Family Fun in the Sun

We recently spent a few days down South where the hot winds blow.
Chad and Danette were visiting so the whole family was there and we had a blast.
We went to a place where the kids could run and jump and get out lots of energy...

Ellie survived for about 45 minutes and then she was done.
I decided that jumping would not be good for me- did not have a change of clothes (ladies who've had babies, you know what I am talking about ;)
So I spent my time holding the cute little Miss Haiven.
Grandma got in on the action with a little Ring-Around-the-Rosies and the kids had fun with the Bungee Cord inflatable. That is one strong bungee cord.

Dan challenged Josh to a duel. Josh tried his hardest, but in the end- it was total "Dan Domination"

Chad and Danette were kind enough to drive their boat the long distance from their home so we headed to the lake on Friday.

Ellie was definitely not a fan of the boat. It took Abbie a few minutes, but then she was okay. Emma (AKA Daredevil) had no problems at all.
We had some fun riding on tubes and racing the wave runner across the lake.

Let's just say that tubing- not Ellie and Abbie's cup of tea. They were not amused. They lasted about 30 seconds on the tubes.
It has been over 15 years since I have been water skiing and I was ready to go. I got up on the first try and after about 30 seconds, I was thinking, "I don't remember my legs burning this badly when I would ski before!"
But I endured the burn and went around the whole lake. It was awesome. I love water skiing- wish I had the opportunity to do it more.

Emma is my little daredevil and she was dying to try water skiing. I had a little reservation, considering that if she gets injured, ice skating is not an option for a while. But she wanted to so badly so in the water she went. Uncle Dan helped her out and was a great coach. She got up on the 2nd try and was up for almost a minute. On her 3rd attempt, however, she was not completely straight and went out of the wake. This caused her to fall and I knew it was not a good sign when I saw her crying when we pulled up next to her. Emma does not cry unless she is really hurt.
So now- we have one sprained ankle and no ice skating for a little while. But she had fun while she was up. :)

On Saturday night- it was Girls Night baby.
Why are we so weird when we get together? I will never know, but it is sure a lot of fun. ;)
We went out to eat and then drove around for a bit trying to decide what else to do. We stopped at Old Navy and then went out to take some pictures.

Can you say Holy Burrito? Danette's burrito was ginormous!
Also, I am not quite sure what I am doing in the above picture....

Mark just got a new camera for Father's Day (his favorite gift for sure ;)
So I am, or course, playing with it to get it all figured out.
Well, haven't quite figured out the auto timer yet....

We did finally get a great picture. I love hanging out with these girls. We always have so much fun together. I wish we all lived closer so we could hang out more. Now my cute little sis, Sharise, is off to live with Danette in Texas for a month and then will be headed to Germany to work as a nanny for a year! We are going to miss her so much but I am so excited for her to have this opportunity. Germany is a beautiful place and she is going to have a great experience.