2015 Vacation

Even with all of the house and harvest chaos we were able to squeeze in a four day vacation with our good friends, the Noel family.  John and Ryan knew each other in high school, lived together in college, and have remained close.  Their family relocated to Holton a few years ago and our kids are close in age and truly enjoy being together.  

We stayed in Kimberling City, but spent the majority of our time on TableRock Lake and in Branson.   First stop, The Ducks.

 We bought combo tickets and hit up the Dixie Stampede that afternoon.  The Stampede is owned by Dolly Parton and is dinner theater with horse show.   We were able to see a lot of the show horses on the way in. 

The amount of food they served was crazy!  Lucy was young enough she did not have to have her own ticket and she and I shared our meal.  It started with a crock of soup and a cheddar biscuit, was followed by rotisserie chicken, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and pork tenderloin, and then apple turnovers for dessert.  The catch was, no silverware.  We all looked around for a bit, confused, and then dug right in.  For a person who doesn't eat meat off a bone, it was kinda hard to start picking the chicken apart, but it did taste good.  Even with three meals for four people, we still had leftovers.  

 Lilly and John would happily have spent the whole time in the lake.

 The littles, Lucy and Gavin loved the boat. 

 And I think we all had fun tubing.  

 We had a private dock we swam off of.  One evening we were one lifejacket short so John borrowed one from another slip.  Little did he know he was sporting a doggie life jacket.  Was kinda funny when the owner of it showed up.  Luckily it was our neighbor and he got quite the chuckle out of it.  

 Since it was such a short vacation, John and I felt it best to do all of the driving in the evenings, to maximize our time.  We were exhausted by the time we got home, but would go back in a heartbeat! 

Pics from the Rest of the 4th

Lilly's birthday and 4th of July

Somehow Lilly lucked out this year and had three different birthday celebrations.  First off was her friend party, complete with a new slip and slide and sand dollar cupcakes.  

We celebrated with John's parents the day of Lilly's birthday.  A few days later it was off to GB for the girls and me.  John had to stay behind and harvest.  

I always try to let the kids pick out their birthday themes.  Lilly decided since we were celebrating over the 4th, that she needed a patriotic cake.  

She felt she needed to be the one to eat the "L" off the top.  Figured it was only fair.  

The slip and slide made the trip with us and was thoroughly enjoyed!

I am always amazed at how these kids can go months without seeing each other, yet pick up like it was yesterday.  Somehow they just know how special these little people are to us and how special we are to them.  Lucy and Savi couldn't get enough of each other!  

I have gobs more pics and blogger is telling me I can't add anymore.  Another 4th of July post is in the works!

Happy Birthday Lucy

Sweet Baby Lucy is no longer a baby!  Last Sunday we celebrated with John's parents, my parents and the Moos family, as well as lots of Holton friends.  Hanna and Grant even joined in via Facetime when we sang happy birthday!

It was my first time making modeling chocolate for the cake.  I was fairly happy with the outcome and it tasted much better than the fondant I usually make.

 

 

This little lady never ceases to amaze us.  She has grown so much over the past year and has really come out of Lilly's shadow.  She may not have as much to say as Lilly did at this age, but constantly has us giggling.  Her actual birthday was Monday and she was having an especially challenging bedtime.  She final told me she didn't want to go to sleep because then her birthday would be over!  Such as smarty pants!