The Boys of Summer and Vern's Big Test

Some of my nephews came over to our house last week. It was so fun to watch them play together. First, they played Batman with all of Riley's batman stuff, taking turns wearing the batman mask and cape. Then they got the firetrucks and rescue vehicles down and they played rescue/batman. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them play. It reminded me of when I used to play with my cousins during the summer for hours on end. Swimming in between playing and then playing in bathing suits. I'll admit that I played Barbies until I was 14 or 15 and look forward to the day when Mattie and I can play. Shhhh let's just keep that little fact to ourselves.

All six boys crammed into the small plastic pool: Connor, Cody, Trey, Kyson, Ridge and Riley

Trey and Riley

Vern has his FAA check ride Friday July 23rd and part of Monday July 26th. This is what all his schooling, flying, studying, blood, sweat and tears for the past four years have been leading up to. If he passes this test he can be a flight instructor!! Needless to say, he is quite stressed and nervous. He tries to study here at home but the kids and sorry to say sometimes myself just won't let him be. So, we are getting out of here so he can study in peace for the big test.

Last night while Vern was trying to study in his "flight room" Riley wanted to go in there and "help" dad study. This included him drawing on the white board and writing his name. He also informed us that he was going to teach us Spanish. I asked what kind of Spanish and he said, " You know, my Spanish amigo". It was very cute but not all that helpful to Vern.

Riley "teaching" Mattie

And of course Mattie can't be left out- she wanted to help dad study too!

Hopefully we will be off tomorrow and Vern can get the studying in he needs to. We are going to Greer again. This time it will be with Vern's parents. I am so looking forward to the cooler weather but not the mosquitoes.

Bed Time Fun and the 4th of July

I have to tell about last night when we were getting the kids ready for bed. Mattie has learned how to climb up onto Riley’s bed and loves it. Last night we had just gotten home from Travis and Sarah’s barbecue and it was late. Mattie had climbed up onto Riley’s bed. Vern asked her if she wanted to sleep with Riley and she got this huge smile and nodded her head definitively. Then she lies down and put her head on his pillow and pulled up the covers. She refused to get out of Riley’s bed. We eventually put her in her own bed and then everyone went to sleep.

Now, back to the 4^th of July. We spent the 4^th of July weekend in Greer. It was a lot of fun. It was different this time because it was just us at the cabin Friday and Saturday. Usually when we go up there Vern’s parents are there and at least one or two siblings and their families. My mom ended up coming up on Sunday. The first day we got there we were driving up the road to the cabin and there were two deer in the road. We were really close to them. The kids loved playing outside on the porch, digging in the dirt and finding sticks that looked like guns. Surprisingly there were quite a few that really did look like guns.

The Road to the cabin with a deer in front of us

Mattie and Riley playing outside

Mattie playing outside holding her stick gun

Riley and his fort

We went down to the Greer Lodge to feed the ducks. There were several people fishing in the small ponds where the ducks were so we couldn’t feed them. However, there were some geese off by themselves near a picnic table. We went over to them and started throwing them some bread crumbs. Well I haven’t really had any experience with geese but if you have, you know that they are mean and aggressive. Unfortunately I didn’t know this at the time. So they started stampeding us and coming directly at us. I was frantically breaking off bread as fast as I could and throwing it away from us, but they just kept coming at us and then one goose started chasing Riley. Poor Riley didn’t even have any bread. It was actually pretty scary. A worker heard Riley screaming and came running over and kind of herded them away from us. A word of advice: Don’t feed geese!

On the 3^rd we went into Springerville to watch the parade. Vern ran into Scott Shellenberger and his wife Kim. What luck! They asked us if we wanted to watch the firework show with them and that they had VIP seating. We watched the fireworks with them at the airport and we did have VIP seating. I’ve never been so close to fireworks before and it was spectacular. Riley was a little out of control. He gets really excited about things he likes or enjoys and he loved these fireworks. He commentated on the whole fireworks show. He was talking so loud I am sure all of Springerville heard him. We had a great time. There is a video of the fireworks at the end of this post. You can’t really see them but you can hear Riley talking/yelling about the fireworks. It’s cute.

Mattie and her 4th of July dress

Riley on the slide at the park

After my mom came up we tried feeding the ducks again and avoided the geese. We were able to feed them and they were really friendly and nice, unlike the vicious geese. It was a really fun trip. We all ended up with mosquito bites and Riley had a huge one on his forehead. Here is a video of us feeding the ducks. Too bad we didn’t get the geese incident on video.

Mattie feeding the ducks

Adventure in Tucson

I have so much to say and so little time say it in. First things first, Riley's swim lessons are going great! He loves it. Occasionally he gets a little silly and his teacher will tell him "Riley get back on the white line." He is learning about water safety and a few techniques for which we are really proud of him.

My wonderful family in Tucson, whom I don't really see that often anymore had an Eclipse party for the premier of the movie. My mom, Riley, Mattie and me went down to Tucson for it. Vern had to work so he couldn't go on this adventure. Mom priced line a room for us and she got Ventana Canyon. Anyone who knows this hotel or has stayed there, knows this is a classy, expensive, awesome hotel! She got it for $55 a night. Normally this would probably be a couple hundred a night I am guessing. So we pull up and my mom runs in to check in. She comes out and says we are at the wrong Ventana Canyon resort that there is another one down the road. We looked at each other and laughed. Maybe this was why we got the room so cheap.

We drove down the road and came to "The Lodge at Ventana Canyon". We pulled up to the gate and gave them our names and then they let us through. We drove around to the check in area and a bell hop greeted us. I rolled down my window and asked him if this was where we checked in and he said you check in at your rooms. I told him we didn't know what room we were in and he said room 127. We hadn't even given him our names. Obviously the gate people must have called him but it was weird. Check in at your room? We get to our room and could not believe it. A suite was what he called it. It had a full kitchen, living room, bedroom and huge bathroom. All for $55. I really wished Vern could have been there it was awesome. Here's there website http://www.thelodgeatventanacanyon.com/

Out our back patio

Large living room

Kitchen with a stove, refrigerator, sink and microwave

Riley playing crochet with Degen

Mattie in her swimming suit

The kids got to swim for a little bit and then we had dinner. At last, it was time to go to our Eclipse party! I loved seeing my cousins. After my Aunt Edith passed away we haven't seen them very often. My cousin Laurel and her daughters Deanna, Emmy and Amber were there (they planned it and have an awesome party business. Check out there website you won't believe it http://beyondparties.com/ ). My cousin Jill and her twin daughters were there Alex and Annie. It was a night to remember. Not so much because of the movie but because we were all together again.

Emmy, Deanna and their friend posing with Edward and Bella

Alex and Annie all grown up- I still think of them as little girls

Really cool decorations! See the chess pieces from the Breaking Dawn cover? Awesome!

Mom and me posing with Edward and Bella. I have a "Team Edward" shirt on.

I went to bed at three and then got up at six. It was so worth it. It is midnight right now and I am getting tired. I have to get up early to pack for Greer. We almost weren't going to go but Vern doesn't have to work tomorrow or Monday so we are outta here!