Summer Fun Continues

This summer has been the first time since we got our pool that I have truly enjoyed it. With the warm weather that we have had the pool has warmed up nicely and has been great to play in. We've had lots of friends over so far this summer to swim and have just enjoyed it as a family.
Here are a few of my favorite pool pictures from the summer.

Gabe taking a break from swimming to flash mommy that great toothless smile.

Dustin, Tony, Abby, Shenira & John messing around with a little game of monkey in the middle

Tony still likes to get the best of his "old man" but Dad still has it!
Love this shot of Shenira. She and John were throwing water toys back and forth and he got her good in this one.

I Can FLY!

Jordon even got in on the fun which is very unlike him. He is a little like me when it comes to the pool and the water has to be really nice before either of us will go in.

We had a play date with Ella, we love having her when her mom and dad aren't around because she becomes a little chatter box. When mom & dad are around she pretends to be shy. This was such a fun play date.

Kelly's nephew Parker came for a family reunion and came over one night to swim while the rest of the family were going to go shopping. Gabe and Parker had a ton of fun. Our friends The Butcher have also been to swim this year, but I of all people forgot to take pictures! There mom came with them and we had to much fun talking and catching up to be bothered with pictures :)

My niece Haley came to spend the night with us for the first time this summer. We had so much fun with her. We went to ILNC Snack Bar for Ice Cream and a snack, then after the rain had finished we took them to the park to play and then they decided that they should play in a mud puddle on the way home. When they look at cute as this how could you possibly stop them? They were already so wet and muddy from the park equipment that this actually helped clean them up a bit. They were in heaven.

We got a little bit of swimming in with her time with us. She & Gabe are both little water bugs. But at last it was time for bed and I got a thumbs up. So I guess she had fun!

We celebrated a very special person's 50th birthday which was a bit of a surprise.

As you can tell Gabe REALLY enjoyed pulling off this surprise for his best friend! What a great night.

We've been able to make it to the beach twice this year which in it's self is amazing. The second trip John thought that we should go ahead and get Jordon's Senior Pictures taken. I took him out on his favorite ship that docks in South Haven. For $12.00 we were able to get onto the boat and I was able to get some really good shots of him.

These are just a couple shots that I took that day. It's so hard to believe that we have one more that is going to Graduate this year. They sure do grow up fast.

This is Gabe with the ship that we took Jordon's pictures on behind him. We really enjoyed using the In Laws boat this summer but the boating bug has once again bit my husband and he can not wait until we can get another boat of our own.

This summer has found some of us learning how to play and new game, Disc Golf. My brother and dad have gotten into this a lot and we have a course at ILNC so Josh will come up and play every now and then with John. It's been a lot of fun seeing more of my brother this summer.

So much fun in fact that we all decided to take the kids to Michigan Adventure. What a great day. Josh, Ethan, Darci, Mom, Dad, Hayden, Harrison, Josh's friend Paul, John, Tony, Abby, Shenira, Gabe and I went for the entire day and had SO much fun. Gabe struggled a little because all of his cousins could ride a lot of the big rides and he couldn't because he was to short. Even Ethan who is 6 months younger than him could ride and he just couldn't understand why if he was older than Ethan why couldn't he ride the rides.

This is Josh & Ethan with Snoopy

The two kids in the very front are Ethan & Harrison. Those boys weren't afraid of anything and LOVED the coaster!

Front row of this one is Josh and Hayden

Shenira, John, Gabe, Harrison, My Dad & I had to go on the bumper cars. I love bumper cars you just can't go on them and not smile.

Aunt Meme and Bubba. I love this kid, he is so quite and very sweet.

We have attend yet another successful Bornor Reunion. Numbers were a little down this year than in years past but we still had such a great time. Our kids talk about this reunion for an entire year and once it's over they can't wait until next year. It's very weird being there and not having Grandma GG and many of her other siblings that have passed away there but they have found such great ways to remember and keep them with us. The new family cook off that was started last year continued this year and was a success once again.

We had a bridal shower for my cousin Kendra this past weekend at my mom's house and while we were there I needed a few pictures with my mom and Grandma. My Aunt Denise bought me a great frame while we were out there on vacation and I've been dying to get picture for it and this was the perfect time to do just that. It's a generation picture frame and I needed one of the three of us together.

We still have a few things left before the summer is over like Dustin's 16th birthday (yes I said 16, we now have 3 of the 5 that are driving), a Kempton Family get together at Aunt Debbie & Uncle Carl's house and of course you can't finish a summer with out the annual Family Garage Sales in Tekonsha at Nana's house! I hope all of your summers are going well and that you have been able to enjoy yourselves as much as we have. I love my family and the time I get to spend with them wouldn't have it any other way.

South Haven/St. Joe

A couple weeks ago John, Tony, Dustin, Shenira, Gabe, Josh, Darci, Nana & I headed out for a fun day on the lake. John's parents let us use their boat so we started off in South Heaven and then made our way over to St. Joe. My brother Josh was the first one to get into the FREEZING COLD water. This is him at the shore trying to get the rest of us to get in! :) It took a little while but we did all get in.

Uncle Josh being the nice uncle that he is gave both Shenira and Gabe a lift to the shoreline since the water was so cold. He was "Uncle Josh the Taxi".Once on shore the boys and Darci :) Had fun tossing the football around while the rest of us looked for rocks to bring back to the rock garden at home. Uncle Josh, Tony & Dustin decided that they wanted to climb the Dune the sand was SO hot but they all made it to the top and then one at a time than all ran down as fast as they could. This was pretty funny to watch. I thought for sure that we were going to be taking someone to the hospital but they all made it without falling. Josh went first
Then DustinAnd Tony was last. Tony came down SO fast that I never got a chance to get his picture until he was at the bottom!It was fun having people with us so that I could get some pictures with me in them.
This is my mom and brother. It was so nice having them join us for the day. My brother has a crazy work schedule so we don't get to do a lot of stuff together so it was great to spend a whole day with him.

I am head over heals in love with this man. He has such a love for the water and I think I pretty much love every picture that I've ever taken of him on the water. He is so happy when we are out here. This is a place where he can come and not have to think about anything and he can just relax and enjoy himself.

The rest of these pictures were taken at St. Joe which was our second stop for the day. The water there was much warmer and we could actually play in it. This is Tony getting the best of his "old man". I love watching the way that all of the kids play around with their dad and how much he loves to play back.

I always have a favorite picture of the day and this time this one is it. I wouldn't be able to get this shot again if my life depended on it.

My mom took this one and I love it to Tony, Dustin & Josh tossing the ball around.

Once we were back in South Haven we stopped for a little dinner and then it was to Sherman's for the best Ice Cream ever! We do not got to South Haven and leave without stopping at Sherman's. I hope that we will be able to make it back over at least one more time this year but we have lots more stuff planned and our summer is almost over :(

Maryland Vacation 2011

John & I took Dustin, Shenira & Gabe to Maryland for the week of July 3 until the 9th. We had so much fun while we were there and also had sometime to just sit back and relax.
This drive is suppose to take about 10 hours however we have never been able to do that. So for us it's about a 12 hour drive.

This is Shenira beating up on her big brother in the car! It was so nice to see them play around and having fun. Dustin, John, Shenira & Uncle David played the Wii for a while the first night we were there after I took Gabe up to bed. I got to have some quite time to myself and watched a chick flick!
On the Fourth of July we were able to hang out by the pool during the day and we had a cookout with family before heading to the fireworks in Hagerstown.

The fireworks display in Hagerstown was AMAZING this picture is of our blanket after the fireworks were done. We were so close that soot & cardboard from the fireworks kept landing on us. I can't say that I've ever in my life been that close.

Day 3 what better way to start off the day then with Mickey Mouse Pancakes. Uncle David made yummy pancakes for everyone and then we were off for some horse back riding.

My uncle has two horses that he owns so that guest of the Bed & Breakfast can do trail rides. There is also do horse boarding there as well. This trip was the first time that we've been able to work it out for the kids to be able to go riding and they loved it with the exception of Dustin who I think liked it once he traded horses. His horse wanted no part of going on a trail ride and gave him some trouble so they just got him a different horse and then all was good.

This is Gabe riding in the ring because he was to small to go out on the trial. Uncle David walked him around while the rest of us were getting a little bit of training before our ride.

Shenira LOVED this part of our trip. She was a little nervous at first but once they got going is was good to go.

After the ride they let Shenira help with rubbing the horses down and then taking them back to their pasture. She enjoyed getting to learn something new.

After horse back riding we went to the Washington Monument that is in Boonsboro Maryland. What a great site. I got some great pictures here.

This is John & Shenira at the top of the monument.

All of us at the outside the monument

My new favorite picture of John & Dustin.

Day 4 Hersey Park in Hersey PA This was a great day and a great park. I enjoyed this park more than any other park that I've ever been too. It was very family friendly. Food prices weren't so much in the way of family friendly but many other things were.

This picture below is John taking Gabe on his first big roller coaster and boy did he have a blast. His mama sat on a bench a nervous wreck but he got off saying "let's do it again". Then after this ride they took him on another one that goes upside down and he loved that one just as much. He rode that one 3 times.

John with the kids inside the park.

Gabe with a Hersey Kiss

This would be a 5lb candy bar that you could take home with you for the low price of $39.95. Gabe wanted to buy it for Kelly but I told him the only way that candy bar was coming home with us was in a picture!
Getting Dustin's shot with the huge candy bar
and of course we would never leave Sissy out.
After leaving the park at 9:30pm we stopped at Pizza Hut to get some dinner. Poor Gabe didn't make it to dinner he fell asleep right on the dinner table.
Day 5 we really didn't do anything. But Day 6 we went t DC and took Gabe & Shenira to the Aquarium & to see the White House.


Day 7 time to back up and head home but before we left I wanted to get some shots of Shenira around the farm. It's so much fun to have a girl to take picture of with the flowers and other spots that are a little to girly for the boys.
This is Gabe on one of the hills outside of he Bed and Breakfast.
Gabe & Jack. They have3 Jack Russell Terriers and they are all so much fun. The kids LOVE Jack he is so laid back an he really loved them too. He got lots of attention that week.
Beautiful sunset on our way home.