Annual Lake of the Ozarks trip

We recently had our annual Lake of the Ozarks trip and now that the twins are "on the move" it proved to be a fun (and nerve-racking weekend)...

We started it off with Uncle Rod taking Coleman for his first spin on the wave runner...(so as you can imagine a little nerve-racking for mom)...

...and Cooper and Cal had fun watching them from the dock, but didn't seem to like Grandma and me holding their life vests to ensure they didn't fall in the water.   We're just no fun!  

We ate lunch at one of our favorite local spots..

...and when Cal got a little tired and grumpy from being in the sun...

Coleman gave him a big hug and kiss to cheer him up.  What a good big brother! 

After lunch we went for a boat ride...

...and the boys did some swimming.   Coleman and Cooper are little water bugs.  They both love to jump in and go under.  

Jay and Rod usually like to get out and play...

...and the boys cheered on Dad while he wake boarded...

...and Aunt Britton took Coleman and Merrick on Big Mabel.  Coleman kept yelling, "faster, faster". 

I tried to wake board, and would like to say I was awesome, but truth be told, I couldn't get out of the water.   Ugh...so frustrating.   Also, I'm pretty sure I strained something in my arm.   I think I'll stick to skiing and tubing (or maybe just realize I'm too old for water sports all together)!

One of my favorite things while at the Lake is having dinner on the water by boat.  

We ventured off to another favorite restaurants, where you can feed the fish and the ducks.  Here's Cooper, loving it...

...and Dad had some tired boys after dinner...

...while Merrick and Calvin cuddled with Grandma under a blanket.  

The rest of the weekend was filled with some good 'ole fashioned fun... 

...Coleman fishing...

 

...chillin' and eating suckers...

...splashing our feet in the water off the dock...

...doing belly flops (seriously that kid is tough and came up laughing every time)...

.

...skipping rocks in the water.  Coleman and Cooper celebrated every time they threw the rock like it was the farthest they've every thrown... 

...and relaxing and reading books with Grandma.  

As we wrapped up a fun-filled trip, I thought I'd leave you all with a few silly pics of the kiddos from the past few weeks...

Coleman

Calvin

...and the Coop'ster'

One of the many reasons I enjoy this annual trip is because we don't turn the TV on (minus Nemo movie for the kiddos at night) and just do these 'ole fashioned things to enjoy each others company and make more great memories of us! 

Have a good week! 

Popsicles and Pools...

Summertime fun as a kid seems to always involve popsicles and swimming in the pool...and we are getting lots of those these days. 

The summer heat in the Lou, gave no repreve for Coleman's first field trip to the zoo.  The excitement of the day helped us to not think so much about the high temps.  

Coleman was super excited to ride on the yellow school bus.  He kept asking, "Mommy, can you ride with me?"  Of course,  I'll cherish this for now, because I know he'll soon be rolling his eyes at the sight of me near the school bus. 

Here is him holding hands with a few of the girls in his class...typical Murchison. 

For most of you moms who have done this before, you'll not be surprised by the fact that I was tasked to keep track of Coleman AND a few other boys in his class.  So, this was more work than I was expecting...but I took the task and ran with it (literally)...

...and by the end of the day when Coleman was tired and consequently stopped listening to me, I questioned whether next year he should be on my team.  I'm pretty sure he minds Miss Trish better! 

And here's the whole group!   Congrats to all of you teachers out there...your patience and caring is very appreciated (and way underestimated!). 

The next night, I spent some much needed "girl" time celebrating my long time friends' upcoming nuptials...her wedding is in a few weeks, so stay tuned...

Congrats Ally, you are going to be a beautiful bride.

While I was away...

...the mice did play. 

As you can see here, this is how the boys "helped" Jay put together the new patio storage bin...

...and then he made them a makeshift slide from the cardboard box and pulled them down the hill.   Hey, whatever entertains them (if even for only a few minutes)!

On the 27th of June, we celebrated Jay's 37th Birthday at one of the only places we can eat out these days...Mexican!  

We got Dad a celebratory tequila shot...

...and the boys always get a blow pop at the end of dinner...it usually buys us some more time to socialize and finish our dinner.  

And then he was off the next morning for his annual guys golf trip...

Happy Birthday Honey, we'll miss you!

We started off the weekend with some finger painting...

 ...and they boys painted a few pictures with Grandma 

Murch...

...Cooper and Cal are still at the age where everything goes in their mouths...so not sure why I thought this would be any different.  By the end Cooper looked like he was wearing red lipstick.

To end the day, we discovered a new frozen yogurt place, where you get to add your own toppings...after many little fingers trying to get in the candy and cookie buffet, we were able to sit down to enjoy (and get a bit sticky). 

That weekend, we also shared some pool time with our cousins Cohen and Beckett...this is them playing in the little water fall that runs into the pool.  

...and took a lunch break with Grandma Iris. Thanks to her and my Dad 

for taking the day off to spend it with us at the pool!  

Although we had a fun filled weekend with Grandma Murch, my Dad and Iris, I don't have many pictures to show for it...(mostly because it's impossible to take a picture when I'm always holding someone or something else)!  Having three kids at such a young age (and so close together) is quite challenging and takes a small army of help...words cannot express how thankful we are to our family  for making it all possible. 

Before we knew it, Dad was home...and Coleman was very happy to see him (and so was I!). 

We saved our homemade popsicles for when Dad got home and ate them in the 100 degree heat on our new picnic table out on the deck...

...which was not smart, given they melted very quickly...but Calvin and Coleman were quick to "help" out.  (Notice I always put "help" in quotes...um, yeah, because it usually causes more work for mom.   For example, in this instance, it just smeared melted red jello all over the table.) 

Later in the week, we had movie night in the basement...

 They love the excitement of popping fresh popcorn in the popcorn machine...the smell of fresh popcorn reminds me of my dad popping it on the stove as a young girl.  I just love that I can create those kind of memories for my boys...

 ...usually I have to fill up their tubs a few times and they'll sit for a good 20 minutes.  I can't wait to take them to a theater when they can sit through a full movie. 

We're having such a fun summer and looking forward to more good times in the upcoming weeks with popsicles, pools and oh ya...popcorn!