July - Schatzel fam here!

Just after we got back from Fourth of July weekend, we were eager to get ready for a week with our Washington family! Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Brian, Aunt Molly AND Uncle Jeff were all coming to visit! We spent 1/2 of their trip at the lakehouse and 1/2 of their time here at the farm. My kids were overjoyed having so many fun people around to play with at all hours of the day! Somehow we only managed to get photos from the lakehouse portion...go figure! :) When we weren't out tubing and showing off our jumps off the boat, we all relaxed, watched movies, played lots of boardgames and chatted all the day long. We schatzels just know how to visit. :)

 

GG showing Grandma how much she loves her pink shoes!

Molly looks good with 3 kids. :)

 

Sunset cruises inevitably lead to sunset swims. :)

 

 Desi and I tubing.

 

How cool is this pic? Grandpa has the camera IN the lake with him!

Here's my version from the boat. Not near as cool!

Uncle Bri doing a 360 off the front of the boat.

This was a game that the boys played for hours at the beach. Just climbing in and falling out over and over again.

 

And when that got old it was time for some old fashioned daddy throw me games. :)

We celebrated Molly's birthday with a delicious pink cake!

 

 

Then we came back to the farm. There was plenty of back porch time and hanging out. The boys went shooting and exploring. I know we ate a ton and processed the onions and I even pickled one day.

 

 

I sure wish I had a pic of Grandpa shooting. The boys made their own targets with paper and markers. :) So cute.

 

It was a wonderful trip and we were sad they had to leave us to go have a fun time in Iowa at a family wedding. I sure hope they come back next summer! xoxo

 

July - Independence Day Weekend!

We continued the tradition and headed to the lake with The McCaslins for 4th of July. With their 3 boys added to the mix, it was A TON of fun! :) We spent the whole weekend fishin', boatin', beachin', eatin', fireworkin', chattin', and playin'. Just perfect.

 

This is the boys on the way TO the lake. Already beat! :)

 

I don't think I took a single pic but Ash did her duty and sent me lots of good ones. Here they are in random order:

*Mealtime with SIX kids SIX and under! :)

*Boat naps are the best naps.

Me showin' the kids just how awesome I really am. Yes, I can tube standing up. Can't you? :)

An all-time favorite pic.

The whole slew of boys went fishing.

And then the dads cooked them up for us!

Ok, scratch that...Maybe this is my all-time favorite pic.

Cute suit top on...and then off. :)

 



 

My dear ol' friend Ash. Friends since we were like 12 years old playing tennis against each other. :)

Dock fishin' (above) and tube ridin' (below)!

TOE-PICK. :)

Us girls had to stick together. Last known pic of that cool 1980s hat I'm wearing. It flew off on our boat ride home and sunk to the bottom of the lake. :(

Campfire, s'mores, and fireworks!

The lakehouse is fun too! Esp. that dreamy porch. Aaaahhh.

 



Why do I think he is such a stud?

Sunglasses!

 

I love these annual trips to the lake with Ash and Zach and their growing boys. Especially now since we moved to Seminole and we don't get together as often as we used to, they mean even more to me. It was so much fun watching the boys play and seeing how much the twins have grown!!! Next year will probably be even more crazy!

June - Lala and Breckin visit!

Whoa, ho, ho. We got Lala and Breckin here for A FULL WEEK at the end of June/first of July. It was so amazing. This trip Breckin and Genevieve were really able to play together and it was so entertaining to watch all the cousins interact together. My kids absolutely adore "their baby b." and couldn't get enough of her.

 

Other than Lala coming to yoga with me, Mimi coming down for an overnight, and our trip to the lake we did nothing but HANG OUT. It was dreamy.

 

 

 

Over the weekend we all headed to the lake. Candy and Brooks even came up for a day! We had a blast.

 

 

The little girls took notes from us big girls and did a lot of porch-sittin'.

They were doing it so much that we just had to pose them. These are cute little wooden antique chairs that my mom bought YEARS ago for her "future granddaughters". My goodness. Lane and I were pretty much laughing AND crying at all the cuteness.

 

Papa took the boys to buy a tube so that was awesome. The boys loved it, but Lala, Brad, and I showed them how to ride it wild. :)

GG totally loves her Lala...especially since Lala gave her "baby b."

 

But it's not just GG that loves Lala!

Polka-Dots!

 

The night before Lala and Breck had to leave we suited the girls up in the matching dresses we had bought them at Walls and took them outside for some pics...These girls are somethin' else.

And then they were off! But we all handled it really well because we were gonna see them again in a month!