Camping & our 1st visit to Columbus!

We went glamping with the Brimers and started off our trip by hiking Laurel Falls. 

Even though there were perfectly paved trails, we had to go off course quite a bit. 

Max, rocking his cast. 

If one of my kids is smiling then I consider that a win. 

Literally, love this kid. 

Also, this one. 

We really had such a fun time on the hike. The boys ran around and just enjoyed nature; I MUCH PREFER being outside. 

Ping Pong at the campground. 

Matching shirts!

Clare did an amazing job on our fire & nobody got burned, so it was a win!

Had to put a filter on this one...

Max & I slept in a tiny twin size bunk bed all night. He really is so snuggly. 

Day 2- catching random things in a creek. My kids could literally do this all day. 

Max fell in right after this, but he had his arm protector thing so it was ok!

Love when my teenager is genuinely happy. 

After that trip, we went to see Zack & Amanda's new house in Columbus! They only have half of a house, but they managed to have all of the food groups waiting for us!

Georgia is the absolute cutest addition to our family. 

As if visiting Uncle Zack & Aunt Manda was not a gift enough, their new house has TONS of frogs and lizards everywhere. They were seriously so happy. 

*Also, Max's cast cover...it was raining*

Uncle Zack is the best. That bucket has lots of living things in it. 

They even live right across the street from a park with a creek!

I had to get in to prevent his cast from getting soaked. 

Get you a husband who can catch all of the lizards, all of the time.

How many pics do I have of my kids holding various animals throughout their childhoods? SO, SO many. 

We walked down by the river and it was SO hot, but also really fun. 

You know we ended up taking tadpoles home with us. 

Added bonus points if your husband always has a knife on him, just in case a tadpole container needs air holes. 

This owl lives in their yard & he (she?) was probably the highlight of the trip. He is really like a member of the family now. 

Literally half a house, yet they still let us crash. Love them. 

We got to see Uncle Zack at work and realized he is pretty big deal. It was so, so cool to see him in his element!

Summer-the rest of June

Laurie drove through Knoxville and it was fun to see her!

We have had 15 appointments out of our house (not counting all of the things scheduled for our house) in 3 weeks and while productive, it was also sort of terrible. I tried to make it better by throwing in snack errands, but...it honestly was just not fun. 

LITERALLY. All of the appointments. 

Noni took this kid to see a movie!

We went to Birmingham for Anderson's eye appointment & saw Sherri & Olivia!

And, Kyler!!

Eye appointment: I cannot believe we are at the point where I am not sitting with him when his eyes get dilated. It is insane to imagine that we have made it here. 

Update: Still best case scenario! He is going to try contacts, so we will SEE how that goes.  Ha ha. Also, WE ONLY HAVE TO GO ONCE A YEAR NOW! 

We visited a little part by the doctor's office before we drove home. Since we went there & back in one day, there was A LOT of sitting, so it was nice to be outside for a few.

We were actually pretty high up and I did not love it. 

Super cute park. 

Klassy. 

Even better. 

I love summer, but it also defeats me every.single.year. Bless my roughness here...

I try to force my kids to play games and such, but nobody is ever really interested. 

We did get to spend a lot of time with the girls, which is always fun. 

To be clear: they ARGUED the entire time they were together, but we did have fun and took lots of pics.

We went to The Island in Pigeon Forge & spent the entire day there. We rode the giant Ferris wheel twice and they all really loved it. 

Love. 

There were all of these cute rides & we got to go for FREE to all of it, which made it even more fun. 

The guy running this parrot coaster thing wouldn't let Max ride alone with his cast. I have no idea why, but whatever. 

Reese was not tall enough (story of her life,) so Noni rode with her. 

Noni treated everyone to snow cones! She did not actually get to eat hers because they all took it to "taste it."

They really loved the rides and there were not lines at all, so we rode many, many times.

We also did the Ropes Course & I had to go with Reese (see above) and it was TERRIFYING. Literally. I wouldn't even let them go above the 1st level. 

Meanwhile, Anderson & Lily JUMPED OFF of the 4th story. 

Love these incredibly accurate pictures of them on the trampoline. 

They really are so lucky to have each other. 

The girls spent the night & Lily & I had a game night. 

Anderson tried contacts. He likes when they are in, but getting them in is another story entirely. 

Visit to Bobble Cole's to play with toys, 

and visit our girl. 

Cousins. Love. 

We celebrated GG with dinner & a delicious (not made by me) cake!

We love you, GG!

We also love our Trona girl. 

Videos:

Anderson jumping at The Island

Basketball out of the window

A jumping at Action Adventure Park

Cousins at Action Adventure

Cousins Swimming

Max singing Old Town Road

Boys with Willow