2014 Lake Season

I didn't forget I have a blog, I promise.  Sometimes I just don't have time to edit photos, load them and ramble a little bit.  I mean with all of the soap opera watching and bon-bon eating I do during the day, I just can't always take a break to blog.  I have some great pictures from our lake adventures from last summer that I never posted and since it's coldish here in TN and really coldish and snowy in MA where my niece and nephews live, I thought I'd pay homage to the sunshine.  Enjoy...and stay warm!

 This was probably the last year we can tuck her in her old car seat and hide her in the shade for a nap.  I imagine 2 year old Sage might be a bit more difficult than 1 year old Sage on the boat.

 Dakota is the best big sister.  She has not tired of her job yet and continually cares for her little sister like Sage was her own child.

 This man is the best daddy.

 Still not amused with this life jacket.  Hopefully she'll be big enough for a different kind next summer.

 I promise he likes tubing :)

 Our friends Wyatt and Brian

 Dakota and Hannah

 Our sweet friend Jenna who I have posted about before.  She got engaged and is going to be leaving us.  I'm still in denial.

 I love these boys.  This is the summer Corban learned to wake board with Jacob.  Is it me or does Jacob look a little like Eggman from Sonic the Hedgehog?

 These kids have the prettiest boat hair.  Wish mine looked like that after a day of sun and wind.

 Last boating day of the summer was a bit cooler than we hoped.  I think Jacob skied once and then we called it a day.

 Lollipops are always a win when you are cold.

Might have been too cold to play in the water but at least we got to do some bird watching!

Trail Days 2014

We decided to take a spontaneous trip to Damascus for Trail Days this past May.  If you've followed my blog for very long, you'll know that Jacob and I have a special love for this little town and it's surrounding area.  It doesn't take much to motivate us to go visit and since we had been telling our friend Jenna about it, we thought we'd drag her along for some fun too.  Jenna is a very special friend who is becoming like a little sister to us (I hope that doesn't offend her) so you'll see more of her on my blog I am sure.  Our long weekend was a blessing in so many ways and we are looking forward to going back for our fall family trip.

The weather wasn't very great while we were there and we kept complaining about how cold and rainy it was.  We weren't really prepared for this (hence my kids' clothing!) but the blessing behind the storm is that the warmest and coziest place to be for all of the thru-hikers was a church that was offering coffee, baked goods and live classic rock music.  The weather caused people to pour in and allowed the church to minister to these weary travelers.  I am so thankful we got to witness that.  

 I'm pretty sure that when Ikea made their ginormous bags out of tarp material they intended them to be used for babies and camping.  If not, I'd like to recommend it as a cheap solution for baby and snack containment.

 We promised hot dogs on the fire but could barely get one going because everything was so wet.

 Sage's first camping trip!

 Jedi knight?

 You won't find us modeling on the front of any North Face catalogs anytime soon but this is a good, happy life we live and I'll take happiness over fashion.

 Remember little Dakota in this swing??

A Boy and His Dog (and Mom too)

Remember how I love this dude?  Sometimes I feel a bit sorry for Corban because he probably does get the attention of the stereotypical middle child but I seriously don't think he notices or really cares.  Dakota gets to go out on dates with her daddy most Sunday evenings and Corban never complains about staying home with me eating scraps while they nosh on biscuits and cornbread at Cracker Barrel.  Yesterday I bought Corban a frozen corn dog at Kroger (he thought that was a real treat!) and Dakota told me it wasn't fair that I didn't buy her one.  My intent isn't to make her look bad but rather to point out that he's pretty easy to please.

So anyway, I was editing and loading my Easter photos during Sage's nap yesterday and he wanted to play outside.  I told him to stay where I could see him.  Pretty soon the dog came around and he started playing with her and it was too sweet not to capture from my vantage point:

He then came inside and saw that I had the camera out and asked if he could take some pictures of me and with me.  I was going to try and photoshop my crazy eyebrows and my metal filling and Corban's snotty nose but whatev, this is real life folks...

In an unrelated story, we were eating dinner on our porch last night when we had this crazy wildlife sighting; scared the dickens out of me...