Awesomeness!

 We're wrapping up the family fun here in Branson.  We're fleeing the hotel like rats on a sinking ship.  Well, sort of.  we're slowly collecting our far flung items and working them towards the van.  I am obviously not working hard right now.  But shortly, I will be in a frenzy of car-loading activity.  then I'll corall children, throw them in the car and we'll drive away sadly.  It has been a LOT of fun!

 Here is the whole gang- my folks, their 6 children and 6 spouses, plus 24 grandchildren!  Good times!

Yes, we do have a nice family picture too!

 We went to an indoor waterpark and the kids had a blast.  It was a lot of fun for them.

 We went back to Silver Dollar City too.  Dan came with us this time and it was just as much fun as the first time we went!

I love this picture because of the look on Marian's face!

And we spent a lot of time at the pool.  

Somehow a week wasn't long enough!  Marian said it went too fast and it sure did!!  I am so glad we got to spend time with my family.  I love them! But now I have to pack my laptop and get my rear in gear so we can leave.

Joy in your Posterity!

 It is Family Reunion Time!  Whoo-hoo!  I suppose if you don't like your family, or they are all boring, this might not not sound like the truly fabulous event that it is.  I am doubly delighted because this is the first time in probably 15 years that we have had our entire family together.  I know, how awesome is this?!  No one is missing!

 It means lots of fun in the pool!

It means lots of fun at the pavilion.

 And it means TONS of family pictures!  Here we are collecting everyone.

Yep, those 2 are mine.

We did a photo with Grandma and Grandpa with all their grandees.  I just love that my dad has a kid in each arm. And Steven's face is making me laugh!

Yep, that's them with all 24 of their grandkids. And yes, most of them ARE under the age of 10!

 Our family photo.  I'm hoping the official photographer got some really good ones.

Miranda and her favorite men.

 Jonathan and his family.

Yeah, I had a hard time getting a good angle on this one.  Something about having to try to get a picture past 3 other people taking shots and using my camera left handed as I also took shots with Deborah's camera in my right hand!  I hope I got better pictures on her camera.

Andy's family.

And the after-picture celebration!

 Apparently Uncle Dan was the one to climb on!  He's got 4 children on him here!

And somehow, I missed Adam and his family' s picture.  So sad.  But here is Adam and his adorable little boy!  I'll have to snatch someone else's family picture of them.

So there you have it.  Joy abounds, fun abounds, family abounds, and utter chaos reigns!

How to be Cool

 Pose with Grandpa's super-cool 1930 Model A car.

 Pretend to drive Grandpa's super-cool Model A car.  (Yes, Grandpa does still drive this car!)

 If you are a hot dog, you can get a cool drink out of the fountain.  Some of the kids thought this was a good idea too.  (Their mom, not so much!)

You can take an inflatable raft to the lake and make others jealous.

Playing on the sand at the lake is also quite cool.

You can roast marshmallows over the coals of Grandpa's bonfire.

You can go hang out at the fantastic library.

Or you can sport a cool bruise and black eye, like Rylee!

Hope your summer is going fabulously!!

Poor Rylee

 Rylee is having a rough life.  Last week she bashed her head on the piano and earned a red mark across the top of her head.  It really hurt. Thursday she got clocked in the face with a hula hoop and had a scab across her left cheekbone.  It was still prominently on display when she fell and bashed her right cheekbone on a sturdy wooden chair leg.  That knotted right up and turned purple.  She's sporting a bit of a shiner on that one still.  Apparently that wasn't enough.  At the park yesterday, she started to howl, and I looked down to see a yellow-jacket stuck under her sandal strap.  Her foot is still pretty swollen today.  I may need to wrap the poor child in bubble wrap.  Or maybe this is her protest over family pictures next week!!!

 Note the bruised cheek.  It is much more colorful and ugly in real life.  You'll have to trust me on that.

And here's her scraped cheek. But seeing this now, I believe I might have been mistaken.... She may be going for the Inego Montoya and merely misjudged a little.

Critter Time

The girls were so excited to find this little guy.  Can you see him?!

It is a Walking Stick!  Marian said she was climbing the tree and saw it and it scared her when it moved.

Callie thinks it is funny to put things on her head.

And she LOVES to pose for pictures.

We did something fun yesterday.  We trekked out to the Big Cat Sanctuary  

 I know, it isn't a cat.  they rescue all kinds of wildlife and this bear was so cute, playing in his pool.

They did have a lot of tigers, some cougars and lions as well. There were some other odd things, including bobcats and ligers.  they were so pretty!  And HUGE!

Bengal Tiger and Siberian tiger. Awesome!

 Here I am with my crew. It was really hot and the kids were grumpy and thirsty.  They survived.

This kind of sums it up.  Hot, sweaty, slightly grouchy, but with a quirky smile.

Hot Summer Days

I'm not sure when the Dog Days of Summer are, but it is heating up here.  The humidity has descended and it is HOT!   It kinda makes me wish I ice skated.

  It is so fun to watch these 2 play.  Delaney is so sweet- helping Rylee get dressed and putting her shoes on.  Here they are playing so nicely together, picking the little fruits that grow on the tree.  I think they are plums.

 We also spent a toasty day at Silver Dollar City in Branson!!  It was a lot of fun. 

This was Rylee in line to the Pirate ride.  It got dark and scary, so she clung to Grandpa.

I thought the ride was lots of fun.  You got to shoot at stuff!  Rylee did not like the ride and spent the whole time in that very position- with her head buried in my leg.

 The older children wanted to go on this ride.  None of us grownups wanted to, so Joshua, Marian, Callie and Aaron went on it themselves.  If you look closely,  Joshua is in the very back (or the very top) and Marian is 2 rows in front of him in the purple.  Callie is next to her in the pink, and you can barely see part of Aaron's orange shirt.  They loved the ride, by the way!

As the afternoon heated up, we went to the kiddie area where there were water things and fun stuff for kids.  Joshua totally shot me with this nerf ball cannon.

We rode some water rides and got quite drenched.  I had hoped to capture the extreme dampness in a picture, but alas, you cannot tell.

It was a great day at the amusement park and we had a good time.  We may go back in a week or two!

And what is more fun than rescuing a bunny rabbit from the fence?!!  I came back from a long dog walk the other morning to see this.  Callie and Aaron said it was stuck in the fence in the backyard, so they helped it.  They wanted to keep it, but I said no.

Some scouts used these canoes and my dad got to help drive them around.  The canoes ended up here and Callie was thrilled to be a helper.  It was pretty funny to see her with the pressure washer.  Whenever she pulled the handle, the power of the water would jerk her whole body back.  But she kept at it and did a good job!

And then all the children had a marvelous time climbing on and playing on the canoes on the trailer.  Yes, even Rylee climbed up on top pretty much all by herself.

Even though it is getting hotter, the fun is really just beginning for us! 

What goes up, Must come down

 Mom and Dad know some pretty awesome people.  One nifty guy has some great model planes.  Very cool model planes.  We went over to see him fly them.  Who do YOU know who has a flight line in their backyard?!!

Sadly, the first plane met with tragedy.  The wings blew off and the body of the plane made a spectacular nosedive to the ground.  Here is the rescue crew.  What I love most about this shot is that Dennis is carrying part of the plane and carrying Rylee.  Did I mention he's pretty awesome?

The battered remains of the plane.  The children were quite impressed.  

Next was plane #2.  The lawn mower provided the electric power to start the plane.  

I need to crop this shot.  You can't tell well, but the plane is "chasing" Aaron.  The kids had so much fun. You can see the flying field there in the background.

Yes, even Joshua had a great time!

Who knew it would be so much fun to watch a giant remote controlled plane do spins and barrel rolls and other fun stuff?

Some of us sat comfortably and snacked on cookies while we enjoyed the show.

Marian was much more rambunctious till she got some thorns in her hand.

 Did I mention that they have motorcycles as well?  I did say they were cool folks!

Before we left, the kids sang their favorite song.  It was a really fun evening.