A small vacation to Dragonfly-Inn :)

 Once again, Miles Against Melanoma gave us an amazing gift......two night stay at Dragonfly Inn!  This place was amazing!  Not only did we stay in a fully furnished cabin, they also had a lake for us to swim in just walking distance from our cabin!
The first day we took full advantage of the lake and spent most of the day swimming in it and jumping off the dock!

 

The next day we headed over to elephant rocks state park for a day full of hiking and climbing on very large rocks!





 After spending several hours at elephant rocks, we decided to head on over to Johnson Shutins to cool off a little bit since it was starting to get rather hot out.  The kids had a blast playing in the water and watching some of the big kids diving in.

 Then it began to rain so we decided to call it a day and head back to the cabin for dinner and play some board games.
The next day we headed back out to elephant rocks since it cooled off a bit and I wanted to wear the kids out before our drive home.

 

It was a perfect little get away for us and best of all, it only cost us gas since we brought all our food from home and we ate at the cabin or made a lunch for the day.  Once again we are so blessed to be a part of a great organization like Miles Against Melanoma!!!





Night out at Sweet & Sassy!

 Miles Against Melanoma was gracious enough to get Adriana a night at Sweet & Sassy for her and her friend, Clare!  Adriana was super excited!  They started the night off with a limo ride in the special pink limo!

 Then they had a dance party for all the girls....

 Then came the makeover.....getting their hair done, makeup done, and nails done.  What a special treat for two little 9 year olds!

 And now time for striking a pose!

 There's no better way to end a fun night than with a sleep over!

We are so blessed to be a part of such an amazing group as Miles Against Melanoma!!!

Camping in 108 degrees!

 I realize that you do a lot for your kids, but I think this tops it!  We went to girlscout camp on what I think was the hottest weekend that summer!  We stayed in a cabin with NO air conditioning and 108 degrees outside!  The girls never seemed to mind it and did great.  We brought a sprinkler for them to play in and they also got to go swimming for a couple of hours. 

And they also learned new things since we were limiting their activity during the day.  One of the things they learned was to finger weave.  Adriana was really excited about this and happily taught Andrew how to do it.  He quickly learned and became as addicted as his sister!

So I guess I can honestly say that there is not much I won't do for my kids :)

Father's Day at Branson!

 So by now you are probably starting to notice a trend......any holiday that causes too much pain, I run away and get the kids and I out of town.  So Father's Day is no exception.  So this year we headed to Branson for the weekend with my parents.
We spent most of the weekend at Silver Dollar City.  Here is some pictures from there....

 That night we decided to go to the outdoor show "Shepherd of the Hills".  Before the show they had a kids show where the kids can all come up and do a bullfrog race.  Andrew was the only brave soul to do it!

His frog didn't win but he still had a great time trying!

 The next day we went back to Silver Dollar City....

 At the end of the night we went to watch the free show.  They called for kids to volunteer for some parts and of course Adriana was one of the first to raise her hand and they called on her to come up!

 And here is they boys old tyme photos they had taken.  I thought they turned out really good!

Although the weekend was still really hard, it was still good to get away and listen to the kids laugh and have a great time!

Miles Against Melanoma Race!

 This year we participated in the Miles Against Melanoma Race in memory of Chris.  We miss him so much and it still hurts so bad but it makes me happy to see that his death could be saving the life of so many others!
Along the race path, they have pictures of all the Angels that lost the battle to melanoma.  Chris had many signs along the path and it made me so proud!
Here are a few of the pictures he had.....

 

 While waiting for the race to begin, the kids decided to jump on stage and do a little performance of their own :)

 Adriana and her friend, Clare, after they ran the 1.2 mile race!

 After the kids race, my kids and their friends did some volunteer work and handed water to each of the racers.  The kids had a blast doing this, although it did get out of hand a bit!

 At the end of the race they did a balloon release where you could write a note to your loved one to be sent up to heaven.  The balloons also had a light in them to make them glow in the dark, and was super cool!

We had a great time and it was so nice to honor Chris!  And I was overwhelmed with how many people participated in the race in memory of Chris!  I know he was smiling down on us all!