High Dive - Woodland Pool - August 2013

Reagan talked about going off the high dive all summer long. The idea made me nervous... The other issue was there was only one pool with a high dive and it wasn't the one we typically visited. After seeing how comfortable Reagan was with the low dive at a couple of other pools I decided she would probably be ok to try the high dive. With that in mind, the last week of August we headed to the pool with the high dive for Missy Reagan. When she got up on the diving board she actually would have chickened out except the lifeguard said she wasn't allowed to go back down the ladder. Without any choice she jumped right off the end and LOVED it! I have no idea how many times Reagan ended up jumping off the high dive, but I'm certain she'll be begging to go do it once the pools open again next year!

 Kennedy also went, but more because we encouraged her to go than because she really wanted to do it. She thought it was alright but wasn't nearly as excited about it as Reagan. She went off the high dive many times as well but for now prefers the low dive, which is great too!

Here are some videos of the girls jumping off the high dive (sorry for the super poor quality of these videos - I'm going to have to do something about that before Miss Reagan begins her gymnastics competitions...).
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The first video is of Missy K jumping off the high dive:
http://youtu.be/SL77P-aC2BY
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Missy K running off the high dive:
http://youtu.be/S5NHoSik_gY
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Missy Reagan running off the high dive:
http://youtu.be/wC2eeSV8AVw
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Missy Reagan going off the high dive backwards:
http://youtu.be/fjDyPagAaME 
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Missy Reagan flipping off the high dive:
http://youtu.be/hIxfJwKXYYg
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100%Mis   Way to go girls! Can't wait to see what tricks you learn next year! :)

Civil War Re-enactment - Battle of Richmond, Kentucky

Grammy and Grand-Dad drove back with us from Tennessee to Richmond, Kentucky to meet Uncle Dan, Aunt Dorothy, Heidi and Holden for a Civil War re-enactment. This November is the 150th Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. As such, Grand-Dad had suggested a good project for the girls might be to memorize the speech. We have been working on that for the last 6 weeks or so and I thought going to a re-enactment might help parts of the speech make more sense as well as provide a better understanding of the war in general. We found it to be very informational and only wished we had had more time to explore. We will definitely be seeking out more re-enactments in the future!

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Here is a brief description provided on line regarding the Battle of Richmond:

 "The second largest Civil War battle in Kentucky, the Battle of Richmond was one of the most decisive and complete Confederate victories in the entire war. The Battle of Richmond Association was organized in 2001 to preserve this historic battlefield." You can find more information by visiting http://www.battleofrichmond.org/

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Thank you Grand-Dad for taking all these fabulous pictures! You can view many more great pictures of the day at http://www.flickr.com/photos/arthurtlabar/9616646227/ .



 Jackson checking out supplies at one of the tents

 Heidi and Reagan watching a short play after the re-enactment

 Jackson has recently become fascinated with guns. After the re-enactment this soldier walked past us and Jackson immediately said "I want/need that gun!" The soldier heard us and stopped to let Jackson take a better look and then talked to the kids about a variety of things including money from the Civil War period. He was very interesting and we appreciated his time!

We look forward to more re-enactments and learning more about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. Stay tuned for a video of the girls reciting the Gettysburg Address. They almost have it, but I believe we will continue to practice it and post it in November for the actual anniversary of the speech. Thank you to the Dan LaBars and Grammy and Grand-Dad for coming on this little adventure with us!

Friends - Tennessee Visit - August 2013

During our visit to Tennessee we were also able to catch up with several friends. Our first stop was at the Sliger's to visit Aunt Marta. I got such super cute pictures during our visit! Thank you so much for having us over and all the fun activities!

 All four kids enjoying the motorized Thomas trains

A girls game of dominos

 Aunt Marta set up two sprinklers for the kids to run through and they had a fabulous time getting soaked! :)

 McKinley and Aunt Marta decided they would rather be spectators of all the water fun :)

 Kisses for Aunt Marta

 One quick picture before it was time to go - absolutely love this group picture!!! :)

 We also visited one of my best friends from high school and college, Holly. We hadn't seen each other in a while so it was really nice to catch up. Miss McKinley especially loved getting some extra attention from Holly! :)

 Holly's boyfriend, Darcy, was visiting her from Canada so we enjoyed seeing him again as well.

Thanks for letting us come and visit!

 We also visited our BFF's Kelly and Anna and had a slumber party. I had to catch a couple sweet and silly pictures of Reagan and Anna.

 They insisted on having this picture taken with the doll they had dressed on Anna's wall.

Thank you everyone for letting us visit and putting up with all our craziness! We enjoyed seeing all of you and look forward to catching up with you again in a couple of months!

Visit from Lance, Grammy & Grand-Dad

The third weekend in August my cousin, Lance, stopped in to visit us on his way from Wisconsin to Florida. He is so awesome with the kids! Someday he is going to be an incredible father! Lance played everything and anything with all four munchkins. He is simply amazing with little guys!

 Grammy and Grand-Dad came to visit us as well as Lance too. Grammy decided it was time for McKinley to have her first sugar cookie and McKinley whole heartedly agreed! :)

 Grand-Dad was holding McKinley and all of a sudden he said she "fell" asleep quite literally. Such a sweet picture!

My other munchkins had lots of fun with our visitors as well, but somehow I only managed pictures of McKinley for the weekend, maybe because she doesn't have the ability to escape my camera at present??? Thank you everyone for visiting and please come back anytime! :)

Visit from Uncle Chuck and Aunt Julie - August 2013

The second weekend in August Aunt Julie and Uncle Chuck came for a visit. We had such a fabulous time! Here's our crazy crew with their awesome aunt and uncle! :)

 Uncle Chuck and Aunt Julie brought Jackson a gun for his birthday. Here are two warriors off to fight some zombies!

 Missy Reagan and Uncle Chuck

 Aunt Julie helped the girls put on some makeup. :)

Three beautiful girls :)

Aunt Julie sure knows how to make these girls laugh!!!

 Kennedy decided she needed some deodorant as well...

  Then the girls helped Aunt Julie put on some makeup. Lucky Aunt Julie!

 Just a little more lip gloss...

 Aunt Julie made sure Miss McKinley received lots of love during their visit! :)

Thank you so much for coming to visit us! We loved every minute and can't wait for you to come back again soon! :)