Happy Birthday Ashley!

We love you very much and hope you have a wonderful day!

The Funny Farm...

everybody loves to go over to Grandma and Butch's 'farm' cuz there's always something goin' on across the bridge. This evening was one of those lazy, summer nights that we sooo deserved.... so we all went 'down on the farm' - the guys went fishing while the girls just sat on the porch enjoying lil' miss Kayden. Jeremy caught a big snappin' turtle and huge catfish. Ronnie caught two large mouth bass and Chase caught a perch. It's always fun because you just never know what you're gonna see over there....

Cinderella

Cierra has developed the nickname "Cinderella". This is mostly because she had a history of turning into a pumpkin at 9:00 p.m. when she would get tired. Obviously times have changed because she is a night owl now but the name has stuck. So last night Mom, Dad and Brittany headed home and Chase stayed with Hunter so we had Cierra all to ourselves (which is very unusual). She helped out fixing dinner, played a round of corn hole with Ronnie and enjoyed her 'campfire smore' before getting tucked in.



We are heading home today while Ronnie and Chase stay behind to finish out this tournament. We have 4-h books to finish and plan to chill out by the pool for a while. We had a great camping weekend now it's back to reality

some things are better left 'unblogged'......

Pocahontas State Park

not sure it will ever be the same....

Today we had a 'free' day so decided to take the boys fishing. Ronnie found Pocahontas State Park about 1/2 an hour from here and it advertised a 152 acre lake. How could you beat that when we had three boys, three poles and good bait?! So of course we headed there. I guess we missed the fine print that said the 152 acre lake was only 40' wide and really looked more like a creek but oh well, they still had lots of fun. We ended up renting canoes and the young people in charge of getting us in were nice enough to let the boys take one (without an adult) and Ronnie and I take the other. Oh my....talk about team work - they couldn't seem to get it together so they were moving gracefully across the lake. Trevor got lucky and sat in the middle. He didn't have any work to do so his pole was in the water just about the entire time. We had lots of laughs, needless to say. Not many fish were caught but that didn't surprise us either. I don't know how they have patience with baseball because their hooks couldn't have stayed in the water any more than 20 seconds at a time. The people were even nice enough to let us stay out for two hours instead of one!! Does that explain how busy they were?! LOL


The girls stayed here with Grandma and Butch enjoying the peace and quiet without Chase, Hunter and Trevor.
It was really a fun day that wrapped up with some batting practice now we're grilling steaks and prepared for a quiet night. Baesball early in the morning - they have to be there by 7:30. Game on SP!!! We know you can beat Glen Allen.

Camping is great....

We started camping about 7 years ago and honestly, it just keeps getting better. We have made so many friends and the atmosphere simply can't be beat. This evening we had Hunter and Trevor along with Chase and the rest of our family including my Mom and Dad. Dinner was cooked on the grill with some wine and beer as appetizers. The kids played while we cooked and got the campfire going. Everyone comes together for the meal then the fun begins.....Karaoke is underway with Cierra and Butch singing to some country songs. The kids eat then are off to the playground where they swing as high as they can go.....their bikes are their means of travel so they are 'free' to find their way. They check in only to ask for permission to go back to the playground past 'quiet time' to have more fun. Smores are roasting and candles are burning. Honestly, how much better can it get?! I just have to share some shots of this evening...Ronnie and I are chilling right now awaiting the little guys to come back from their 'fun' and the girls are over at Grandma and Butch's ready to settle in for the night...
oh no....Trevor didn't recycle; dig it out :)
sing it Cierra...
the three stooges
Butch and Cierra
Only Butch....
just 'a' swinging'

My little man...

There's a story that goes along with this picture; the story has a happy ending but certainly comes with it's challenges. Chase loves to play baseball, it's as simple as that. This season has been a little different than years past; the size of our league was somewhat smaller and the 11U team never came through simply because there weren't enough to commit to a 'travel season'. This merely left Chase at a point where his baseball season was coming to an end sooner than anticipated.

The 12U manager understood the situation the 11 year olds were facing and allowed them to 'try out' for his team. Only a few decided to do so but Chase was determined to make the effort. So, even though we were camping away that weekend, he wanted to come home long enough to try out. Mid day on Saturday, Ronnie drove him to the ballfield for a few hours then came back and finished our camping trip. The anticipation was on. By the middle of the week the posting would be up and either Chase would be listed on the roster or he wouldn't make the cut. Yeah! He was in. Let me add to that though that it was very clear that Chase would have limited playing time and would be considered an alternate. There was no guarantee as to how much or if he would play especially during the District championship and even more so if they advanced to the State tournament and we were/are certainly fine with that.

This team is such a strong team with so much talent, it is really alot of fun to watch them come together and play ball. Naturally, they did advance to represent our district in the State tournament in Richmond. This trip meant time off work, travelling to Richmond and unexpected expenses to us. It also meant practicing every day, no late nights being a 'summer boy' and minimal 'friend' time, not to mention sitting in the dugout during the games. The conversation with Chase was pretty straight forward. "Do you want to continue to be a part of this team, knowing that you probably won't play at the tournament?" After only a few seconds, Chase responded confidently and said "I want to be on the team". This is something that he really does love to do. He has gotten so much experience merely practicing and being coached by Kenny, Tim and Tuck. We are very grateful that he has been given this opportunity. Just today at the game, he was in the dugout cheering on the team, each one by name as they got up to bat or were in the field. Never once has he hesitated getting ready for practice and is always happy to be with this group of boys, alot of new friendships have come out of this and old ones strengthened. He has certainly taught us something as well.

Richmond bound!

Congratulations to the Summit Point 12U team - they're headed to Richmond for their State Tournament!

lil' firecracker..

So, today was Kayden's first 4th of July! We were lucky enough to have her spend the day with us so what did we do?! Well, she spent the afternoon in the pool then we took her to see some fireworks. She was just as entertained by the cars going by as she was the fireworks in the sky. She was so funny to watch...her head would spin from side to side as cars went by. The grand finale' wasn't quite her favorite but she did really good for a baby girl that doesn't like loud noises. She fell asleep on the way home so didn't get to see Uncle Chase's show. Oh well, she had a happy first 4th!

Memories

Over the past few years Chase has acquired a 'love' for fireworks. It seems whenever we're out, he spys a 'tent' and must stop. He's love those 'buy one get one free' deals LOL! I must admit though, he does put on a pretty good show!