The Lavery's Annual Event

We were lucky enough to start our adventure off with the Lavery's for their annual family reunion (into which we have adopted ourselves). To help earn our keep, the children fed the animal's that Mrs. Lavery keeps for enjoyment. They carried hay down to the goats and hand fed them grain. We also fed the handicapped duck, the horse and Don, the donkey. After the animals were cared for, we picked the ripened tomatoes and cucumbers from her garden.

It was great to relax and spend time with our dear friends and tell stories of the old days (you know, when we were younger and partying didn't hurt so much the next day).

Aim...FIRE!

They're armed, they're poised, they're ready! As many of you know, Benjamin and Leah have been planning a water attack on their Uncles and Pepere for months. Ben drew up battle plans, made a list of artillery we would need, and prepared the troops for battle (goggles and all). So, here we are sneaking up on Vavo and Pepere's house ready to draw everyone out with the door bell.
Let the games begin...
No one was left dry. Here's Vavo peeing her pants (its a family thing).

On the Road...

Well, our first long trek went extremely well. Everything went off without a hitch, except for some traffic if NY/CT. The children did phenomenal! We actually only had to stop four times to stretch and run. When we were in traffic, (going 10 mph or slower), we got them out of their car seats to stretch and wrestle on the bed ( a little deep pressure). Here are some pictures of a stretch break in PA.

So...how'd we do 20+ hours of driving with only 2 1/2 hours of DVD time? Books, books, and more books and two lap sized dry-erase boards.

Our first BIG trip has finally come...

Tomorrow we leave on our first BIG trip. We are sooooo excited. I've been absent from our blog for a couple of weeks now, and people were questioning if we had left already, but we've been pretty busy preparing everything. The RV is nearly packed with all our gear, clothes, food, fresh water and of course,... water guns! The big attack on Pepere and Uncle Mark has been planned and battle maps have been drawn up for weeks now.

We will be updating our blog as often as possible and will be reachable by cell phone or e-mail. So, we look forward to hearing from all of you.

Happy exploring!

Happy 39th Birthday, Daddy!

It's official, he's nearly "OLD." The kids decorated the dining room, picked out the perfect cake, added just the right number of candles, and gave Daddy a special 39th birthday party. It was a great evening.

She's 20/20!

After "failing" her vision screening with Vanderbilt, a follow-up with Dr. Estes proves that Leah will have to wait a few more years to get into the "glasses-are-actually-cool" club. She was given these dark glasses because they dilated her pupils and has grown sort of fond of them over the past week--often stating, "I need dese a'cuz I have eye drops."

Time for a Photo Shoot...or NOT!

So, we were out letterboxing which brought us to some train tracks by the Stones River National Battlefield. I thought-- what a great opportunity to take some pics on the tracks (I know, a step out of my "safety" zone). But I loved shots that my dad used to take on the RR tracks when he was a wedding photographer. Well, just as the perfect moment was setting itself up for the perfect shot, we were trying to get Leah to look down the track--away from me. We made the mistake of saying, "Leah, look down the track, see if you see any trains coming." Needless-to-say...this is what we got...pure fear! (Check out the grip on her brother's arm!)
And a few (just a few) other shots to share.

Happy 4th!

We hope you enjoyed your holiday. We filled our day with lots of family activities. We started with a canoe ride down the Duck River. Collectively, we caught 1 fish (yes, it was a group effort--one to cast, one to reel, one to encourage, one to give advice...). Photos to come shortly, they are on good ol'fashioned film!

Next, we joined the Phillips for a Fourth Block Party. The children played games, had races, and a bicycle parade.

We wrapped up our day with fireworks at MTSU. The kids loved them, but were expecting a much longer show, and were temporarily disappointed. Then Leah consoled Ben by telling him that "Maybe we will see some when we go on our trip...to China." China? Can one drive an RV to China?

Fun was had by all!

Happy Independence Day!

Always looking for a CHUCKLE

Yesterday while we were out hiking, Benjamin bent over apparently picking something up from the ground. When I recovered my footing after tripping over him, he stood up with this seed pod at his nose and, without saying a word, snorted like a pig. Rich and I nearly fell over laughing.
If you can't laugh hard enough to snort, why laugh at all?

He's really a funny little guy!

Another Adventure in Letterboxing

We have now discovered 11 Letterboxes in all! Yesterday we ventured on a hike--1 mile--I really should have checked the distance information on the box before heading out for a "quick" search. Leah found two of yesterday's three finds and is sure to keep track for her brother's sake. We're really enjoying figuring out the clues and searching together--perhaps the kids and I are enjoying it a bit more than Rich, but he's a good sport!

Celebrating the RED, WHITE, and BLUE

To celebrate the Fourth in style, we made Tie-dye (or Tie-bo as Leah called them) shirts. Despite inadvertently dying a few extra articles of clothing, it was lots of fun. Check out the results: