the lost birthday photos....2013

the awesome camera the hubs got me for Mother's Day a year ago does funny things.

every once in a while i can't find pics i've taken on the darn thing, for like months.

and then, suddenly, they reappear a half a year later.

i present to you the "lost" photos of our youngest celebrating her birthday during our trip to the Wisconsin Dells last summer! 

gee whiz...everyone has grown so much

 we got word of a restaurant that brings your food by train so that's where we went.

 we like our lemonade :)

here come the drinks! 

 and them some random stuffed animals..

 

 the main course!

 along with some bubbles...those were her favorite

 

all tuckered out back at the hotel

these were her 4th birthday photos..stay tuned for her 5th birthday photos soon because i know exactly where they are:)

catching up with The Oldest!

as i did with the First Lady and Our Second, and will do with the Lil' Lady soon after, here is an update on our First, the one the keeps us the busiest by far! 

 Fall 2013 production of Tom Sawyer..he was double cast as the Preacher and..

 Injun Joe!

 he had the crazy drunkin' limp down perfect.

 turned 15 this year..despite my many protests.

 and made the High School baseball team much to my excitement!

 he was just a tad impressed with this jersey, can ya tell?

 the exact same day he made the team it was also the opening night of his next play "Footloose"!

 that's him in the eighties gold tux up front.

 he's got a great group of friends from those plays and they sure can entertain when they're together!

 this was the backyard Easter egg hunt i asked him to participate in. mama's just not ready for him to give those up ;(

 and then shortly after that, it was on to his fourth play in a year. despite the bizarre costume change (yes, he's in the blue dress below) he was not double cast. The play was "The Lady Pirates of Captain Bree" and his character played a dude who dressed as a lady at some point to avoid being thrown overboard by the lady pirates!

 since it was his dad's birthday he let him try on his costume afterwards!

 right before school let out his dad took him and a bunch of friends to play paintball.

 his dad had enough camo and gear from his military career to outfit the whole bunch.

 headed off to be a sophomore in a few short months. not too happy about the warp speed these kids seem to be growing up in but i can say i sure am proud of them.

 

{watching the First Lady at her first game back in April}

destin 2014

well here they are..my latest attempt at doing my own photography. would love to be able to afford to have a professional photographer for these moments but just can't, so with the awesome camera the hubs got me for mother's day last year, some internet tips and 4 very patient kiddos these are my favorites from what I was able to capture on the beach in Destin. 

{out of about 70+ shots!}

my second favorite group shot. it's next to impossible to get the Lil' Lady to look into the lens so this was a lucky shot!

 these were all taken about an hour out from sunset. the only other option was sunrise but considering i am the only true morning person in the family that just wasn't happening :)

my favorite of Our Oldest

 another lucky shot. although she doesn't like to look into the camera, she REALLY loves to smile. i mean really. {see 11th shot down}

the First Lady is always easy to capture...she loves the camera!

 my favorite of Our Second

 her sister made the "seaweed" necklace for her

 my favorite of the First Lady

 told ya she likes to smile :)

 my favorite group shot ever! not sure if we were allowed on the lifeguard stand but it was empty so we took it:)