Fishin' in the Dark

O.K. so it wasn't exactly dark...but the sky started getting kind of cloudy towards the end of the afternoon on Saturday.

Anyway, Lilly and Avery enjoyed quite a bit of quality time with their dads this weekend. Tania and I enjoyed this too...probably more than Lilly and Avery, in fact. We went to dinner and movie on Friday night while the guys (and I say 'guys' instead of 'dads' because John stopped by to help out, thanks John) and the girls had a little cookout at our house. I don't know any more than that. When Tania and I got home the girls were fed and sleeping soundly so we didn't ask a lot of questions beyond that. But wow, you should have seen the mess! Again, the girls were safe and asleep so we didn't ask....but wow.

Then on Saturday we headed out to my parents' house to do a little fishing. The guys seemed to enjoy the actual fishing more than the girls, but throwing fish food into the lake was a super fun time. And then they feigned mild interest when John caught a catfish, but that didn't last either. Avery even held a fishing pole! But, that novelty passed too when she realized that Nathan wasn't planning to let go of it. However, both girls showed a real interest in the night crawlers...and a small (and terrified) toad, but I ruined that when it crawled up my arm and I shrieked a little...startling Avery and probably making her permanently afraid of toads. Sorry Tania. After all the excitement the sky started to turn grey and the girls had reached their limit on 'dock safety' so we headed home and vowed to do it again another day.

It was a great day for fishing. John caught three catfish, Bryan caught a bluegill and a bass, but the rest of us didn't even get a bite. This picture shows the teamwork that went into landing John's first catch.

Nathan showing Avery a thing or two about angling. Yes, he knows that the pole is upside down...Nathan is left handed.

Lilly is checking the durability of Bryan's pliers before receiving a tutorial about removing a fish from the line.

This has nothing to do with fishing or 'daddy daughter time', but I thought it was too cute not to share. They both kept getting in and out of the car, trading places. It eventually turned to pushing, but even that was kind of cute too. Lilly put her hand on Avery's chest and tried to keep her from getting in the car, Avery looked up at Tania and I and said "push, push" and pointed at Lilly.

Lilly and Avery eventually lost interest in the whole fishing thing. Running in the grass was way more fun.

Appalachian Extravaganza

At the end of June our little family embarked on yet another adventure. Along with ten other members of my family, Bryan, Lilly and I packed up our car and headed to wild wonderful West Virginia to relax and visit some relatives. We all had a great time. The boys golfed at Stonewall Jackson Resort (where we stayed), we laid by the pool and of course enjoyed happy hour before heading to my cousin's for dinner. We also did our own little driving tour, led by my Uncle Chris. He showed us 'kids' (as he calls me, Wes and Brecquelyn) the farm where my grandpa grew up, my grandma's childhood home and also the Weston State Mental Hospital. Now the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, it evidently thrived while my mother was a kid and her and my uncle remember playing near it and even some of its most famous residents.

Lilly taking time to smell the flowers at Stonewall Jackson Resort in Roanoke West Virginia.

Lilly and her new best friend, Jordan, she is Lilly's 6th cousin. They became soul mates when Lilly realized that Jordan would help her collect rocks, sort them and then toss them back into the bucket...over and over and over again. Thanks Jordan!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. It was taken at my cousin Bridgett Ann's farm. See the cow at the very back of the field? Lilly wanted to get a better look and she decided Everett (her future cousin) was the guy to take her there. She just reached up and grabbed his hand like, "You. Take me to the cow." And he did.

Here we are in front of the Weston State Hospital. It was an enormous building, this picture is only of the front entrance, and it housed people from before the civil war until 1994. Very interesting tour.

Visiting at Aunt Pauline's. She has a bunny named 'Buttons'. When Lilly saw him she pointed and said "gie?". As if to say, "Hey, what in the heck is that...some kind of dog?"

Lilly and I on the front porch of the resort after the driving tour. She had had enough for the day. She just couldn't keep up.

'The Kids', we may all be 30, but Wes, Brecquelyn and I, along with whoever we bring in will always be 'the kids' to our parents.

A (really) happy hour at the resort. Brecquelyn and Everett are getting married on October 10 of this year. And...Wes and Kristy got engaged while we were in West Virginia.

Lilly and her Daddy Guy going dangerously fast on the slide. Everyone left on Sunday except for Bryan, Lilly and I and my parents. We used that time to just hang out and enjoy what the resort had to offer. Later that night Bryan, Lilly and I met up with our good friends Tiffany, Derrick and Dougie. You may remember them from the birthday blog.

Taking a walk on Sunday.

Enjoying the pool.

Just lounging. I thought this picture was too cute not to post.

After leaving West Virginia the three of us headed to Kentucky to visit Bryan's family, his sister was in from Germany for a few weeks. We cooked out and took some time to get caught up with Cammie and her kids. Lilly had to be reintroduced to her aunt and cousins, but quickly warmed up and had a great time with her new playmates.

Bryan, his dad and Lilly playing corn hole. Well...trying to play corn hole.

Bryan and his niece riding horses at Travis and Danielle's. Thanks guys we had a great time.

*Please Note* Matthew and I also went on a ride...unfortunately Bryan failed to take any pictures of us. Sadness.

Lilly got in on the action. Maybe next time she can go solo. Or maybe not.

Relay for Life

First of all...I am so behind on my blogs. I'm so sorry.

Anyway,

Relay for Life was a huge success, despite being rained out (or rather, stormed out). We had to tear down our booth and evacuate the ball park at about 10pm because of lightening and a thunder storm that was quickly encroaching on us.

But, non the less, our team was able to raise $301.01 at the relay event to bring our total to almost $3,000. Thank you to everyone who donated or helped out and I hope I can count on you for next year. I will sign up our team at the end of August!

This was our booth. We had a small moon bounce for kids to jump on and also sold baked goods, popcorn and energy drinks. We also won an award for best campsite. However, we didn't have a campsite so I think it was for our booth. We definitely had the best signs (thanks Debbie).

Some kids enjoying the moon bounce.

Wes and Lilly manning the booth.

Lilly loving the moon bounce. Obviously she didn't have to pay.