Yep, more lake pictures

Jacob's has one of the many July birthdays in the family, we try to make it extra special with a party at the lake...

Some of the gorgeous sunsets over Smith Lake...

Sophie Kate can take the late night partying for only so long...

Our Fourth of July cuties...

Absolutely love this one of SK and baby Olivia...

 All the cousins...

Don't you just love how compliant they all look, they're like this all the time...ahem, except they were threatened within an inch of their boat riding privileges...just kidding (not really).  Actually the dreaded family photo night (and when I say dreaded I'm mean mostly dreaded by our husbands) went pretty smoothly if you don't count the sweat pouring down the faces of me and my sister.  

It's been fun going back through all the pictures from our trip.  It's always a great time, no one ever wants to leave. These are wonderful memories, as our children grow up they will always remember their summers at the lake. 


Thanks for checking in on us.

Smith Lake (part 2)

I have so many of these shots from our Smith Lake trip, it was hard to pick just one...

On the days we didn't have the boat, we hung out at the dock.  On this particular day Sophie Kate got in the baby pool brought by my sister for baby Olivia.  Just as a side note in case you may be wondering, SK is not able to get in lake water because of her feeding tube.  So we filled up the baby pool with the water hose so she could stay cool too.

Grey hopped right in with her to help.  This boy is on top of things when it comes to his sister.  He was not asked to stop swimming or to come over and help, he just does it. It's not only a sweet gesture on his part, it's a part of who he is.  He knows when he's needed, he knows when she needs him.  

They too have a bond with no need for words.

Sophie Kate, happy in the pool.

Sophie Kate and her cousin Emma Claire, they're rockin' the southern double name thing.

Love this one of my dad showing Grey how to drive the boat...

Going...

Going...

Gone...

My dad and Chad were able to get Cooper off the tube 2 times this year.  I'm not sure if it was the boat driving or just sheer exhaustion that caused him to be thrown from the tube, probably a little of both.  This kid hung on like nobody's business, it was quite a task to get him off the tube and in the water.

Baby Olivia...

Not sure what these two are planning and even more sure that I don't want to know...

Remember when I mentioned exhaustion in the last post? Well, this is what it looks like...

Well, it looks like things are going to stretch into a third post.  The lake vacation just cannot be contained to only two.

The brothers

Thanks for checking in on us.

Smith Lake

Each summer we take a week long trip with my parents and my sister's family to beautiful Smith Lake.  My parent's rent a house and a boat and when that is combined with 7 grandchildren, this is what happens...

Grey was ready to go "boating" (as he called it) from the moment we got there.  If the boat was leaving the dock, he was on it!

It didn't matter if we were on the dock...

or on the boat...

 (Don't ask, it's just Grey he's like this all the time)

or tubing...

 (yep, he's doin' the sprinkler)

(show off)

Everyone had a great time.  The kids were full on energy all week long.  We played hard and fell exhausted into our beds each night.  It was a good kind of tired though, the kind of tired you feel content with after putting everything you have into the day.  It's knowing you put everything you had to give that day into these guys...

and the baby sister...

There is much more to share including proof that Cooper was thrown off the tube this year, but that's all for now.  Thanks for checking in on us.