The Ford Family

The Forth at Lake Burton - AKA the "Monsoon of 2013"

Seth and his cousin, Patrick, on the tube

All of the lights are other boats.

Ellie and Patrick...Teeny crush.

We're made of sugar, but you can't keep us from a good time.

Seth and Patrick on the tube. This was the only day we were able to get any significant time on the boat. We had a ball on skis and the tube. Kathy and I were the only casualties on the tube the entire week. Seth and Patrick slalomed and I got up on two skis on my first try. Kathy gave us a show skiing fully dressed.

Jackson taking the plunge.

Ellie deciding that plunging ain't her style

Owen and E

Cousins

Josie and Ellie are enthralled with Jackson. At one point J sat beside Jack and put her head on his shoulder while giving him a big squeeze. Then she looked at me and said, "I sweet."

Here she is trying to get Jack's attention by sitting on him.

And if sitting on him doesn't work...a swift kick to the face will.

Happy place

This is how 85% of our boat outings ended.

Many a game of cornhole were played because of the monsoon. Luckily our house had several screened in areas and wrap around covered decks.

Nancy and Jack watching the cornhole throwdown

Three Reese generations - passing down that Reese nose. All we need is Ellie in the picture...

Owen

Patrick was such a good sport. He spent a lot of time charming this gal. They played pirate for an hour on this hammock. Patrick was the sea monster.

We cut the kids some slack and let them play with electronics more than usual...it did rain the ENTIRE time, afterall.

Jack, Ellie, and Leena

Ellie wants to canoe? Patrick to the rescue.

Love this shared look.

Josie and Chow

Little Friendship

Landon, LillyGrace, and Ellie

Seth and Josie, David and Brooklynn

This little friendship is the JOY of my life.

Before we head inside, I ask the girls to ditch their wet suits when we are finished swimming in the neighbor's pool. On this particular day they got a wild hair and streaked around the yard.

iPhone Purge

On the River with the Earharts

Here's Seth with Josie and Landon

LillyGrace and Elle Belle

LillyGrace's birthday party

At the Chattanooga Zoo. This picture cracks me up.

E and J burst into out bathroom before we knew they were up. They colluded to hop in as bunnies.

Ellie opened up her piggy bank and used her own money to buy this doll from Cracker Barrel. She's been wanting it for three weeks. She played with it for two days and hasn't touched it since. Much to our surprise Ellie had $62 cash in her piggy bank. We haven't even counted the change yet. First we suspected the grandparents, as they sleep in her room when the visit. But after questioning the Fords and Cadles, we concluded that Ellie has been feeding her piggy from the money daddy sets down on the bathroom vanity each night.

Notice the playroom door was closed and came in to find these two playing clinic.

Ellie and Lila at the Manners Tea.

Daddy busted Ellie in the playroom pretending to use the potty from her dollhouse.

VBS at First United Methodist

Ellie had a close encounter with the living room ottoman, which resulted in a busted (not broken) nose. You can see some of the swelling in this picture taken about 12 hours later. She was complaining about her vision so daddy dilated her eyes and gave her her first eye exam as a precaution.