Chickens, Balloons, and Fireworks

Jordan and I have had a lot of lake time lately; visiting two weekends in a row.  In general, our Summer calendar has really seemed packed actually.  Not a bad thing but that kind of mischief must be managed, you know.

I've got lots of pictures to share with you but not a lot of time to chitty-chat so I'm going to get right to it.

The last weekend in June, we hit up the lake for some rest and fun.  We spent most of Saturday on the boat and had a great time re-exploring the water now that the level is back up.  It felt great to have the wind in my hair and feel the choppy water under the boat.  I almost forgot that feeling of wobbliness when you spend all day on a rocking boat and then finally step foot on solid ground.

Top: Mom and I

Bottom: This is the bridge that goes over the lake and the water is just a foot shy from touching the bottom of the bridge!  Just image what it looked like when the water was 3 or 4 feet higher!

For father's day, Jordan and I found a water balloon launcher at Academy.  It was a rather exciting purchase for Jordan, but I had NO idea that balloon launchers came in so many sizes and shapes.  We found a balloon launcher that uses biodegradable balloons and can launch up to 250 feet!  This thing has some serious power.

This is a picture of Jordan with his "ammo".  We launched a few at Aunt Cindy's house from the boat and really surprised her (while talking on the phone)!

Dad made the detrimental error of being the "target" Saturday afternoon while everyone took a turn with the balloon launcher.

Look at those serious and focused faces!  By this point Dad was doing a little heckling...

Just about the time we were running out of ammo, Jordan launched a fast one at him and socked him in the arm.  We all felt pretty bad though because it left a terrible mark.  Don't worry, dad was fine but we did take a lesson not to shoot at people.  Why read the directions that clearly say "NEVER shoot at people" when you could learn that lesson the hard way?

Top Left: Jordan really pulled the sling-shot taut taking aim at dad!  

Top Right: The water balloon raspberry.  Dad said that it looked a lot worse than it felt.

Bottom Left: These are the easy to read, clear instructions...I couldn't help myself and had to take a picture.

Bottom Right: Jordan and Cavin took a turn launching it into the trees.

As ever, the lake food was glorious.  I take a lot of pictures of food; I guess I just love the vibrant colors.

Summer dinners are always so colorful!

This particular weekend we had a bit of a chicken fiasco.  Tony had released his chickens to roam around the yard.  There are so many bugs for the chickens to eat, and they don't usually cause a problem.  Except one stubborn fowl had other plans.  Instead of staying grazing with the other chickens he decided to go rogue and made a total mess of the pavilion.  That bird really brought the world down on himself.  After this chicken's pavilion destruction, the hunt was on!

It took several people and several shots to get this little clucker.  We finally gave up and decided to eat dinner but we were interrupted when I saw the chicken sneaking into the garage.  I'm sure he had poopy plans for the garage, just like he'd done to the pavilion but alas, he was finally cornered.  Let's just say the situation was neutralized.

Sunday evening Jordan and I were exhausted.  We decided to eat at The Rock restaurant that is new to our area and shared a great pizza and stuffed mushrooms. 

I had grandiose plans to make a nice dinner at home, but The Rock was too tempting to turn down.

Bottom Right: I snagged this picture Sunday night of our 4-o'clocks.  Every year I worry that the plant has died (either from lack of water, or my brown thumb) and every year this pink flowered bush comes back!  Last year we had white 4-o'clocks so I guess they succumbed to the heat last year for good.  That's a bummer.

Sunday night I managed to talk Jordan into hanging up a little piece that I found at Bowie Trade Days a few weekends back.  My cousin, Mandy, had given me the idea to use the end of an old rake as a place to hang jewelry or wine glasses.  I did a quick Pinterest search and there are all kinds of creative uses!  This little beauty only cost $7 and now resides in our bedroom.

It's easy to see and store long necklaces.  I love it!

After a 4 day work week Jordan and I headed back to the lake to celebrate the 4th!

Everyone was itching to get on the boat and this time we took the doggies!

Top: Dad, Jordan, and Abby

Bottom Right and Left: Jordan and I with Abbs.  It's hard to tell whether or not Abby likes the boat.  She seems very worried about the water but all together happy to have the wind in her wild long hair.

Sophie, on the other hand, LOVES the water!  This little rascal tempts fate by hopping on the back of the boat while we are crusing at a high speed through the water.  She can't stand to share "her" lake and she leaps into the water whenever she has the chance.

Top Left: Sophie's jump into the lake

Bottom Right: Meanwhile, Abby played it cool watching the scene from the back of the boat.

Right: After cooling off in the lake, Sophie goes crazy for the "towel game".  In this picture she is dying to play tug of war with Jordan's swim towel.  I suppose Sophie our little fire cracker.

Last weekend Tony introduced us to Mr. Diesel which is an awfully big name for such a little tyke.  Diesel quickly stole our hearts though.

Me, Tony, and Mom all took turns holding Diesel.  Those little ears and that face!  Diesel mostly wanted to be put down so that he could explore.

I had the opportunity to snag some pictures of Mom and Dad making waves and stirring up the water.  I've still got a long way to go on my photography skills but I think outdoor pictures always turn out the best.  Especially lake pictures with lake smiles.

Top Right and Left: Mom, Dad, and Sophie crusing.

Bottom Left: Mom doing a little jet skiing.

Bottom Right: Sophie was so crazy to get on the jet ski with mom.  If it has a motor, Sophie wants a ride.  Don't worry folks, Sophie wore her life jacket.

And lastly, I have a hodge-podge of random pictures to share:

Top Left and Right: Another fantastic meal followed by a wonderful ice cream cake to celebrate Cindy's birthday!

Middle: From R to L, Tony, Cindy, Dad, Me, Remy, and Mom - We attempted to play a couple of patriotic songs to celebrate the 4th.  I have to admit, we sounded bad!  We could use some improvement, that's for sure.  In our defense, it's tough to play in the heat while sight-reading from a 5x7 piece of paper and sharing 1 music stand with the pages blowing the breeze!  I'm not used to working under such conditions!

Bottom Left: A golf cart can totally hold 6 people, right?  I got lucky with this shot and just love to see all those smiles!

Bottom Right: I'm still working on the camera settings that work well with fireworks.  Why can't I figure this out? At any rate, this is the best shot I got.  But I'll tell you, there's nothing like sitting on the cool lake in a boat with family and friends watching a fireworks show, well, several shows in fact!  Good times!

Happy 4th to you all!  Our country sure has a lot of problems, but I'm still proud to call myself an American!  God Bless the USA!