Red, White, and Blue Memories

Only four months late, here are some pix from our wonderful July 4th vacation at the lake. The kids were just so cute, I couldn't keep these pix buried forever.

Gideon and his girl cousins (except for Madison and Ashley who weren't able to come).

From oldest to youngest, we have: Shelby, Brooke, Gideon, Lacy, and Becky.

Some of the highlights of the weekend were the tractor rides with Papa! In order to let all the kids ride at once, we needed an adult in the tractor with them, and somehow I got nominated. (Even the pregnancy card didn't get me out of it!) But I'll admit, I had a lot of fun on my first tractor ride!



Then Papa let a few of them "drive" the tractor with him, and of course Gideon loved doing that! After all, he practices every time we go to Home Depot!


Gideon chillin' out.

Super-cute candids of each of the kids enjoying their time at Nana and Papa's lakehouse. Becky - just six months younger than Gideon, she is light as a feather and reminds me of a baby doll. Sometimes I just want to stick a pole up her back and put her on my shelf!

Brooke - who has so much energy I can hardly keep up! She told her mom the other day that when they get older, Gideon will be a pirate, she'll be a fairy princess, and they'll dance together.

I love this picture of Lacy because it perfectly captures her personality. She is hilarious, larger than life, and cracks me up all the time.

Then there's Shelby who is growing up so fast and is such a sweet older sister. With the way she treats Lacy, she makes me feel guilty for how I treated Meghan all those years. :-) She may have gotten my "drama queen" gene, but thankfully she didn't get my "mean older sister" gene!

Then there's proof that the slip n' slide is fun for any age! (Gideon and Uncle Devin)


Lastly, it wouldn't be a trip to the lake without some fishin' with Papa.

I must say, as much as I'm not a "water person," I'm very grateful to God that he blessed my parents with this nice little escape spot that we all get to enjoy. I hope that our kids will continue to form great memories of "the lake" over the years and that it will be a place they'll be talking about even to the next generation! Looking back at these pictures reminds me of similar ones taken decades ago of me and my cousins all lined up cute together. We may not have had a Papa with a tractor, but we had a PeePaw who built us a ferris wheel in his back yard, which we will never forget!

Which gives me an idea... Dad, you know what the lakehouse really needs after you finish the porch... a ferris wheel!! ;-)