We were unable to take a “real” vacation this summer. Matthew was born July 14, so we have been busy (and exhausted) as we’ve cared for a newborn. Also, traveling with a few-weeks-old baby isn’t exactly fun, in my opinion. Instead, we were blessed with a visit from my Mom and my sister’s family. My sister, Melanie, lives in North Carolina with her hubby and three adorable boys. Needless to say, we don’t get to see them very often. We relish each opportunity to get together. They were only able to stay a week, but we crammed many happy memories into that week! Here are a few pictures from our time together. I’m calling this the “vacation at home”. 🙂
Our church hosted “Back to School” Sunday on August 8, 2010. That also happened to be Mitchell’s 8th birthday! He and the rest of the kids enjoyed the bounce house and some hot dogs and watermelon!
Here’s a close-up of the cute dragon on the bounce house!
My nephew, Stephen, turned 7 the day after Mitchell turned 8! We were able to have a joint party for them! They chose a “Toy Story” cake, and they each got to keep a figurine from the cake.
They had no trouble blowing out the candles! Too bad I’m a slow photographer, I missed it completely!
They enjoyed playing a game (or ten) of dominoes. These special “Toy Story” dominoes were given to us by a very good friend, and have been enjoyed immensely!
My Mom got a motel room for the week just so the kids could enjoy the use of the motel pool! It was a hit! The scorching temperatures (the heat index was over 110 every day last week!) made swimming the perfect activity!
Leslie became a better swimmer this past week just by getting to go everyday, and Mitchell learned to swim without any floaties!
Laci is a brave girl – we have to really watch her around water! Here she is having a grand time, even though I don’t think she can see a thing! 🙂
Matthew just took it all in, poolside. 😉
After swim time one night, Nana treated us all to ice cream! It was HOT! At 9:00 that night, the temperature was still in the nineties!
Laci was a mess! Good thing we ate it outside!
The kids also enjoyed playing at home – here Leslie and Stephen are playing on her top bunk.
The other kids enjoyed a game of Scrabble! Mitch is playing with Nana and his cousin, David Allen.
We had to have two games going! Here is Lauren and her cousin, Andrew.
We had such a good time with our loved ones. I have many more pictures to share, but I do not have time to share them all. We hated to see the week come to an end. I enjoyed many long chats with my sister and Mom, as well as some delicious meals that Mom and Melanie were kind enough to prepare for everyone, since I was nursing Matthew so much. Speaking of Matthew, I think everyone enjoyed meeting him. The other seven kids had a blast playing together! I am so thankful for a godly family to fellowship with. I only wish it could be more often.
A verse for my wonderful family:
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
Phil.1:3
valeriewritenow.com 
I'm so glad that you got to spend some time with your family! Those are precious memories. Looks like alot of fun!
LikeLike
I am so behind that I just saw these today. Thanks for sharing. We had a wonderful time. The boys were just lamenting how awful it is that we live so far away.:(
Love,
Melanie
LikeLike