Happy Birthday HUNTER!!

 We took a trip to Splash Country for Hunter's seventh birthday.  I love having parties but it is a nice change of pace to make an experience out of the birthday celebration.  I will admit, David and I had our doubts on how fun the water park was going to be.  We aren't big theme park folks and I hate being cold and wet so it seemed like we were destined for disaster.  Boy were we wrong!  This was a FANTASTIC trip!
  I planned in advance to rent 2 cabanas.  A private spot for our group to eat, regroup and hang out for the day.  We ordered our lunch in advance and had it delivered right to our hut!  It worked out beautifully.  What made this trip so special was all the friends that joined us for the birthday fun!  LeeAnne came with her girls, Uncle Kevin, Linden and Eli, Chloe, the entire Turner and Dawson clan.  We had a blast and the kids LOVED having all their friends to play with.  David turned into a big kid himself and the men of the group were as giddy and excited as the kiddos.  I was surprised how fearless they all were as they tried slide after slide.  Even little Lucas, Alice and Blaine were tackling some of the bigger slides!  A wonderful experience, I know we will go back to this park in the future.  After closing down the place we headed to the only Japanese steakhouse in town for some yummy dinner.  Hunter loved his birthday dinner so much in Atlanta last year he wanted to repeat the experience in Gatlinburg.

 I think they look tired in this picture.

 David handling the Lucas situation.

 Happy Birthday love!  I hope you enjoyed this day with your family and friends and remember how fun it was for years to come!

 Sweet Chloe loved the park as well, remember she is part fish.

 The evening ended with dancing in the parking lot listening to street singers.  Perfect.

 Now, we had to have a little celebration on his actual birthday, day!  He also shares his birthday with another special man in our lives, Matt!  Happy Birthday Matthew!  Hunter is not a fan of cake so we had 2 yummy ice cream cakes.

 I bet you can tell which cake belonged to Hunter and which one belonged to Matt! hahaha!

Always fun opening presents.  Another blessed year.  I can't believe he is seven years old.  Sniff, sniff.

Happy, Happy 40th to Daddy!

 Love.

 both of these

 cute faces!

 August 3rd!  Daddy's big birthday!  What to do, what to do?  Let's go fishing, fly fishing!  We took the boys down past Damascus to a famous fly fishing spot and spent a wonderful afternoon.  Hunter LOVES to fish and David loves to fish so this was the perfect day for them to work together on their fly fishing skills.  Lucas tried to fish as well but mostly he and I played in the creek and searched for crawdads.  We found some as big as our hands.  It is amazing how much those little things look like lobster and the interesting thing is that they only swim backwards.

 Watching and listening to daddy teach about fly fishing and holding/casting the rod.

 Even Ibis joined us for this trip.  This was a great day for him as well.  He doesn't get to go on as many trips as he did prior to the boys and now that he is getting older it is harder for him to get out and run with David and I.  This trip he ran, he played in the water and he enjoyed being with us.  I am so happy he was able to come.

 Lucas and I searching and creek walking looking for crawdads.

 Waiting patiently for a nibble.

 Looking for treasures

 Creek walking with mommy.  I used to do this kind of stuff all the time as a kid around the house where I grew up.  I am so glad the boys like to do the same thing.  We had a wonderful day with the best daddy in the world!

 Waiting on the fish to bite and looking for the best spot to cast.

 FINALLY!!

 They

 Caught one!

 I think these guys ended up catching at least 3 good size trout.  I know we will be back to this spot soon!

 Happy Birthday!

 Silly family photo!

Yummy birthday cupcakes from Unique cakes.

Emerson's Birthday and the giant slip and slide

Soaped up, all wet and all cheers and giggles as the kids learn to master the giant slip and slide!

 Hunter had great form.

Even the adults tried it!  The kids made it look so easy and fun and it was!  It was great!  Everyone loves the slip and slide and the bigger the better!  Happy Birthday sweet Emerson.

Hunter joined the Junior golf team!

 He may be the youngest golfer out there but he has one of the best swings.  He played on the junior team for the club this summer.  It was a great way to get him started playing golf.  It was really laid back and a lot of fun.  They played in groups of 4 and they played from the best ball.  Due to his age he lacked some of the strength to hit the ball far but his short game was competitive.  I really loved watching him play.

 Getting ready for his tee shot.

 The team walks together from tee to green.  They are responsible for helping each other.

Lining up.  Isn't he the cutest thing you have even seen?