Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Cousin Camp Day #1 - Turner Falls

Day #1 was a last minute change of plans. And are we SOOOO glad we made this change. We all had a blast. I used to come here as kid with my family and remember it a little bit differently. However, if I remember anything at all it is always a little different. I do think that we used to be able to go down the waterfall and I thought that it was a lot bigger than it was this time.


It is a great place for the kids to really enjoy themselves in a ReAl water park.



The rocks were a little slippery in some places. It made it all the more fun and exciting.




The cousin's found the water hole first and loved the not so natural super tall water slide.

Rachel
Cailie
Isabelle
Ethan
Matthew
Next in the park was a self guided tour of this stone castle built by a doctor (that's all I remember about the history of it) that was found at the end of a long stair case.

The five of us decided to continue up the stairs to see what we could discover at the very top. We were able to get a picture of the waterfall from where we were.


Here is that huge waterfall I remembered as a kid. We decided that I would take the older five cousin's on a hike up above the water, so not many pictures of the little ones.

And here we go on our exciting adventure.
First, we came upon a really cool cave that obviously was discovered before we got there, by the look of all the trash.
After our trek up the mountain, we had to trek it down. It was a little steep, but as you can see it was oh so worth. It was like entering the undiscovered water paradise.


I liked this picture because it looks like they are standing on the edge of the waterfall. However, they are actually not that far from it. There were ropes blocking it off so you couldn't get that close, well, you could if you really wanted too.
When it came time to leave, Matthew led us up the mountain and down again on a different trail. It was a little steeper that one before but there were some great views along the way. Being the leader, Matthew didn't stop to enjoy the scenery and when he got to the bottom, thought something had happened to the rest of us and hurried on to tell Aunt Mandi something was wrong. By the time we all got to the bottom he was back and had a scared and concerned on his face. He was so worried. Mandi was not too far behind with all the other little ones. I felt so bad we scared them, but our adventure was a good one.
To end our time at Turner Falls we all had an ice cream.
( I love this cute little picture of Lauren.)
And this is a sign of a good day!
One more story I have to tell about this fun day...I told my kids that we would go back to the water hole after we checked out the rest of the park. So I kept my word and we all loaded back up into our cars and drove to where we could park. And I let them go by themselves across the water, around the mountain to the water hole. I told them they could go down the slide one time and then come right back. Because we had also planned to go out for dinner on our way home and it was that time. Well, a little while later Cailie and Isabelle came back without my kids. They said they were still there and wouldn't come back after one slide.
Once I finally got them back after driving around and ending up leaving the park and reentering to try to see them from the road , this is what I got, " You said only one time down the slide. We were jumping off the diving board......." Needless to say, we went straight home without stopping for dinner.
It was a FuN dAy!

Cousin Camp Opening Ceremonies

We arrived in Decatur on Friday and Cousin's Camp didn't officially start until Sunday evening. But we still had a few cute cousin moments before then.
Matthew and Max having a great time hanging out together, like always.

The two of them with their pet Salamander.

I love this cute picture of "The Boy."

Watermelon tradition with Grandpa.


Little Matthew trying to be like his Dad and Grandpa, already.

I thought this was a funny way for Ethan to fall asleep, so I took a picture. The cute girls, Macy & Lauren, finally asleep together.
Our Cousin Camp opening ceremonies just consisted of having dinner all together. I actually made a Spendlove recipe, Italian Delight, for all the Cannons. It has turned out to be a favorite on the Cannon side too.

After dinner we had a Family Home Evening on Families and working together. So for dessert the kids made their own ice cream. It consisted of a few simple ingredients in a Ziploc bag slipped into another Ziploc bag full of ice and then wrapped with lots of newspaper and tape to make a good ball to toss.






After playing ball for awhile, we all enjoyed some great tasting homemade ice cream.


And off to bed we went to get ready for our big day tomorrow. (Cannon Cousin's Camp Day #1)

My Laurie Visit

I finally made time to go visit my all inspiring, self esteem booster, big motivator, soooo fun, most organized, talented, beautiful wonder woman friend, Laurie, who moved up to the Fort Worth area a few years ago, which just happens to be close to my parents.
I took the kids on my way to Cannon Cousin's Camp and we stayed the night. She treated us ALL so well and I had fun playing catch up. However, next time we are going to find time for just the ladies.

Here is a picture of our kids together at the pool. I took a picture of Lauire and I at the pool but I am just not going to post it. So I thought I would reminisce a little and found these fun pictures from the past.
Melissa, Tami & Laurie at the Miller Outdoor Theater. I don't even remember what we saw. I'm sure we were just having fun being out with the girls.


My birthday party at Jason's Deli (my favorite place) with some of my favorite people -Laurie, Ashley, Kristin & Emily. Laurie put it together along with an awesome coat of money. It was just what I needed. I still have and use the coat I bought with my birthday money.


This is just a picture of one of the many fantastic parties that Laurie threw. Her birthday parties are always over the top fabulous and then she had her annual St. Patrick's Day Parties that we were always so lucky to be able to attend. I stole this picture from Laurie's blog. But it was at her farewell party. She wrote everyone a special letter sealed with Laurie's signature flower clip.
Fun Times! I need another Laurie around here.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Swim Team Party & Awards

These guys were a little proud of their accomplishments.
At the Pin Oak Swim Team Party they received their medals from the MOC after we had some BBQ and had a little fun swimming.

Posing with the Championship 1st Place Trophy -I am not sure why it is red.

Ethan receiving his awards
Rachel receiving her awards.

Matthew receiving his awards

2nd Place 1:09.08 100 Freestyle Relay
1st Place 1:21.86 100 Medley Relay
5th Place 1:43.84 100 IM
1st Place 20.38 Breaststroke
6th Place 21.33 Butterfly

1st Place 1:19.16 100 Freestyle Relay
1st Place 1:33.08100 Medley Relay
1st Place 23.57 Breaststroke

2nd Place 1:38.22 100 Medley Relay
1st Place 25.22 Breaststroke We had to take this picture for a few reasons, but the most important reason is because Lauren wanted it. She was so upset that she wasn't getting an award. But she is super cute in her "fast" swimsuit. And the others look great proudly displaying their medals.
And yes, Mom and Dad were super proud too.


Sunday, July 12, 2009

MOC 2009

Just a few pictures from the Meet of Champs
(and really just a few)

Ethan was invited to swim in the Freestyle Relay, Medley Relay (Breaststroke), 25 Freestyle, 25 Backstroke, Individual Medley, 25 Breaststroke and 25 Butterfly.

Matthew was invited to swim in the Freestyle Relay, Medley Relay (Breaststroke), 25 Freestyle and 25 Breaststroke.

Rachel was invited to swim the Freestyle Relay, Medley Relay (Breaststroke), 25 Freestyle and 25 Breaststroke.


Ethan getting ready in Lane 4 (yellow).
Spendlove #1 Fans


Friday, July 10, 2009

Mystery Solved


This looks a little horrific at first. Just keep reading.

I woke up the other night to Lauren crying and I thought she had fallen out of bed. So I went up to tuck her back in and laid with her until she fell back to sleep, which wasn't very long.
When she woke up in the morning we found this and could not find where the blood had come from. There was no bloody nose and I checked her body and there was a little blood at the base of her neck where it looked like it had rubbed onto the collar of her Cousin Camp T-shirt, but I couldn't find anything.
Well, later on that day she complained that the back of her head hurt. So I had her show me where and I found a good inch and a half gouge in the back of her head. She must have hit something when she fell out of bed. I can't figure out what and I tucked the poor thing back into bed with a bleeding head. I felt awful.
She has no recollection of falling out of bed or of me tucking her back in and kind of thinks it is funny, but yet she is now a little nervous to go to sleep and needs a pillow on both sides of her to
insure she doesn't fall out again.
Talk about a total freak out moment!

Lauren's Swimming

July 4th 2009 will always be remembered as the day Lauren started swimming all by herself. After a few lessons from Emily F., the big swim team ordeal and just a few more attempts at trying to get her to swim; she just did it all by herself in the Turner's pool. Here is proof.
Way to go Lauren!