Haarmann Weekend at the Lake!

What a fun weekend!  Friday was sweet Evelyn's 5th birthday.  We celebrated it, Frozen style, with cake, presents and a sunset boat ride where Evelyn got to drive the boat.  Like really drive the boat.  We were doing donuts in the middle of the lake.  She's a crazy driver!  All I have to say is, in 11 more years (that are sure to go by WAY too fast) WATCH OUT WORLD!  HA!  Happy Birthday, Evelyn!

Jackson has discovered photo bombing.  He was so excited about photo bombing Evelyn's picture.  She was so excited about her Frozen castle that I don't think she even noticed Jackson.  LOL

Some pictures I took while on our sunset cruise. (once Evelyn was done driving and I could stop holding on for dear life!  j/k)

I love this moment I caught between the birthday girl and her momma.  :)

 My models.  They are both growing up so fast.  I love the profile pic of Olivia.  And, I love that I caught a real smile from Dylan.  Lately, when the camera comes out, so do the silly faces.

 After the boat ride, we did some sparklers on the dock.  It was kind of windy, so it was hard to get the first one lit.  Everyone was so eager to help though!

The next morning we went to Momma's Bar and jumped on the trampoline.  We were the only ones there for awhile, and the kids had a blast!  It was hilarious to watch everyone try to get on the trampoline.  It's not easy!

 We spent the rest of the weekend swimming, fishing, checking out the ducks, playing with water balloons, and going on many boat rides!  

 We found a fireboat.  

 Jackson worked up the courage to jump off the dock like the big kids - you know, as long as he had his baby boat/tube thing on.  :)  Trevor LOVED driving the boat.   

  Peek a Boo!

 This was the first time this summer that I've been in the lake.  It's been unseasonable chilly, so the water has been pretty cold.  Trevor made it into the water a few times too!  

 The traditional family group photo.  We somehow managed to get every kid looking at the light (timer) on the camera!  And, I see at least 4 kids smiling - not too shabby!

Six Flags!

We had a fun filled family day at Six Flags with the Nemec's!  The boys had an absolute blast, and continuously surprised me.  Dylan rode The Boss!  He did NOT like it, but I was so proud of him for trying it.  Jackson rode the Log Flume and the Mine Train!  Those were my favorites as a kids, especially the Mine Train.  But, you will NEVER catch me on The Boss!  Here's Jackson - all smiles - on the Log Flume!    

 

The dads with the older 4.  Even the dads had fun!

Trevor got in on some of the ride action too. He was Mr. Independent on the Merry Go Round. He wouldn't let me hold him at all. He kept hitting my hands away!  He wants to be a big kid so bad!  The boys had fun spinning on the Tasmanian Devil ride.

The baby chain!  They did so good all day.  Trevor fell asleep like 2 seconds after this picture.

 Life is so rough.

 We ran into Jackson's best friend, Natalie.  They were so excited to see each other outside of school.  The just kept hugging and giggling.  It was so cute! 

Arch

 Here's how our day went today - which is a pretty typical day for us.  The boys have been asking to go to The Arch, so we decide to do that today.  Jackson and Trevor are trying to push or kick The Arch over.  Luckily, they did not succeed.  :)

We found a cake!

Everyone is still in a pretty good mood, despite the ridiculous lines.  Did I really think it was a good idea to go to The Arch on the weekend?

Our ride up on the tram.  Trevor is starting to lose it, but calms down if Mom is holding him.

Trevor is distracted for a whole 2 minutes...

And he quickly loses it.  At the top of The Arch.  Where there is no air conditioning and a ton of people crammed into a little space.

We tried, far too late in the game, to get a group shot.  This was our best one.  Trevor's done and Jackson is mad that we keep taking his picture.

So we settle for some kind of 'action' shot by Dylan and head down.  There were no pictures going down the tram .  We were too busy trying to distract the kids so we don't annoy the poor guy that got stuck riding the tram with us!

I did manage to get this shot as we were walking back to the car.  :) 

 Lesson learned: Don't go to The Arch on the weekend.

This kid makes me laugh!

We did some more cake hunting today.  Dylan was holding the cake up at Laclede's Landing!

 Jackson was trying too, but couldn't reach.  I told him to start jumping to see if he could jump high enough - he was close.  His faces are PRICELESS!  He cracks me up!

 Rigazzi's had a cool set up with the All Star Arch! 

Muckfest!

I participated in the Muckfest for MS this weekend, and it was so FUN!  Messy, Smelly and FUN!  It's a 5k with a bunch (like 20-ish) mud obstacles along the way.  Here's our group before the race.

Waiting for our turn.

A few of the obstacles.  We had to hold onto the swinging ropes or fall into the big, deep mud puddle.

  We had to jump off these big swings into yet another big, deep mud puddle.  Melody did a cannonball!  Each 'puddle' had a steep slope on the way out, so you had to pull yourself up with the ropes.

 Our messy team at the finish.

 Unfortunately, Ryan broke his ankle on the very first obstacle.  The muddy slopes can be dangerous!  Hopefully next year will be better.  :) 

 I had a ton of fun, and recommend it to anyone!  Just think of it as a day at the spa, in a mud bath!

Rainbows and Butterflies

We had some crazy storms last night!  Before it got bad out, I noticed that one side of our house was rainy, and the other side was sunny.  So, we went outside to look for a rainbow and look what we found!  A Double Rainbow!  The top one is really light, but it's there!

 I planted a bunch of wildflowers at the edge of the woods, and they finally bloomed.  I went to go snap some shots and found a model!