This year my parents were out of town for Memorial Day, but my brothers and I still got our families together to celebrate! Mom insisted that I take lots of pictures for her since she was going to be absent. I didn't even have my real camera with me but I did manage to get a few decent ones on my phone.
My brother Ben and his wife Erin have a pool at their house so we've started making it a tradition to spend the holiday cooking out and splashing around there. Their pool gets lots of shade so the water is always COLD early in the summer! Doesn't seem to bother the kids and the boys though!
Katie Wynn fell asleep in the car on our way there so we had to wake her up for the festivities. It took her a few minutes to shake off her sleepiness.
After being there just a few minutes and warming up in the sun, it was definitely time to change into our swimsuits! I packed our patriotic ones so that we'd match Erin's flag decorations. :)
My goals for the day were to stay hydrated, stay un-sunburned, and stay pregnant. I found a seat in the shade and parked it so Matt was on full-time duty in the pool with Katie Wynn. She didn't want to swim in her float...why would she when Daddy could hold her?!
K-dubs and her cousin Ramer were King and Queen of the shallow-end ladder. They rarely strayed from it unless it was to go in the water for a few minutes at a time.
We took a break from swimming to enjoy a delicious spread that Erin had prepared. Chip and dip, slider burgers, barbecue chicken, baked beans, fruit, and homemade ice cream had all of our guts sticking out a little further than usual. :)
Before everyone could get away that afternoon, I took some group pictures to send to our parents. It's hard to get 5 kids to sit still for a picture when there's a pool and water guns right in front of them!
There was a family picture taken of us too but bad hair plus no makeup plus nine months pregnant plus a polka dot swimsuit equals no chance in hell it's getting posted here! I try not to be too vain but I don't want to scare any readers away. I'll just post the one without me in its place. :)
That was our last family get-together with Katie Wynn being the youngest grandchild. Next time there will be one more wiggly boy to try to get a smile out of in the group picture!
