give your sister a kiss. . .

snapshots of summer 2010

i just love everything about summer. . . sleeping with the windows open, the heat, eating ice cream bars all day, of course the lake, camps. . i could go on and on! here are a few well. . . .a lot of snapshots of the mcmurray summer so far! the boys came home to this summer bucket the last day of school.

sticky dirty baby toes!

an awesome big brother trying to teach emery to walk at the park.

all four kiddos packed up to hit the park!

grampy and grammy got the boys new bikes and helmets for the summer. they have LOVED them!

here is grampy with the boys shopping for the perfect bikes.

play dates with the hume twins.

we eat a lot of corn on the cob during the summer.

is this not the cutest pot ever. my creative friend ang gave me this for my birthday and i love it! it now is in full bloom with huge yellow daisies. . ahhhhhhhh!

my other really talented creative friend carla made this fabulous little cake stand for me it matches the house so perfectly!

dirty happy silly little girls playing!

if you remember the fourth of july post you will remember that we had major water damage at the end of june because of a burst pipe behind our dishwasher. well a month later we have a new dishwasher and beautiful bamboo floors. we had no appliances for 3 weeks it was a little inconvenient:)

i did all red tin buckets for flower pots this year i think they look really cute.

the boys left this morning for cross country camp with grampy. they could not be more excited.
it has been a summer of basketball camp, soccer camp, swim lessons. . . so much fun!

red picnic table, good wine and the lake. . it doesn't get much better!

i love this picture of kinkade and emery playing at the lake.

could these three be any more beautiful . . lake friends are the best!

lucia is so brave she always wants to go tubing with the big kids.

kellen and keagan relaxing at the lake.

how do i look in mom's hat?

our lake friends are so much fun. . they were doing a fun zumba class one morning and the kids loved it! the night before they had an awesome dance party!

we always find emery on the bottom shelf of the bakers rack with all the shoes within minutes of arriving at the lake. . . it is her favorite spot.

love this boy so much.

we all love it when dad makes a big breakfast at the lake.

we got these really fun new plastic adirondack chairs for the lake to match the picnic table. . i am noticing everything is red!

so much cuddle time in the summer evenings. . . my favorite time of the days . it has cooled down, the water is peaceful and dinner is on the bbq and the campfire is being prepared ready for another night of smores, laughs, flash light hide and seek, and cuddles.

the boys are really into cards this year.

kinkade left us all a little message. . I Love m,d,l,e,k!

one of the boys favorite parts of summer so far has been neighborhood friends. they are finally old enough to ride their bikes around and find someone to play with.

of course there are tons of cool summer treats at the lake! sorry for the super long summer post i just want to remember all the fun little details about this unique summer and the fun ages of the kids. happy summer!!!!!!

lake baby!

this baby girl LOVES the lake! as you can see above she loves to be dirty and play in the sand and water! she is so content and happy when she is outside. we are having so much fun with emery at this age she just cracks us up all the time. our favorite part of raising emery so far is seeing the interactions and love she has for her siblings. she adores lucia and squeals every time she sees her and her brothers can make her laugh more than anyone else. here she is at the lake the last few weekends. . . .

i love it when she purses her lips together like this . . when she is pleased with herself.

on the way home from the lake i got the girls huckleberry smoothies oh yeah i got one for myself too:) it was silent the rest of the trip while we all sipped pure heaven!

in the morning we always put our chairs out to have coffee and look at the water. . i love this pic of emery and dad having morning coffee. we though emery would want to cuddle at the campfire but no she wanted her own seat.

this is a rare moment. . . emery is my first child who is not a book cuddler. . she is a book wrestler we are working on being a good respectful listener when someone is reading. can you tell i am a teacher:)there are tons of kids at the lake and they all love to come and take our girls on wagon rides. it is a hit with the girls!another favorite activity is climbing up and down the stairs over and over again.

i remember when all our kids went through the little chair stage where they were so thrilled to climb in and out of little chairs just their size.

emery pearl we all think you are the greatest baby on the planet and you make us smile and laugh all the time! God had a plan when He brought you into our life. you are a living miracle!every time i look into your eyes it reminds me to trust God because He has amazing plans for our family that i could have never imagined.

final four baby - hoopfest 2010

it has been like waiting for christmas morning for five years! the boys have been dying to play in hoopfest since they were two years old. it is the largest outdoor three on three tournament in the country and all of the streets of downtown are shutdown for the weekend! i always had a team when i was in high school. hoopfest is a big deal around this family. there is always a family member or members playing. well. . . . finally the boys got to play this year! they were a year young so they played up with the third grade division. we were apprehensive going in because they are so competitive, and we thought for sure there would be a few meltdowns. but i am happy to report they handled winning and losing really well and the heat. their team made it to the semi-finals and took fourth. we were so proud of the team. what a great experience! keagan shooting a little jumper!

kinkade preparing for a free throw.

loved how long it took for them to sign in each game and their darling end of first grade hand writing.

kinkade after a tough loss. . but no tears.

keagan after a tough loss. love the sweat dirt streaks on his face.

the team goofing around before the game.

the girls made their debut sunday morning but it was hot and i wanted to watch the games so they went home by early afternoon. thank you grammy for taking the girls for most of the weekend.

grampy coached and was amazing as usual.

we played on the bridge and a had a great view of the park and water.

after the game we took the boys out for lunch. it is always fun to just have special time with them and have a conversation without a toddler interrupting every 3 words. . . .

goofing off at lunch. . .

love these two boys they are getting way too big . . . way to fast. . but we are trying to enjoy every stage and experience. here's to many more hoopfests to come!!!!