad to hear that he had died! I will never forget where I was or what I was doing on the day that Michael Jackson AND Farrah Fawcett died. Cam said, "I will tell my kids about this day," and Jay said, "Can we go to his funeral?" So cute!

Freckles likes to play with the geckos on my bathroom window, lol!

Here is the final drawing. Horses are hard! Way to go Jaycie!

Jaycie drew an awesome horse tonight at dinner! Who knows maybe a future artist on our hands!

~Life & Times at the Pool~

Today was a very interesting and eventful day at the pool with my beloved friends! We had one fiasco after another, lol!

• Maddy was very sunburned from yesterdays swimming and she was hurting,
• Cameryn was swimming with her eyes closed and didn't realize the water got shallow and she scraped her nose, lip, chin and elbow on the bottom of the pool BAD (chin was the worst),
• Jaycie was opening her eyes in the water and her eyes burned,
• Christian didn't have a swim suit,
• Christy took Cameryn to the store to get New Skin and waterproof clear band-aids, and a swim suit for Christian,
• Kyle pooped in his swimmie diaper and they had to clean the pool 20 mins, so embarrassing,
• Rae Ann and I had to clean up Kyle, so gross,
• Christy came back with a much happier Cameryn and a swim suit for Christian,

We all had a great time and LOTS of laughs! One of the funniest things was Kyle had a huge pixie stick that was empty and he walked along beside the life guards in the toddler pool just like they do with their pole. They had a good laugh too! So cute! All of the kids were worn out and sun-kissed! I love you guys!!

Cam playing with baby life jackets at wal mart. Silly girl!

Cameryn, such a cutie!

Our power finally came back on about midnight Friday morning. Needless to say it was off for about 30 hours! Now I have to clean out the fridge, Ugh! Stupid Storm!!

It would sure be nice if our power would come back on. It's been off since about 6:00 Wednesday night. Ugh!

This is a test of the emergency broadcast system :o)

Funny I said this today about noon so I could test my mobile blogger and then I really heard this test right before the storm hit about 6:00, LOL!

Jaycie's Birthday Soiree! (That's a Fancy word for Party!)

This year Jaycie decided to have a Fancy Nancy Birthday Party after one of her favorite book characters, Fancy Nancy. She also wanted to go skating again and have her party at Skate Town. We had a gr-8 time and she is so thankful for all of our friends and family who came to celebrate with us. We were so sad though, that Mimi and Grandad had to go out of town to see my Grandad Bob in Oklahoma. We missed you!!

We LOVE Fancy Nancy

Jaycie & her friend Maddy

Mommy & Jaycie with her cake

Jaycie with Frenchy, Nancy's Posh Puppy

Birthday Hokey Pokey

Me with my Awesome Sisters, Becky & Laura

P.S. Uncle Zach tried to get Jaycie's Fancy Nancy balloon that accidentally came off of the string and went up to the ceiling. So, he tried to jump up and grab it. He missed the balloon and came down very hard on his heel. After a week of limping and pain, he went to the doctor and they said he had fractured his foot! We are soo sad that this happened to you, while chasing Fancy Nancy!! Now he is on crutches and has to wear a boot! We love you Uncle Zach! :o(

Cameryn Graduates from Elementary School with Perfect Attendance...AGAIN!!

Congratulations Cameryn!! This was Cameryn's last day of Elementary School. Next year she will go to Middle School and be in the 6th Grade. I'm sad that she is no longer going to be in elementary school, but at the same time, I'm excited for her to go to middle school.

She had a graduation ceremony and I was so fortunate to be able to go. They sang a few songs, gave out awards, and then served refreshments. Cameryn received a trophy for having Perfect Attendance all year! This is Cameryn's 4th year to have Perfect Attendance! I'm so proud of you Cameryn!!

Jaycie's Birthday!!

Happy Birthday, Jaycie!! My little 'precious moments girl' has turned 7! It was also her last day of First Grade! A little girl in her class has the same birthday as her and she was having an end of the year birthday bash at her house, complete with huge inflatable water slide, bounce house, snow cone machine and pizza! The whole class was invited and they had a great time! What a way to end the year! I'm so proud of you, Jaycie!!

Stonegate Variety Show

On May 29th, my school had a variety show, or talent show. This was the first time it has ever been during the day. It was so much fun! There were two different shows, one in the morning for the primary grades and one in the afternoon for the upper grades. The students had to "try out" to be in the show. They were also looking for some "Teacher Talents" to perform...and if you know me...I was all over it!! That is just my thing!! He he he! So, me and my teammates together with the fun teachers of third grade, performed the Cha Cha Slide for the school. We actually got to perform twice! At the end of our performances, the kids were so excited, clapping and cheering and we waved and said, "School Rocks!" which was also on our shirts. Earlier in the week, we had a few practices and someone dared me to do a toe touch after our performances. So, as we were walking off stage, I kinda waited until there was enough room and then did my "toe touch dares" and the kids and teachers all cheered! It was AWESOME!! So much fun!! :o)

Katie's Graduation & John's Birthday!

Today we went to see Katie graduate from Nolan Catholic High School. She looked so pretty and we are soo proud of her!

Today is also John's Birthday, so afterwards we all went to Papa's Burgers for dinner and ice cream shakes...Yum!! We had a great time with the Newman's!

Then we went to see John's friend Marc at his pet store, the Amazon Aquarium. Wow! They have all kinds of exotic animals! The girls tried to talk us into getting Prairie Dogs, lol!! Instead we came home with a female Water Dragon that John thinks is going to lay eggs soon. It was a birthday present from Marc and Julia. I'm sure Spike will be happy! :o)