Barnes River trip

After our Hulcher river trip, we had to work Thursday/Friday, then off we went to the Piankatank for a weekend with the Barnes crew.  We were looking forward to cousin-time and getting to see Jake and Ali!  

Here's Fielder meeting Jake and Ali's new pup, Buddy:

 Terrible picture, but one of my favorite moments of the weekend.  Fielder and Jenna took turns giving each other foot massages!  Then they later played hospital and Fielder took good care of the sick patient.  They were adorable playing together.

Believe it or not, it was pretty chilly at the river!  With the breeze, I did not want to get wet, but it didn't stop the kids from jumping in for a swim.  It wasn't the best idea though with a fairly strong current and the boat drifting quickly....we eventually got everyone back on the boat and headed home.  They were able to play on the beach and swim a little more for the rest of the afternoon.

We had a nice dinner together, played with sparklers, and then we headed to the man cave to sleep!  (Gotta make it work for that many people to stay at the river!)  Sunday morning was beautiful, sunny with a breeze.  I went for a run and then we all headed back to the beach area to play and ride the jet ski before we had to go home.

Always nice to get everyone together!!  And so glad Alison is there to take these great photos!!

4th of July NNK

What a blast this year was at the river!  The kids were completely spoiled!  Since the 4th was on a Wednesday (bummer!) Mom took the kids Tuesday morning, then Rob and I joined them Wednesday morning.  Since they were having so much fun, Mom let them stay with her one more night while we headed home for work Thursday.  Rob and I had a wonderful time during our short visit, but the kids really had the best time ever.  I am so thankful for everyone for pitching in and helping with my kids and keeping them so entertained!  I have no idea how to narrow down from all the pictures but here's what I have so far!

Rob and I arrived just in time to help decorate the float for the annual parade.  They did an awesome job of putting it together and having the kids all ready to go!  Fielder loved his blue hair :-)

 

And we won a trophy again!!!  Fielder just KNEW we were going to win!

One of my all-time favorite river photos!  Love this!

When I say the kids were spoiled at the river, I am not joking!  They really pulled out all the stops for us this year!  All the kids seemed to really love just jumping off the pier and swimming in the river - they even had a slide set up to slide right into the water.  There was "Tandy island," the jet ski, a couple boats to choose from, a slip n slide in the yard, a bounce house, corn hole, tubing, water skiing (for me and Patti!!!) and fireworks Wednesday night.  These kiddos played HARD.  It really meant so much to me to watch everyone playing together and showing Claire and Fielder the BEST time.

After dinner, Rob and I had to head home.  Everyone else took the float for another spin, this time with all the lights on!  The pictures look awesome!  After "parading" one more time, they came home to watch the fireworks a couple houses down and Clay set off some big ones too.  I can't believe the kids were able to stay awake after playing ALL day long!  I was so happy that they didn't have to leave and miss out on the fun.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to the Hulchers and Masons for an awesome 4th of July!

4th of July, over the years

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays because it became a Hulcher/Mason/Barnes River Reunion many years ago, and we've been just about every single year of our kids lives.

I was feeling very nostalgic after this last 4th of July trip to the river and looking back at all the pictures.  Just for fun, here is just 1 picture from each year....I may be able to dig up some earlier years pre-blog and pre-facebook!  Our family has grown and I love to see all the kids together - these will be memories that last forever!

2008

Our first trip to the river as parents!

2009

This was the one year Claire did not go to the Hulcher's river....but we did make it to the Piankatank!

2010

This year the family grew with Samara being born just a couple weeks earlier!

2011

This year I was pregnant with Fielder

2012

2013

I had a hard time picking a photo so here's 2!  This was the year we won a trophy at the parade!

2014

2015

2016

2 new babies joined the family!  Clay and Patti's twin girls Virginia and Olivia had their first 4th of July river weekend.

2017

2018!
And baby Wade joined the family!  I think this might be it for us, family of 17 (including the party-pooper at home)

Summer!

Summer is here!  We are in our 3rd week of summer now, but here's how we kicked it off!

Week 1 was camp for both kids.  It was HOT, but they had fun.  I was a worried Mama all day Monday, but they did fine.  My biggest concern is that they'll get tired of it by mid-summer.....we'll see....

Week 2 was camp for Fielder and a Mimi week for Claire.  We didn't want to lie to Fielder, but we also didn't want to hurt his feelings so we compromised with telling him that Claire was with Mimi, but also emphasizing "girl activities!"  (maybe leading him to believe it was Girl Scout camp)  He handled it ok.  A couple nights we picked up dinner and went to the pool.  Mostly we kept to our normal routine and when it wasn't too hot, spent time in the yard.  He loves finding his froggy friends in the backyard!

 
Meanwhile, Claire had a wonderful week with Mimi and Papa.  She spent the whole week there, but I at least got to see her one day when she visited me at work for lunch!

Monday they went grocery shopping, swimming, and shoe shopping, then picked up Leonardos on the way home (her favorite!)

Tuesday she did Meals on Wheels with Papa.  That has become a tradition for them the past 4 summers and I love that she does it. 

with the pool all to herself!  Later some other girls came and she played with them for a while

 Wednesday they went to the zoo.  Mimi offered to take her skating afterwards but she said she was tired....  :-)

Thursday they rode the new Pulse bus route down to VCU to have lunch with me!  After lunch, they were did the rest of the route with a stop at the Science Museum.  

 Friday they went blueberry picking, then picked Fielder up for a trip to the pool.

What a great week!  I know she had fun - and I know she enjoys a little time away from the annoying brother ;-)

On to week 3.....this is a busy week because of the holiday but they will get a little break from camp with a trip to the river!