Independence Day & old friends

It has been a fantastic summer in Meeker so far... back-deck dinners with friends, leisurely mornings and warm afternoons, reading and playing and staying up late... not too adventurous, but just what we needed to get the summer going!

And nothing says get ready for summer like gearing up for the 4th of July in Meeker!

This year we had a very special treat - visitors from Atlanta!

These newlyweds chose to spend the better part of a week with us to celebrate the holiday (not to mention Ali's birthday... more on that later!) and do all there is to do during "Range Call"!

Starting with: the annual 5k walk/run

Matt was impressive and opted for the run part of the 5k...

... while Ali and I chose to walk!

(little did I know that she would make me actually try to win the race!

So much for a nice 4th of July morning stroll!)

Then there was the parade - chock full of cool cars, horses, boy scouts, girl scouts, fire engines, can-can dancers (?) and lots and lots of candy!

After the race, the parade, and a few carnival rides - we enjoyed the rest of the holiday doing what the founding father would want... eating!

Seriously, Jason and Matt did an amazing job preparing some homemade ribs on the grill - with a little help from the boys!

It was a fantastic day - full of fun, friends, a feast and some spectacular fireworks!

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend and a safe & fun celebration!

vacation = Splash Country!

The climax of our week at camp was a full day at Dollywood's Splash Country - an amazing waterpark!

The day was perfect - overcast, so not too hot and not too crowded - and the kids (both young and old!) had so much fun riding rides, cruising the lazy river, playing in the pool and being together.

The best part was that YaYa & PaPa rented a cabana for the day so we had a retreat where we could keep our stuff, eat our meals and take a break if needed...

Our cabana happened to overlook the lazy river:

(this was particularly great when the bigger boys did laps on their own and made sure to check in with YaYa every time they swam by!)

For a good part of the day, the kids played in the kids' park - not too intimidating for the little guys and fun for everyone! I believe the slides were definitely a BIG hit!

Remember that cabana idea? Well it paid off in spades when the boys needed a moment to rest between riding rides and having dinner and low and behold, there was a TV in the cabana!

This is, sadly, my favorite picture - something about the fact that all four of them are totally glassy-eyed and zoned in on cartoons is kind of funny!

They did get a second-wind - and it didn't take long to move 'em on to the wave pool, and more rides!

Absolutely the best day ever - we were the first to arrive and the last to leave and we loved every minute of it!

Thanks to YaYa & PaPa for sponsoring our visit and for watching over the kids while we (the adult-kids!) got to ride the really fun stuff!!! (I have never laughed so hard...)

What a great way to wrap up a fantastic visit - missing "camp" already!

vacation = the forest!

So, after a relaxing week at the beach with the Etheridge clan, we headed north to Knoxville to "Camp Ya Pa Pa Ya" (aka the Hightower home!) for a FULL week of family fun and activities!

Our early arrival allowed the boys to get some much loved one-on-one game time with YaYa:

Then the Mississippi crew arrived just in time for Father's Day - and we celebrated in style with some of Aunt K's very special homemade creations!

Once everyone was there, "camp" was officially in session.

What better way to kick off the week than a dance party with all the cousins!

As if dance parties, Legos, foosball and catching butterflies wasn't enough to keep the kids occupied - there was so much more planned for the week at camp!

POOL TIME

First and foremost was the neighborhood pool... and the ride on YaYa's golf cart to get there!

COOKIE DECORATING

Did I mention Aunt K's amazing cookie creations? Well she brought along a bag of cookie dough, some fun cutouts and lots of icing so the kids could make their own!

What a great activity - fun to make and even more fun to eat!

FORT BUILDING

"Camp Ya Pa Pa Ya" is a beautiful, wooded retreat with a creek flowing through the back yard and occasional frogs or turtles to entertain any aspiring explorer!

This week's mission for the latest back yard addition was a fort - and PaPa played foreman to a pretty respectable troop of day laborers:

the final product:

You would have thought they'd be hiding out there for the rest of the week, but they just had too many other fun things to do...

FIRE PIT

... like watching Uncle T roast weenies over an open fire!

Seriously - how fun! A weenie roast and full-fledged backyard picnic.

(there were, of course s'mores ingredients available as incentive to eat all your dinner!)

Yet, even with all the fun things to do... I'm pretty sure the reason we keep coming back to "Camp Ya Pa Pa Ya" is the great staff! (ha!)

Seriously - it's time spent with family that makes it all fun. And PaPa and YaYa do so much to make it great - the food, the toys and games, the food, the activities, and especially the food!!!

We even took a moment to get the Hightower men + one traditional picture:

But don't worry, YaYa got plenty of photo-ops with the grandkids, too!

Here's the best part - THAT'S NOT IT!!!

The grand finale of the week at camp was a day at Dollywood's Splash Country - and there were so many fun pictures from that day, it'll have to wait for another post...

so keep in touch!