Kids these days...

The kiddos were playing with balloons-- blowing up balloons (which is difficult enough to be entertaining to those with minuscule lungs), throwing balloons, trying to pop the balloons that they were only able to blow up about 1/3 of the way (outcome? unsuccessful), making water balloons and finally........

putting balloons in various parts of their clothing in order to make themselves look like they had larger "parts" than they really did.



A. I wish I were joking and B. I wish I could say this was the first time I'd seen them do this.



At some point I realized that one of my nephews not only put two water balloons in the back of his pants.... but one in front as well. And then?



And then he decided it would be a good idea to pop the balloon in front. I'm not sure where else I can go with this story other than that. So there you have it.

Roaring Gap :: Kiddos

I tried to grab some shots of the niece/nephews... but seriously, how am I supposed to work with this mangy group of whippersnappers??



This is probably my favorite of the boys.





And this one? Well, it was sweet that they were sitting like that. I'm not so sure about that facial expression though :)

Zzzzzzzzzzz

The weather the last few days has been beautiful!! Blue skies and much cooler temperatures. Which means that I have a lot of pictures on my phone like this one... dogs (in this case Mama Annabelle and daughter Winnie) snoozing in the yard soaking up the sun. I've tried to talk to Miss Winnie about being a little more lady-like but she just doesn't listen and who am I to thwart such a free spirit?!?

Proof

Remember the other day when I told you that Baxter is the laziest dog ever and spends his entire life snoozing on the couch yada, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah???

Well....



I rest my case. Matlock style.

Backyard Football

Backyard football.... is actually inaccurate because it took place in the front yard. Speaking of which, why is "backyard" capable of being one word while "front yard" must be two? Someone please explain this to me. Thank you.



My eldest nephew, F , is quite the little athlete so he and DM tossed the ol' pigskin around for a little bit.



And see that garden in the background? The one with the deer fence surround? I'm pretty sure DM only had to lift the little guy in there once to retrieve a stray pass. Let's count that as a win, shall we?





Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure DM had to retrieve the ball from the "woods" a few extra times...



Eventually, little H decided he wanted to play. Unfortunately for him he ended up playing Monkey in the Middle for the first several minutes.



He's running!




He's ready!



And?




Yeah, ummm, no dice.




But look at that determination!!



Finally it is his time to shine.



It is possible...



... that he might need a little help on his technique.



But he still gets an A+ for cuteness.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

This is what this dog does virtually every moment of every day. It is amazing. I bet even his dreams are filled with couches, heavenly slumber and snoring. But I love him all the same! Even though sometimes I have to stop what I am doing upstairs because I hear a strange noise coming from the lower level only to realize that it is the loud snores emitting from his smooshy, wrinkled face!

Roaring Gap :: Two

While in Roaring Gap, I tried to snag a few pictures my youngest niece Miss L. But, she pretty much wanted nothing to do with that idea. We were able to coax her to stand and look towards the camera but our attempts at making her smile were futile :)



But as you can see, she is super cute! The entire thing only lasted a couple of minutes, if that, and while she did not smile once for the camera... she definitely did entertain us!






At one point Mama asked her to "show us your teeth"... meaning smile. Well, she opened wide and literally did show us her teeth!







And then she was finished indulging our fantasies of smiling little girls dressed in pink... On to more important things. Blowing up balloons!