Can't Wait for July!

Just about every night after Brandon and I get home from work and get Maddy settled in bed, we sit down in our chairs and say, "I cannot wait to go the beach!"


Stacey and I were walking yesterday (trying to get in shape for the beach, of course) and she said, "Man, I cannot wait to go to the beach!"


As you can tell, we are all pretty dang excited.

We are renting a house on the beach in Garden City, along with Karen & James (Brandon's parents), Richard & Betty (his grandparents), David, Crystal & Lindsay (his uncle, aunt and cousin) and Kyle, Stacey & Bailey (our best friends and their 6 year old daughter). We will be there for an entire week. It is going to be so awesome.

The house is a little old and kind of tacky on the inside but the backyard is to die for. Richard always brings his boat so he can fish and this house has its own floating dock and boat ramp. It has a pool, hot tub, several sitting areas where we can hang out at night and two grills inside a gigantic chimney AND it is across the street from the beach. Did I mention it is going to be awesome?!

Here are a few pictures...

Also in July, my nephew Jacob and niece Lilly will be staying with my parents for two whole weeks. Jake always comes up for some time in the summer but this will be Lilly's first trip. Unfortunately, Josh and Penny will be coming to pick them up the weekend we leave for the beach so we will only get to see them for a night or two. But, we all know the kids are more important, no one cares about the parents, right?

Memorial Day at the Lake

On Memorial Day we went to Kaye and Danny's lakehouse to ride the boat, play volley ball and cookout.

Kaye & Danny bought a new boat - a pontoon and it is amazing!

Maddy wore herself out playing outside.








































At the end of the afternoon everyone went out on one last boat ride and Brandon and I stayed behind in the hopes that we would be able to get Maddy to take a nap. She has really started hating to go down for a nap, especially when she knows people are having fun and she is going to miss something. So, we plopped her down on the hammock and started to swing her and before we know it she is passed out sitting up and folded in half. It was so cute. She stayed that way for about 20 minutes!

Flock of Seagulls...

Need I say more?

Memorial Day Weekend in Wilmington

We took a weekend trip to visit Zac in Wilmington over Memorial Day. As always, it was a great time. We finally got to meet Zac's girlfriend, Sarah and we all loved her, including Maddy. She was a little shy at first but by the end of the weekend she was handing out kisses like candy.

She seemed quite scared of the pool. She was ok as long as we were really close to her, but she never smiled.

The first night we drove the boat to dinner. I spent most of the dinner walking around with Maddy who was not happy sitting in her chair. She had a meltdown in the boat that night, too.

The next day we went out on the boat again and swam near a sandbar. She seemed to enjoy that a little better.

I think the thing she loved the most was Jacks, Martins black lab. He was only visiting when we showed up but every time we walked outside she would squat down and look for him under the deck.

Miss Pickles

Granny & Poppy brought a new pony home for Maddy and Lilly. Here are some pictures of Bailey "riding the buck out of her" and then helping Maddy ride.

Maddy's First Horse Show

Maddy took part in her first horse show at 14 months old. It was too cute. She and Chevy were in the lead line class (the only two participants) and both tied for first place - imagine that! She had a great day. She threw fits when it was time to get off the horse, took a nap under a tree, poured applesauce all over Mom's phone, rode the big country, and hung out with Chevy.

Arizona

I took a work related trip to Chandler, Arizona last week with a co worker/friend and we drove out to Sedona and took a four wheeling tour of the red rock and desert. It was pretty cool. It was a very long day between the flight and all the driving we had to do to get to Sedona and back in time for our meeting but well worth it. Here are a few pics taken from my cell phone.