Missouri

It's been over two years since we've been to Missouri so we spent our fall break heading out there to see family.  Larry, the girls,  jenny and her girls, mom, Julie, Easton, and I all road tripped it out there. Jenny's family and my family rented an old Victorian house in downtown Springfield while Julie and mom stayed at grandmas.  Judy and her husband were also there.  Grandpa is staying in an assisted living place but he spent both days at the farm with us.  Saturday dale and Donna Lou stopped by with her amazing cinnamon rolls.  Later that day we grilled out while all the kids drove the golf cart around the farm and played. Reesi's favorite part was the art lesson from Aunt Judy.  The trip is always quick but great to see everybody again!  

Farmhouse

Mimi and Papoos house is moving right along.  A few weekends ago we went out there to help clean up all the drywall dust and clean windows.  The girls worked decently hard and already picked out their room!  Can't wait for our farmhouse to be done!!!

My Baby Lost a Tooth

Elye was super excited to have a loose tooth again.  I tried to talk her into waiting for Christmas so she could ask for her two front teeth but she was ready.  She tracked down Mrs Wendy first thing at school one day this week and the next thing I know she's coming up to me in the hallway with a bloody Kleenex!! She looks adorable!!! And I just want to freeze her just like this!

Camp

Our next adventure was camp.  Elye stayed with me at night and for meals, but Reesi was in a cabin with two counselors and 5 girls.  Elye had a blast and did not want to go home.  Reesi's stomach hurt for the first few days, but then by day three she was having fun.  We also got to see Mimi and Papoo when they came up for Grace's baptism. It was a special week.  

Meanwhile, Larry spent 12 days in Myrtle beach and Hilton Head with his summer teams and coaches.  

Cruising

For our vacation this year we went on a cruise to Jamacia, Cayman Islands, and Cozymel.  We spent the week relaxing, eating, and swimming.  I also spent a lot of time relaxing on a chair and reading.  When we were in Jamacia we went to the most beautiful beach. The girls spent the whole time swimming with their goggles looking for shells in the perfectly clear water.  However, we quickly realized that walking the streets and shopping was not a good idea after we were offered pot twice.  

The next stop on the cruise was Cayman Island.  Here we went to a sea turtle farm where the girls got to get in the water with the turtles and hold them.  Reesi feel in love with them and did not want leave.  She also decided that when she graduates she wants to move to the Cayman Islands and work there.  

The last stop was Cozymel.  We tried to save a little money and take the taxi cab drivers advice for a beach/hotel.  Not a good idea.  The hotel pool was the size of a large jacuzzi.  The beach was about 20 feet wide and full of sea junk.  The water was full of millions of minnows.  The girls were great sports while Larry tried to take them in the water and okay while I sat on the beach saying no to everything they would walk by and try to sell me, like prescription drugs!! So $90 and 2 hours later we were back to the port shopping.  

We left in Sunday and got back on Sunday so we had plenty of time for fun on the boat.  The girls favorites were the movies at the pool at night, the slides, and ice cream several times a day.  My favorite was reading books on the deck in the late afternoons.  

Camp

This last week the girls and I spent our last week at church camp.  It took Reesi a few days to get used to it, but by Tuesday she was good.  Elye had a blast with the camp kids.  Reesi even went around the Mess Hall with the same boy three times!! (His choice) We are exhausted but had a blast!!

Gatlinburg

We always look forward to our week with family every other year in Gatlinburg.  The girls and I rode down with Karen and met Lesli, Jeff, and Austin at Mountain Loft.  Karen worked her magic to get us a newly renovated unit, but unfortunately that meant we lost our amazing view from last year.  Jeff was a little disappointed. Sunday and Monday we started each day with a big hike.  The first part of the first hike Elye spent taking a gazillion pictures with their camera.  The girls lost their energy around mile 1.5 and we had to turn around.  The next day we did an even longer hike and it was straight up hill, 2.4 miles uphill.  The last mile uphill was ugly but we made it!! Then Elye ran the whole way down with Austin and Jeff.  The girls went down on our own nice and slow and started talking about soldiers who have lost limbs in war and how they miss out on things like this.  Then we started talking about the dancing with the stars soldier who lost his arm and leg.  Meemaw best comment of the week was about him and how he lost them, "What'd he do, step on an IUD or something?" 

The rest of the week we went to the water park, walked downtown almost every night, did Wonderworks, Alamo, and walked around the Island.  

We are losing our pool😫😫

Mimi and Papoo moved into a rental this summer and are building a house.  We are so excited for them but this means we only had three weeks of their pool for the summer and it rained most of that time.  We did find a perfect day for Reesi to have some friends out to swim to soak up all the fun we could.