The Ejection Seat

Nolan came down with Jake late Saturday night.


We rode on the newest crazy get-up in Branson. "The Ejection Seat" They strap you into this seat, it pulls you down, then lets go and it shoots up in the air! (Can you say very scary?) Vic wanted me to go with him, but I told him that I didn't think it was wise for us to both go at the same time so that if something happened our kids wouldn't be orphans.

Vic and Nolan rode twice, and Aubrey and I rode once. We have the DVD's to prove it. They are sooo funny!

Vic made it down!

Vic left work Friday night and headed straight down! We were so glad to see him. He had been missed!

Saturday we headed out to the go cart tracks. Poor Brady was upset that he wasn't tall enough to yet drive on the hard tracks. He had to ride with Vic.

The girls drove on the rookie track. (Can you say slow as snails???) :-)

Finally Vic bribed some kid at one of the tracks and so Brady got to drive once.

Taylor Reed Magic Show

On our second day everyone woke up feeling better! Yeah! We got Tori to her dance and then the rest of the kids and I went to eat breakfast. While eating some of the lesser known shows came around to promote their shows. One of them was a magician named Taylor Reed. He did a hidden ball trick with Brady while we were eating. Needless to say, the kids were hooked!

So, we went to the Taylor Reed Magic Show. (It was inexpensive!) He was a master of illusion and did a lot of major illusion tricks. Aubrey got to go on stage and he read her mind. She was thinking of the color blue and he guessed it!

It was great fun!

Branson

We went to Branson last weekend and had a great time! (That is once we got over the bumps in the road.)

Wed. night, before we left, Aubrey woke up in the middle of the night and started throwing up. She was fine otherwise, and if you know Aubrey, there was no way she was going to stay home.

Thurs. we left at 7 a.m. We pulled into the Sonic in Oswego and I turned to ask the kids if they wanted anything. (I needed a Dr. Pepper to keep me going.) Just as I asked, Megan threw up all over! EWWWWWWW! So, there I am, at 7:30 in the morning, trying to clean up Megan and the van at Sonic in Oswego. :-(

We got down there though with no other problems. (We were however missing Vic that had gone to work instead of going with us to Branson.)

We got Tori to the Mansion for her dance convention. She had the opportunity to work with several different professional choreographers. (One is currently on tour with Justin Timberlake, and another with Hillary Duff/Janet Jackson.)

Needless to say, the rest of us went to the hotel room and laid around so that the sick duo could try and recooperate.

Tori's 12 Year-Old All-Stars

Tori left yesterday for Wellington to play in her all-star tournament. She was excited because as 12 year olds they get to stay with Host Families at the State Tournament. Her family has six kids. She called me last night to tell me that they reminded her of our family. Oh My!

They played their first game today. They played the team that they lost to by one last year in the championship game. They lost by one again! DARN! They play again in the morning.

I am so proud of her. She does a great job and looks pretty doing it.

I enjoyed the funny pictureof her team. I caught her hair flying in the air and another boy flipped off the hat of the boy next to him and you can see it.

Brady's 1st All-Star Game

Brady played tonight in his first all-star game. He is on the nine year old all-stars. He was our MVP of the game!!!! He caught almost the whole game and had a heck of a throw down fielder's choice to the shortstop at second. He pitched the last inning and did pretty good with that too. We lost the game though to Columbus 12-5.

It was a very long day. I went down to the ballpark at 11 this morning to open the concession stand thinking that I would only be there a little while. Besides a couple of trips to Ace Hardware, I was home for 15 minutes before our 7:00 game to clean up. We are hosting four tournaments at one time which makes for a lot of work.

My Little Bat Boy

Brady did a wonderful job being bat boy for Vic's 17-18 team at the District 5 tournament in Columbus. He would run out and get the bats and then run back in the dugout. Unfortunately we lost. (The first game against Galena/Riverton went twelve innings!)

Time Flies

My how time flies! My friend Debbie found this terrific picture of her daughter Stacia with the girls at a dance recital from 3 years ago. They have all changed so much.

Purrrr

Millie Cat sure is enjoying our new couch! :-)

4th of July

4th of July continued...

Had a great time on the 4th of July. It rained, but luckily the rain let up and the kids all had a great time shooting off their fireworks!

Megan in her baseball uniform!

Megan had a great time playing in the Babe Ruth Rookie league this year. She was on the A's. We were proud of her great attitude during the whole season.

Aubrey & Saylah Rea

What an adorable picture of two little angels! Aubrey had a great time playing with Saylah. Jessica and Jarod came down to the ballfields to watch Brady play baseball.

Brady @ Shaun Hill Football Camp

Brady had such a good time at football camp! I was very proud of him. He got out there and gave it his all. He really wanted to win the MVP award. They told him that he was only one vote away from winning it. What a guy...