Friday, July 29, 2011

Havasu Springs 2011

Last week we had our first of TWO summer river trips this year! Our friends, the Derosas, are hosting us at Park Moabi in a few weeks and this is Havasu Springs. They said they wanted us to see the difference between vacationing on the "river" and at the "lake." Last year, we just went to Moabi (which is the river trip) and this trip introduced us to Lake Havasu.



There were five families for this fun vacation. One family fell in love with the river last summer that they went out and bought a boat right away! This trip was the maiden voyage of their new boat. We took a picture of the launch. Steve was taking copious notes... some day this might be us! LOL...



Genny and I getting ready to board the boat for the day!



Just because we are 4 hours away from home and cell phone reception is horrible... that didn't stop daddy from selling produce any chance he got!






First day on the boat...




Ryan and Charlie were so excited to get to be on the first "tube" ride of the trip.




Ryan loved it. Charlie, on the other hand, is an ANIMAL!!! She calls herself an "extreme tuber." She would go with her buddy Jackson and they would laugh, and laugh, and have little conversations out there behind the boat. I wish I could be a fly on the wall to hear what they talk about. She was so brave. The boat was going super fast and they even went outside the wake.





The next adventure for the weekend was waterskiing. Charlie went first. She tried several times but never got up. She loved trying though. We try again next time. Lots of other little kids tried after her without any luck either.






Until.... Ryan gave it a try!


Woo-hoo... Athlete Ryan got up on her second try! We were so proud!


The first 3 minutes or so were awesome. Her smile was so big. She was having a blast. And then she realized that she didn't know how to get off this thing when she was ready. She became terrified. You can see it on her face. Bad mommy and daddy failed to tell Ryan ahead of time what to expect. She has never seen anyone waterski before and all the kids that tried before her didn't get up so she did not know what to expect. She couldn't hear us on the boat and we couldn't hear her. We cut the engine so that we could get her off the skis. She didn't know to let go so she got dragged a little. Poor thing.


Her prince Daddy jumped in the water to her rescue. She was crying so much. Such mixed feelings. She was so happy to have succeeded but so super scared because she didn't know what to do. Her exact words were, "I would have had to hang on until we got to China."


During all these ski trials... the kids hung out on the boat watching each other.

This is Riley with the Grace Girls.


Grace girls with Jackson (Charlie's extreme tubing partner)




A little golf to pass the time while the grown ups were packing up to head home!




So, what's the consensus? River or lake?

Actually, not sure. Love them both for totally different reasons. But... just to be sure we'll try the river again this summer to do some more research ;)

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Childhood Memories Coming Full Circle

Just a silly post but one that reminds me of my youth!

My brother and I used to build cereal box forts during breakfast too.

The Grace Girls have taken it to a whole new level though...













Uhhh... try not to pay attention to the ridiculous concoction of sugar cereals displayed!

I know... probably a bad mommy in this day and age but who can resist?

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle... for a good cause!

A couple of weeks ago I hosted a "Kids' Clothing Exchange" to benefit the kids in our NCL Jrs. charity. It was such a blast. Lots of friends came with their gently used kids clothes that their little ones had grown out of and traded them in for "new" clothes in the right size. It was a hit. Kids grow so quickly that we all had clothes that our kids grew out of way too quick and so many with tags still on! We cocktailed. Chatted. Shopped. A fun girls' night in (with a purpose!)






















And then... when everyone had exhausted their ability to shop, we packed up everything that was left to take to our charities. I am proud to say that we had more than a dozen large trash bags filled with clothes. We organized them by size and they are ready to distribute!

Nice work ladies.... thanks for coming out!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

British Challenger Soccer Camp

yes, you guessed it... soccer season is just around the corner! What a better way to get the girls ready than a week long soccer camp put on by the Brits! Charlie, Ryan, and a ton of their friends took the camp together! They had so much fun and were totally exhausted every day!


The Littles went to camp from 10:30 - 12:00 each day. More than enough time for their little legs on the soccer field. Each day, my friend came by and picked up Ryan (for her 9:00 start time) and dropped off her youngest daughter for me to take at the 10:30 start time. We had this car pool thing down!!!


Charlie and Ava

More "Littles"... Charlie Grace, Hannah Stevens, Ava Stevens, and Avery Pawlacyk

(All will be in kinder together this year... crossing our fingers that they ALL get in the same class!)

The kids loved the accents of the coaches!
(Gotta admit... Mommy kinda liked it too ;)



Good listening Char-Char!


After dropping off the little people, I went over the Ryan's field and got to see her in action!

She was loving it!


Every day the older kids played a "World Cup" Tournament. Perfect timing since the USA women's team was in the finals this week. Ryan was on the Wales team. She even had to do research on the team for her homework.


Time out for a quick smile and then back to the action!



Lined up in their teams ready to go at it!




The Grace Girls are ready for the season to begin!!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

A Patriotic Celebration

I still attest that 4th of July is my favorite, favorite holiday and this year's celebration did not disappoint! We were missing a lot of our normal guests due to a family function but had lots of new guests to fill our home on the BEST day of year!!!



The stage was set...


The candy bar is always a hit!

This year we had more than 30 kids to help devour the goodies!



Lunch is ready for the yummy potluck dishes to arrive!

Thanks to everyone for helping out. Everything was delicious!



Every corner of the house was set with seating options. We had 20 families through the course of the day! It was awesome... I loved having such a big group of party-goers!

The girls were dressed to impress...


The house was segmented into "play areas" for the kids...



The garage was turned into a craft area and

we installed a TV and carpet for the kids to play Wii.



We set up a bounce house in the front yard.




And... the pool of course kept the kids happy and busy!




The grown ups had their own "stations" to entertain...










I guess we would call these "the bar" and "the lounging area." Lol...







































And... I guess we could call this "the WT-front yard-beer pong" station.




Some kids became fish that day...


While others found the candy bar!



We ended the night on balcony for 2 great firework shows...

the Navy Base and Old Ranch!



The Derosas stayed for the fun!


And the Pawlacyks



And the DeNinnos



And (part) of the Panzicas










Oops, and the Gills stayed too!!

(This picture posted in the wrong place! I hate when that happens)




My feeling is that a sign of a good party...
...is an empty candy bar!


GREAT, GREAT Day! Thanks for joining us on my fave day of the year!

We hope everyone comes back next year and that our family will all join forces too!

xoxo