More Branson Fun!!

Not many things make R look small, but this HUGE rocking chair at Celebration City did the trick!

No explanation for this one...

T convinced R to go on all the roller coasters with her...she has NO FEAR where rides are concerned!

Hot Tubbin' at Splash Country

Hangin' out in the kiddy pool with little R...he says "HI MOMMY!"

R and I went to Branson on our honeymoon, and I have gone a couple of times with the kids and my parents, but we have never been to Branson as a family. That was one thing the girls wanted to do while R was home on leave...show Daddy all their favorite spots in Branson!! We went to Splash Country and to Celebration City, and then finished off our trip with some Putt Putt Golf and a short visit to the Outlet Mall. The girls loved having Daddy with them (he's the fun parent!) and he enjoyed seeing how much fun they have when they are there. As an added bonus, we found out that R's brother and his family were in Branson at the same time, and we got to meet up with them for dinner one night. It was great!!

A visit from Daddy!!!!

The kids and Daddy when we picked him up at the airport.

We began his welcome home with a trip to the local Mexican restaurant!

Daddy won little R's heart by letting him drive...he LOVES to drive anything with a steering wheel!! (No young children were harmed in the making of this picture...the car was in park and not even running!)

R got to come home for 2 weeks in July, and we were thrilled to have him home! The girls were SOOO excited! We weren't sure what little R was feeling, but it sure didn't take him long to warm up to Daddy! We had a full 2 weeks planned while he was here, and I will add posts of our various activities later. But for now these are from the day he got home...

Fireworks

One of the pretty fireworks that R liked so much.

I'm not sure about the goofy look on PaPa's face, but baby R kept reaching for the fireworks in the sky!

Two sweaty girls enjoying the fireworks!

R with MiMi, trying to figure out those things in the sky...

It's not the 4th of July without fireworks! It was a definite change of pace for us this year. The last two years we have gone to huge displays in Georgia, but this year it was a small town display in Altus, AR. We didn't want to drive to the big display in Little Rock because we weren't sure what little R was going to think of them anyway. Turns out he quite enjoyed them!! He kept reaching up trying to get them...it was really cute! I was worried about him being scared, but he wasn't at all! It was unbearably hot and humid that evening... you can tell by looking at the girls' hair in the pictures...A's was a bunch of sweaty spirals and T's was soaked and stuck to her head!! Overall it was a successful night with all the kids having a good time.

A funny afterthought

I was looking through the pageant pictures again, and saw this one. Do I need to even point out how much taller A is than all the other little girls in her age group???? Now you understand why A is always saying that she is "freakishly tall"!

A's 2nd pageant...different results...

Looking pretty, waiting for her group to start.

Doing a wonderful job on stage!!

Receiving her "participation prizes"

T even got into the patriotic spirit and wore red, white and blue. I couldn't convince her to do the pageant, though. She said NO WAY!!

A was in the Little Miss Firecracker pageant on the 4th of July. She was very excited and looked great in her patriotic outfit! She even endured me working on her hair for over 30 minutes!! She did great once again...was very confident and beautiful and we were very proud of her. She didn't win this time...actually she didn't even make the top three. I have no idea why...she did a great job!! She was very disappointed at first (it didn't help that baby R had already won his age division). Her pageant career may well be over now that she has realized it just isn't nearly as much fun when you don't win!!

Baby Mr. Firecracker!!!

"I'm way too cool for this!"

"Why is everyone staring at me?"

You can see how thrilled he was to be "crowned"!

After his performance, he needed a long, cool drink of water!

For little R's first 4th of July we decided to let him give the pageant circuit a try. A was going to be in a Little Miss Firecracker pageant, and they had an age group for R, so we entered him in it. He looked absolutely adorable in my opinion, but he sure didn't put on much of a show. The other babies were waving and smiling, but he chose to just stare out into the crowd with his angry eyebrows on most of the time. But the judges saw through his "tough guy" act, and he was crowned "Baby Mr. Firecracker"!! We were so excited for him! He now has a very manly crown and trophy to put on his bookshelf in his room!

Branson fun...

R with MiMi at Splash Country

T enjoying the water slide

R's first carousel ride...you can see him in the back...the mom and daughter in front of him couldn't take their eyes off of him!

A in the biggest rocking chair ever at Celebration City!

R agrees...Branson IS fun!!

Every summer my parents take the girls to Branson for a few days of fun. This year baby R and I met them up there to introduce him to the fun of Branson. The girls enjoyed showing him all their favorite places, and he had a good time everywhere we went. He wasn't too sure about the swimming at the waterpark...he hasn't quite figured out why the girls think it is soooo much fun! But he tolerated it, and even managed to get MiMi in the kiddy pool...without her swimsuit!!!

Back to the world of blogging!!!

I know it has been forever since I last posted anything, but it isn't because there has been nothing going on! I just downloaded over 500 pictures from my camera! June and July have been a whirlwind of activity, and we haven't had a moment to stop and catch everyone up. Be on the lookout...in the coming days I will add pics of all that has been going on in our crazy life!