July 4th weekend, day 2! (yes, I'm way behind!)

Over a month ago, while we were at the lake house for the fourth of July, Halli got to test out the new wakeboard. That girl was in heaven!

I'm just going to warn you now, there are ALOT of pictures ahead. a lot of them are of my awesome family showing their feats of athleticism though, so I feel totally entitled to brag them up and show them off!:) 

I remember when I had legs that looked like Halli's. You know, the non pregnant kind that were totally muscular!:) Seriously, when she is wake boarding her legs look so dang toned and strong, but that's cause they are!:)

Lexie is typically totally content on the boat, hanging out with whoever is there. On this trip, she got grandma, what's better than that?

After Halli had her turn, Kevin took Peyton for her first spin at wake boarding. She didn't really want to go, so we bribed her with shrimp. She loves the stuff, and was very eager to try knowing that she'd get her reward at the end. 

Luckily her dad is awesome and they didn't fall, so she caught the bug and now loves to wakeboard too. Not by herself, but with her dad. Maybe next year we'll try it on her own, we'll see!:)

After Peyton went, Lexie decided she was big enough to try it too. There she is floating in the water with her dad, ready to go! Unfortunately, this was the only shot I was able to get. It was hilarious actually! She just slid right through his legs when he stood up. He got up and kinda looked around, shocked that she was gone! I couldn't stop laughing, but unfortunately, it scared her too much so she's done with the wakeboard for awhile!:)

Then of course the big guy had to have his own turn! He's getting pretty dang good considering his first time was just a couple summers ago! Not only that, but he looks dang good doing it!;)

Halli was well rested by then, and had to go again. This time getting brave enough to go outside the wake. It may not look big, but that thing is scary when your flying through the water!

Yes, she's awesome and she knows it! She wants all her friends to go to the lake with us so they can see her go!

JJ just loves hanging out on the boat, especially when it's with some boys, and who's better than grandpa? 

Once we were done with the wakeboard it was time to pull out the tubes. Who doesn't love tubing?

Well, sometimes Peyton doesn't, but she's getting braver for sure!

Grandpa was having a hard time, and Halli thought it was hilarious. She spends so much time on the water, I think she's going to have a hard time when all the little kids get bigger and she has to take turns!

Kevin was determined to get these two off the tube.

He got one of them, and Halli was loving that she stayed on!

I love this man. Really I do. Especially when I get him to myself for a whole weekend.:) 

These two have the best time together.  Always pushing the limits!

Everything's more fun with dad, right?

After all the fun on the lake, we headed in to cool down and take some naps, because that evening, Kevin had a race to compete in. He's getting ready for summer of seals, and found a race just outside of Austin that would be a good little practice for how he's doing. It's called the 5 series race. it's a 500m open water swim, followed by a 5k run. Just the two events, but it was at 6pm in July in Texas, so it took it's toll! 

The only thing he's ever done like this is seals, so he was a little nervous going in. Especially because it was an open water swim. 

They do this same race on the 5th of every month, so it isn't huge, but there was a pretty good turnout.

I tried to take pictures of him swimming, but honestly I had no idea where he was amidst all those heads in the water. Until he was almost to the shore, I wasn't sure where he was. He said the open water swim was brutal. He couldn't tell where he was, there were no breaks, and it was just tough.

I think this face says it all.

Then he took his time during transition, trying to catch his breath.

And off he goes, for a three mile loop around the lake. There was basically no shade the entire time either!

Just as he's leaving for a nice little run!:) Doesn't he look happy to be on his way?

And here he is coming into the finish. Very glad to be done! The winner of the race wins $500, and apparently it's the same guy every month! 

It was hot, and I think a little harder than he thought, but he did great! 

Yep, I love this tough guy of mine, and I can't wait to join him in a few competitions next year when I'm a little more in shape and a little less pregnant!:)

The kids just keep getting older!

Jaden went and did what all the girls keep doing...he had a birthday! About two weeks ago, the boy turned 2!!

And man alive, is he a true two year old. We LOVE and ADORE this little guy more than anything. But I'd by lying if I didn't say he gave me a run for my money every day. 

He's learning SO much, and talking a ton. In this picture, he heard the train...and he LOVES trains!!

And then he was crying, can't remember why, but he is a two year old after all, and that's what they do!

He was a little spoiled this year, but that's because the poor kid has nothing but girl toys to play with, so we really needed to get him some boy toys! He is in love with lightning mcqueen, so the majority of them were cars stuff.

We did the traditional balloons and streamers for his room, and playing with them all day afterwards was one of the highlights for him!

Yep, this boy doesn't sit still all that much!

We ate a yummy dinner at home, cause we decided to go out the following night, and after dinner it was time for some scrumptious chocolate cake. 

He was so excited to get to blow out the candles. He knows what birthdays are at this point and he loves them.

Oh no, I love his face. He seems slightly panicked that he only got one of the candles.:)

Had to try that again!

There we go!! That's how its done!

Nothing better than cake...or frosting if you're JJ!

After that, it was time for presents. I just love all his expressions. he is a truly happy boy, and he loves life and lets you know it!!

The whole gang got in on playing with the cars.

He was very careful about his unwrapping. I think it was driving the girls crazy how slow he was going!

We couldn't love this little guy any more than we already do. He is a joy to have in our family and for the most part, the girls love having him around. (I'll admit that they're not big fans when he's getting into their stuff though!), He absolutely loves to give kisses, all the time. he's a great hugger, and he's obsessed with his sippy cup. He's also very, very good at repeating whatever he hears or sees. 

I can't wait to see him in the role of big brother, and watch him change and grow over the next year! Love you little man!!

Swim team wrap-up

It's been about a month since swim team ended, and while we're enjoying a little more free time, especially on the weekends, we sure do love and miss our pool time! 

I can't wait for the day when I have the majority of the kids competing at the meets! These two have had so much fun at the meets together! I really have to cherish the moments when they're acting like best friends!:)

The little two missed out on quite a few meets this year due to weird illnesses that plaqued our family for almost a month of swim team. Kevin and I got to take turns at the meets, while the other one stayed home with the younger ones. ahh, the joys of lots of kids!

Miss Peyton got into the swing of it all and became an old pro at the meets.

Sometimes she was a little more focused on me, or those cheering than on the actual event. This was taken during a relay and it was almost time for her to jump in, but she just sat there smiling for me!

Love all the 6 and unders in their train on the way to the ready bench!

Pretend this isn't so blurry, I just had to get a good shot of Peytons dive. I love this girl!!

Halli really is like an old pro at swim meets now. Ive said it before and I'll say it again...how did she get so old? She really is, so much fun to watch race!

The 7/8 girls medley relay did awesome this year and they were so fun to watch! 

Lexie and Izzy at one of the meets Lexie was actually at. They found the jewelry guy and I don't think they hardly left all day! These are some true girly girls!

The final meet of the regular season was divisionals, where the girls had a decent meet, but not their best. Halli should have won a couple events and while she did great in them, some other girls came ready to take it that day and Halli ended up with a few second places. I don't even have any pictures from divisionals. It was miserably hot, and long, and I was too busy with JJ to even think about taking pictures! Peyton did great as well, and she just keeps on improving, that's the most important thing. 

After divisionals, we had the annual recognition ceremony. They all get to get together and play and eat, and run around like crazy, and to top it all off, they get a trophy to take home! 

Because Peyton has a late birthday, she gets to be in six and unders next year too, and I think that'll be good for her! 

Halli got MVP for the 7/8 girls. She had a great year and has decided that she loves swimming so much that she wants to try out year round swim this year. That's going to be a whole new ballgame, but I think it'll really help her with her technique. I'm just hoping she actually enjoys it and doesn't get burnt out!

Peyton and Lexie had a best friend during swim team, armand. He is seriously the best babysitter! If I couldn't find the girls, all I had to do was look for him and there they were. I don't think they bothered him too much, he seemed to like the attention, but I was grateful for the extra eyes on them for sure!

Once all that was over, we just had one last meet to go. Halli qualified for Ponderosa this year in the freestyle. She qualified for allstars in the breaststroke and butterfly, but those are both on sunday, so we only had this one event to go! She actually qualified at the first meet of the year, I was kinda shocked, but I shouldn't have been, that girl never ceases to amaze me.

Lucky for us, Blake qualified for ponderosa as well! It's always better when you have your best friend with you to cheer you on, and keep you pumped up for your race! This also meant more play time for the girls! I think Izzy must be the so patient, Lexie is constantly manhandling her, and she just lets her. I  always feel bad, but they have a very lovey friendship for sure!

Halli was coveting all the trophies. Someday Halli, someday! That's always a good goal to have!

She doesn't really get nervous, I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but she was excited to go race one last time. I think this venue might have been slightly more nerve-wracking than a regular meet for her though. 

She's all the way in lane 8, and was one of the last people in the pool. Someday she'll figure out her start!

When she finished, the time on the scoreboard said 17.7, which was her worst time of the entire year. The timer told her she finished in 16.4, but Kevin gave her a little pep talk, cause we were pretty sure the timer was wrong. It wasn't the best note to end the year on, but she was at ponderosa, so she couldn't be too upset with herself.

we had to get the picture of these two. I should compare it to their first year! Hopefully these two will get to stay side-by-side for a very long time when it comes to swim team! I'm just glad they're different sexes so theres no competition between them, just pure excitement and cheering for each other!

We came home after the meet and I decided to look online and saw that the timer had actually been right, the scoreboard was wrong, and she had qualified for the finals at ponderosa. That's a pretty huge deal and lucky we saw it at about 3pm and she didn't need to be there till after 4. She was beyond excited that she got to go back. They have two final heats, and she was in the slower of the two heats, but it was still in the top 16 of the "best of the best" (ponderosas slogan).

At the finals, both girls on either side of her false started. Not a great way to get ready, I don't know if that threw her off or not, but she ended up swimming 17.4, which was accurate and really was her worst time of the year! Go figure.:) But she still finished 15th overall. When she got her ribbon, which is super pretty, lavender and very fancy, she said, " it's my prettiest ribbon, but it's also my worst.":) 

Hey, last time she went she didn't even get a ribbon, so we're just super proud of the job she did, and can't wait to see her and her sister improve even more in the years to come!