Play Time!!!

School's out, summer's here, the pool's up! We enjoyed a really fun day with family and close friends. Marty finally had a day off so he could enjoy playing in the pool so we invited some friends and family over to just play and hang out. Our friends Jason and Erica and Mathew, Cameron and Riley; along with Marty's brother Mike, his wife Debbie, their son Tony, and daughter Cheyenne all came over. Bill and Denise and their girls wanted to come too but Maggie had dance recitals today so they're coming tomorrow.




Jason couldn't stay long because he had to go to work. :0( Hopefully he can join us again soon and not have to rush off.





The men did all the cooking and got everything ready for dinner so all the ladies could relax. Thanks guys!!!

Erica and I relaxed on our floaties while the kids played in the pool.

Mathew got ganged up on in a noodle war. Seems unfair for both Mike and Marty to team up against him! But anyone who knows Mathew knows he probably had it coming. :0)

There really was quite a noodle war going on for a while.

Riley, Cameron and Erica.

My beautiful niece, Cheyenne.

The guys rolled Erica over and....

...over and over on her floatie. She'd come up only to be pushed over again! She was pretty water-logged!

Mike and Debbie...and Cheyenne really is in there too. She just got flipped off her floatie.

Mathew, my newphew Tony, and my brother in law Mike. It was sure good to see Mathew and Tony hit it off so well!

See, Marty did get to relax!!!!

Heather is definitely her mother's daughter. She spent much of the day sitting in the shade reading a book.

My nephew Tony.

We got out of the pool for an early dinner. It seems we all worked up quite an appetite!
Mike, Debbie and me.

As soon as dinner was over the teenagers watched a movie and Riley and Cameron got back in the pool. They kept us entertained with all sorts of tricks.

Pyromaniac Erica helped Marty start the fire to roast marshmallows.

Mathew tends to shy away when the cameras are present but he happily posed for one photo.

Cameron, me, Marty, and Erica as we roast our dessert!

Me, Marty, Cameron.

Me and Marty.

Erica and me.

Heather....under Erica's influence???

After Mike and his family had to head home the rest of us, full of marshmallows, just relaxed on the porch. Marty lit all the citronella candles and it was a very nice evening!

Erica and I captured a very sweet moment shared by Heather and Riley in the candlelight.

We so enjoyed having you all over. Thanks for coming, we'll have to do this again soon!!!

Check out Erica's blog for more photos of our day.

Fun in the Pool...But Not Ours....

Heather and I had planned a day of lazing about in the pool today. Marty worked at his mom's, building a shed. Erica and her family had plans to spend the day with friends who will be moving away this week. Unfortunately their friends became ill and they've had to postpone their plans. Erica called us to see what we were up to today. Marty had just called me to tell me our pool was still not ready for swimming because the chemicals are still not right and that his mom said we could come swimming in her pool. When I told him Erica and Jason wanted to do something with us he said bring them to his mom's too. Jason and the kiddos went to town to pick up dinner to grill later and Erica joined Heather and me in the pool while they shopped. Marty worked all day on the shed and never did get to join us all in the pool!

Erica catching rays.

Cameron and Riley sure enjoyed their day in the pool!

This is how Erica and I spent our whole day!!!

As soon as I abandoned my air mattress the race was on to see whether Riley or Cameron would claim it!

Jason and Mathew wrestling in the pool. Thanks Jason for doing our shopping and our cooking today!!!

Doesn't Riley have a sweet expression on her face in this one??

Mathew and Cameron chased each other round and round the pool.

Silly Cameron! :0)

When Billie and Freddie arrived home Mathew and Heather ditched us to play pool in the game room.

Heather

Mathew.




I am sure I should have gotten out of the pool much sooner than I did! (Either that or I should have applied sunblock! Ouch!!!) Guess I will be peeling in a few days.....sigh....

Which lobster is redder????

Marty on top of the shed he spent the day building. Next time, take a break and join us in the pool!!!!

We sure enjoyed our day playing in the pool. Thanks for joining us Erica and Jason! Thanks for the use of your pool Billie!

Memorial Day....Work Day???

You'd think after all the posts last summer of the progress of taking down a friend's old pool and readying our yard to install it here we'd finally have an installed pool to enjoy this summer. You'd be wrong. We finally had another work day today to work on it some more. It finally LOOKS like a pool and is starting to get water in it!!!! Yay!!!

It was a long hot day, especially for Marty and Jason who worked on putting it up all day long. Erica and I helped too, but we didn't start till later when they needed our help holding the walls in place and installing the liner. And of course we got another long break when it was time to pick up Heather from school!

I've noticed with this group, we even make hard work fun. And who knew a pool with only an inch of water in it could be so entertaining?!?

Erica. (We worked hard holding up those walls, didn't we???

Until the ladder was in place we had to have help getting over the walls getting in and out of the pool. Marty gives Erica a leg up:

I was just standing, watching and waiting for my next task and apparently someone had my camera for this is what I found when I downloaded photos:

Erica and I were each given power tools! We each had drills and were given the task of unscrewing the bolts, then after Marty and Jason got the liner in place, we rescrewed the bolts in place.

In the foreground I'm helping Jason with a section as Marty and Erica work on the next section. Riley or Cameron were usually nearby and were great "gofers!"





Jason and Marty working on the liner.

When we first got in the pool to begin working out the wrinkles and bubbles in the liner as the pool filled with water, we were continuously getting soaked with the hose, getting splashed, etc!

When Jason helped Erica back in the pool he spun her round and round. I was just waiting for him to get dizzy and fall in the water with her, but of course since I had my camera ready that didn't happen!

I got my revenge for all the spraying and splashing!

Thankfully Marty did not spin me round and round....although with my graceful landing on the other side you'd have thought he did!!!

Erica and me just chillin' and relaxing over dinner.

The kids had a ball playing in the pool with only a tiny bit of water in it! Cameron was really loving his boogie board and it did look fun!!!

Heather taught the kids to play "Ships and Sailors" and they had a blast. Here Heather and Riley landed together!

More Ships and Sailors. From the front: Heather, Riley, Mathew and Cameron.

Doesn't Marty look worn out? Thanks, Babe for all your hard work! Thanks to you too, Jason and Erica!!!!

Ice

What a fun night!

We've been discussing summer plans the past few weeks with Jason and Erica. A few weeks ago Jason mentioned ice skating as a possible activity this summer. We often leave a lot of the planning of our outings to Jason but tonight's plans were totally up to Erica and me. We usually go out for date nights and just the adults go. I decided I liked Jason's suggestion of ice skating but Erica and I both thought this was an event for the kiddos too.



This was the first ice skating trip for Cameron, Riley, Heather and me. I was sure impressed with how well the kids all skated. If I didn't know better, I'd have been sure they'd all done this before!



I put my skates on and immediately felt like I was going to fall when I stood up and I wasn't even on the ice yet! When I did make my way to the ice, I was sure my feet were going to fly right out from under me. I stayed very close to the wall, moving very slowly for several rounds. One of the staff members skated over to me and told me it would be much easier if I'd skate faster. I was skeptical as I knew it was a long way to the ground and it was sure to hurt when I landed! A couple more laps and I did follow his suggestion and speed up some. He was right, and it was easier. Cameron, Riley, Heather and Mathew flew around like old pros in no time! Kids amaze me!

Me and Erica. Look! I've moved away from the wall! :0)

Marty and me. "Don't you make me fall!"

Heather.

Jason.

Gee.....you think Erica's cold???

Erica, Jason and Cameron formed a train.

Erica and Marty. They look like they are synchronized skaters!

Erica's clan: Riley and Cameron, Mathew, Erica and Jason.

Riley. She's such a cutie she had 2 boys flirting with her all night!!! 2 boys with blue mohawks at that. Watch out Jason!!!

The men comandeered the cameras for much of the night. I was afraid to go out on the ice with mine and was sure I'd fall with it!

The gals: Me, Riley, Erica and Heather.

Me, Cameron, Erica, and Mathew. Right after this Erica and Cameron took a tumble and bumped heads. Marty attempted to capture it on the camera but someone skated in front of him just as he snapped it! Otherwise you can sure bet I'd post it!

Check out Erica's blog for my wipeout. After I was more comfortable skating I attempted to skate backward. I did this several times and once something went totally wrong and I wound up flat on the ice. Marty missed the whole thing. But, Erica got it.

Marty's ice skated before so he had no problem maneuvering on that thin blade on the slippery ice!

Heather and Mathew.

Cameron, are you sure you've never done this before??? You sure impressed me!!!

All of us. Marty, Me, Mathew, Cameron, Jason, Erica, Riley and Heather.

After my spill on the ice I was through skating for the night. This is service!

When we were through freezing our tails off on the ice, we headed over to Starbucks for coffee for warmth....well some of us did. The rest went next door for ice cream! Brrrr!



Just chillin' with Marty at Starbucks.

Sunday's note: I was sure I'd wake up sore this morning but I did not!!! I'm ready to go again!