Rodeo

We got to go to the rodeo for the first time. Our friend Luke Pendergrass' 6th birthday party was there this week. What a fabulous idea for a little boy's birthday! It was a blast. And we had to laugh, because it is this huge farm that backs up to 540 (a major interstate) and we never had any idea that it was there! And the crowd was full of die hards, fully decked out in their cowboy/cowgirl gear. My kids LOVED it.

It's starting time...

They opened with the cowgirls doing a choreographed show to Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer". Awesome. Won me over : ) That was Kate's favorite part.

"Whoa, we're halfway there..."

This girl loves music. She comes by that honestly.

After the horses finished, the bull riding began. Talk about being on the edge of your seat! I had no idea. All these cowboys compete against each other for points. They each get a turn with a bull and have to stay on for 8 seconds. 8 seconds doesn't seem like very long, until you are bareback on a huge, massively strong and very angry bull whose sole mission is to get you off. Intense. The boys loved it. Hands down their favorite part.

Look at this guy!!

He wound up staying on for the 8 seconds. Only 4 or 5 were able to do it, so it was a pretty big deal. Those guys running to help him off were the rodeo clowns. Not a job I'd ever like to have.

Look at my man, multi-tasking.

Summer school started this week, and Josh is taking both his Hebrews. It is intense. His Hebrew vocab notecards will be with us wherever we go for the next six weeks.

After the bull riding finished, they let all the kids come out to chase down a calf and grab the ribbon off it's tail. Controlled chaos. Our kiddos just watched because they all wore flip-flops. If we ever come back, we know to wear shoes they can run in.

But they got to cheer their friends on!

After this, they did the barrel racing. The girls have to ride their horses around 3 barrels as fast as they can without knocking any of them down. I think the winner did it in something like 16 seconds?! Flying.

Carter thought every bit of the rodeo was awesome.

Super fun night! Thanks, Daniel and Carrie for having us!

(Look at these 4 tuckered out kiddos!)

The morning after.

Sunset Beach

Rachel and Justin invited us to come back to Sunset Beach for a weekend at her parents' place there. An offer we could not, and would not ever refuse!!

The weather was a little off and on, but we had a blast!

My kids love the view of the golf course from the back porch.

And then, of course, we all love the main attraction...the BEACH!

So thankful for Rachel's generosity!

What a treat to have spent this time together with dearly loved friends!!

Pirate Party

Birthday parties are so fun. We all got to go to one of Carter's preschool buddies party. It was a pirate party, which is right up my boys alley. We brought all their pirate stuff, and got swept away in the fun of the party and never remembered to stop and change into it?! But, Keenan's mom had these fun hats for all the kids, so my boys felt pirate-y enough : )

Getting ready to 'pin the patch on the pirate'

Tapping in to his inner cowboy in the midst of all the pirate-y things

Playing peek-a-boo with her brother across the room from behind the chair.

How is it possible that she is so big already?! My word.

Walking the plank. Hudson jumped right in there behind big brother.

Wonder if we should talk with Hudson now at age 2 about jumping off bridges...

"If everyone else was to jump off a bridge..."

(just kidding, kind of.

I do love how he adores and follows his big brother.

It provides many opportunities to encourage Carter to lead him well.

Priceless discipleship already in place at ages 2 and 4.)

Blasting the pirate ship (drawn on the driveway in sidewalk chalk)

with water balloons. Fun idea!

And so glad I caught this picture!

Carter's balloon is the blue one in mid-air just right of center.

Kate teamed up with the birthday boy's older sister and another girl there that was closer to her age to be the party planning assistants. There job was to hide the treasure for the treasure hunt. I love her consistent desire to help out, no matter where she is. A true servant heart.

Treasure hunt

Pausing mid-hunt to gather around the dead frog on the steps.

Just like a bunch of boys to stop and gawk at something so gross.

(look closely and it's at the very bottom of the picture. guts everywhere. seriously. gross.)

All those fun games and activities were followed by pizza and cake (yum!)

Present time! Birthday boy Keenan on the right in the red vest.

Such a fun party! We all had a blast, and were glad we got to go as a family.