A Really LONG blog

WOW! What a week! We have had the best time with Ryan's family in town! They were able to stay an extra day, so they were here from Friday, July 3-today, July 9. This was such a great thing, because they are normally able to only stay 2 or 3 days. We had a jammed full week of lots of fun and activities.

4th of July

Well, for the 4th of July we had a pretty relaxing day. We didn't really do much on the 4th during the day, but in the evening after all the kids naps, we headed out to my parents house and at some good ol' fashion pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad and baked beans. It was so good! After filling up on food, we headed out to the City of Battlefields fireworks show. They had games and inflatables for the kids, and the best part, it was all FREE! The kids had fun while we waited for the sun to set. Then the fireworks started! They were some of the best fireworks we had seen! They really went all out and put on a great show! We were all pleasantly surprised. It was a great time and the weather was great too! Here are some pictures from our festivities.

Twin cousins ready to celebrate the 4th!

Everyone waiting for the fireworks to start.

Adriana sitting with her HeeHee and Mimi,

Fireworks

Adriana sitting with Daddy watching the fireworks.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!
Well on Sunday, we had a great time too! We went to church and then had our traditional lunch, when Ryan's family is in town, we went to Cheddars. It was good eating, like always. We came home and took naps and then headed out to Nixa to this little go cart track and mini golf place. Of course, I couldn't ride the go carts being pregnant and all, but all the kids got to ride and they had a BLAST! After riding the go carts we had a crazy game of mini golf. We thought the kids would enjoy this, but they were too busy running around the course and throwing things in the fountains. Pretty much we played 18 holes as fast as we could so we could try to tame the wild beasts (our children) before we got kicked off the course. We had a great time and it was, again, wonderful weather. It was such a fun time together.

On your marks, get set,.....GO!


Poppop and Riley



Ryan and Adriana


Kara and Jack

HeeHee


Kara's Power Shot

Jim trying to mess up Sandy. Although it didn't

work out, since she was the only one of us to

get a hole in one!

Tiger Woods, oh, I mean, Jim. He was the

champion, but it was probably because he golfed

with so many clubs in his hands!

Heehee and Adriana on the putting green.


2 Little ones looking for trouble while golfing.

A Day at the Park

On Monday, Ryan went to work, so it was my chance to entertain the family. Well, everything I wanted to do, was either closed on Monday's or it was too cold to do, like swimming outside. We ended up going to the park in Nixa, this is Adriana's favorite park. The kids had a great time swinging, sliding and running up and down this huge hill. We didn't stay for too long, but we had fun. We went to Wendy's for lunch, and then home for a nap. When Ryan got off work that day we took everyone to the Community Center that we are members of and we went swimming. We had a great time and I think the kids really enjoyed it. We stayed at the pool for over 2 hours and didn't leave until after 9pm. We had a big day, but it was so much fun!

Kara and Jack


PopPop teaching the kids how to roll down the

hill, the kids didn't really get it. They enjoyed

running down the hill instead.

Riley and Jack swinging

Ride The Ducks

On Tuesday, Ryan took off work and we headed to Branson for the morning. We had planned on going and doing the "Ride the Ducks" attraction. It was so much fun! We see it every time we are down that way, but never have done it. It was so worth the money, and would suggest doing it, if you are ever in the Branson area. My mom ended up coming with us for the day too. My dad was going to go, but was feeling under the weather, so she came alone. The first thing we did down there was the Duck ride. We had the funniest driver, "Captain Wild Thing" and he really made the ride everything it was. We got to hear some history about Branson and the surrounding landmarks as well of plenty of corny jokes. He picked on Jim and Sandy a lot and a couple of other poor souls that were aboard our ride. We had a great time and had many laughs along the way. (Picture Note: I just realized that I don't have a picture of Jim and Jack on the Ride the Ducks, Imust of taken that picture with their camera, sorry!)

Our Ride. You take your tour on the bus part

and then the take you right into the water. It

was so cool!

Captian Wild Thing

Daddy and Adriana with thier "quackers"

Me and Adriana

This was too stinkin' cute! While we

were driving around, our tour guide

told us to be quiet for a minute so we

could sneak up on these people on a mini

golf course and "quack" at them real loud.

Well, when it got quiet, I guess Adriana thought

we were going to pray, so I look over and she has

her eyes closed and her hands together like in prayer.

It was too cute. Of course by the time I took a picture

she was out of her pose, but you can still see that her

eyes are closed.

Kara and Riley

Riley driving the boat, while on the Lake. She

was the only one of the kids that was brave enough

to get up there and drive.

The grandmothers being loud and out of control

with the quackers.

After the ride, we went to lunch. Nothing special, just something quick and easy, McDonald's. Then we were off to Bumper Boats. Unfortunately we didn't have any pictures from that, since we were all riding in the boats, but it was so much fun. The kids had a great time and the best part was, it was only us on the water and no one else. We really just ran out of time, that morning, we wanted to do more, but as with toddlers, they need their naps, so we headed home for rest time. That evening we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese, which none of them had every been before. We all had a great time. With it being in the middle of the week, they weren't busy at all, so we got to play a lot of games. I think the adults had just as much fun as the kids. It was a great end to a great day.

Adriana and Riley, "riding" on a roller coaster,

they couldn't care less.


Adriana in a BIG rocking horse

Chillin' with Chuck E. Cheese.

Loving this ride. It was slow as

molasses though.

The Last Day

Well, Like I said, they ended up staying an extra day, which we were so glad of. Ryan went back to work on Wednesday so I took everyone out to the Wilson Rutledge Farm. Its a public park of sorts, that houses animals that you can pet, picnic areas and a playground. We ended up meeting my parents out there for a picnic. The kids had more fun feeding the ducks their food, than eating it, but nevertheless, they enjoyed it. After we ate, we went through the barn and saw all the animals. They enjoyed this a lot. After that, we headed for the playground. The kids had a good time playing, however, it was getting so hot and past nap time, they didn't really get to play that long.

That evening, we just took it easy and hung around the house.

Grandparents and grandkids

Milking the cow

Adriana petting the cat that roamed around

there.

Adriana in the flower garden

Don't let this look fool you, she wasn't as innocent

as she looks.

We had a great time with them and are sad to see them go. We may not get to see them for a while, so we did as much as possible while they were here and made lots of fun memories. Adriana LOVES her cousins and all her family from Alabama and were so excited they were here. Thank you guys for coming all this way to spend your vacation time with us. We love you and miss you already!