Hot, Hot, Hot Springs!!!

We spent a few fun-filled days in Hot Springs with Casey's family. 

 

Our time was filled with boat riding,

 

water ballloon dodging,

 

tube stunting,

 

 lake relaxing,

 

fish catching,

 

pool swimming,

 

show watching,

 

no hand holding,

 

tubing, tubing and more tubing,

 

 

 

and of course, crash landing!

 

And just for old time's sake, here's a look at how times have changed.

 

Hot Springs in 2009

 

Hot Springs in 2015

 

And one more.....Hot Springs 2008 (Jane on the left)

 

And this year!

 

Great memories.....and another great trip!

 

 

 

Two Camps, One Week

 

Last week was a busy week for my girls!  As one of Clare's birthday gifts, she got a week at Pine Cove in the City!  The week finally arrived, and she loved it. 

 

Clare had a great counselor, "Snaps," and she looked forward to it everyday.  She enjoyed all of the activities....euro bungee, water Twister, and all of the water slides!

 

 

They did Bible studies each week and learned about different heroes of the Bible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her counselor had some very nice things to say about Clare at the end of the week.  She said Clare is helpful, puts people at ease, and is very grateful.  It's always nice to hear other people say nice things about your kids!

 

 

It was fun week for her, and I am so thankful that she got to experience it!

 

Meanwhile, Jane and Sydney were participating in their second Missoula Children's Theater camp.  This year the play was Blackbeard the Pirate, and Jane and Sydney were cast as parrots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Missoula runs such a great camp.  It is a well-oiled machine, and the girls loved it!  They both had a few lines, and sang several songs....that they continue to sing.....  "Pretty bird, the kind you like to meet....."

 

With the girls in camp, Graham and I had some time to ourselves.  We had fun together and managed to get lost in the minions!!

 

 

 

It was a fun week for all! 

 

 

 

 

The Fourth

Mamma hopped in with Mom and Dad on their trip home from Colorado, so the kids got to spend some time with their great-grandmother on the weekend of the Fourth!

 

 

On the actual holiday, we went to Nathan's house for swimming and burgers.  Brody and Megan were out of town, but the kids had no trouble making themselves at home!  They were thoroughly enthralled with this giant flamingo!

 

 

 

 

 

We never got Mamma on the flamingo, but I think she enjoyed watching the kids swim and flip!

 

 

 

 

My four on the Fourth!

 

 

It was fun weekend filled with family, fireworks and flamingos!

 

 

Graham Says...

Graham keeps me laughing with the funny things that come out of his mouth!  Last week we were in the car headed to swim lessons, and he said, "Are my swim lessons going to be in the cat pool?"  The girls and I were puzzled. Cat pool?  What is a cat pool?

 

Then it hit me.....we call the smaller pool the "kiddie pool."  He obviously heard "kitty pool," hence "cat pool." 

 

 

So, from this point forward, we will refer to the shallow pool as the cat pool!!

 

 

School's Out! Scream! Shout!

Summer has arrived with a bang!!!  I now have two second graders and a fourth grader!!!

 

 

 

 

 

While the girls were busy finishing out the school year, Graham and I went to the zoo with some friends.   He loved the animals and he especially loved the animatronic dinosaurs!

 

 

Our first week of summer has been big fun.  Casey had an unexpected day off and we hit the bowling lanes and snow cone stand.  It's so fun to have Daddy home for a day in the summer!

 

 

 

We have also spent TONS of time at the pool.  Jane and Graham are taking some swim lessons, and Syd and Clare are in a diving class.  Clare has also joined a competitive swim class, and she has turned into quite the little fish!

 

There are so many fun things to look forward to in summer, and we are enjoying this first week!

 

 

Brace Yourself!

We've reached a new milestone at the Eoff house!  Clare got braces last Friday.  She has worn a retainer for a while, but it was time for the next step.  She was super excited about getting them, stating, "Getting braces has been on my bucket list!"

Here she is before:

 



 

And after:

 

She just has four brackets (complete with pink and silver rubber bands) on her top teeth, but that was enough to cause some pain over the weekend!  I think we're over the worst, and she's adjusting nicely!

 

May Mayhem

May is always a crazy busy month.  It rivals December in terms of fun stuff going on.  We started out the month with the Daisy Family picnic.  This is always a fun event that the kids love.  Jane and Sydney took advantage of the tattoo artist and got themselves some mustaches!  The photo booth and go-karts were also a big hit!

 

 

Next up, we had our annual "Pool Opening" party at Deedee and Papaw's.  We celebrated Papaw's birthday and the kids enjoyed the first outdoor swim of the season.  It was big fun with food, swimming, and hula hooping. 

 

 

However, we did have two small setbacks: 1) Clare freaked out after finding a teeny-tiny turtle in the pool

 

 

 and 2) Graham wasn't feeling his best.  He actually ended up having pneumonia that week, but thankfully, he bounced back quickly with some antibiotics.  Good thing too...too much going on to waste time being sick!

 

 

Thankfully, he was healthy for his End of Year Program.  He loved performing, and he was the cutest little bumblebee around! 

 

 

 

And you better believe that he had quite the cheering section!

 

 

Our next May event was Mother's Day!  It was a special, relaxing day.  The kids showered me with gifts, and Casey cooked a delicious dinner. These four are such great kids and made me feel so special!

 

 

 Yesterday, we celebrated with LoLo, Emme, and Deedee at our annual Mother's Day Tea.  The girls and I love this special event, and it's always fun to have a "fancy" lunch.  I hope our grandmas know how much we appreciate them!

 

 

 

Finally, the 80's dance at the elementary school was a totally rad night!  The girls embraced the theme and were decked out in their 80's finest! 

 

 

The rest of May holds even more fun....Field Day, Graham's last days of preschool this year, field trips, end of season soccer parties and more!  By the time summer gets here, we'll all be ready for a break!