11JUL11

We got to celebrate the 4th of July twice this year! On post they had the celebration on the 2nd and we went to that and enjoyed bouncy castles with Dak and Nic (although not for long b/c it was SOOO hot!) Then we came back for the fireworks with Tonya and her whole family that night. The girls LOVED them! This is the first time we've stayed up late enough for them to watch it and my camera battery DIED! Luckily Tonya had her camera so I did get pics I just need to get them from her (hint hint Tonya! :) ) But for now I will just share these AND some pics from the actual 4th with the Holtgrewe's!! :) We bbqed, made dessert kebabs and traumatized the 3 year olds with Sparklers! It was a blast and a wonderful throwback to the good old days in Germany! :)

Seriously, they posed this on their own.

Fun girls.

Dessert kebabs YUM!!!!

Alexis and Anya enjoying theirs.

Ryan and Eric with theirs.

11JUL11

Anya and Lexi were okay with the sparklers although they kept saying they were going to burn them!

Lexi and Tucker. :)



Ryan on the other hand.... (seriously is this the best picture EVER?)




Travis trying to convince her that it was fun.




Yeah he never did convince Eric. On the bright side I don't think we have to worry about Eric being any kind of pyro...

He did convince Ryan and she was okay with it as long as she didn't have to hold it while we lit it. :) Kids are so great.

10JUL11

I'm playing a little catch up since we've been busy having a blast with the Holtgrewe's visiting!! We decided to go watch Travis at RIA (Rangers In Action) since he will be changing companies soon and this was going to be the last time he did the narration. It was SOOO hot but the girls really enjoyed. When the first guy came out (NOT Travis) Ryan kept yelling, "that's my daddy!" I had to tell her no not yet and everyone around her got a kick out of it. Finally when Travis came out and she yelled it I told her yes that is daddy. They are so proud of their dad. They loved the helicopters, rapelling, and combatives (although Ryan kept yelling BE NICE!) but the loud explosions were not their favorite. They both ended up covering their ears for a good part of it. If anyone comes to visit and there is a Ranger graduation we will definitely be going. It was a lot of fun.

Ry Py in the bright sun.

Lexi.

Travis.

25JUN11

I called my mom today to tell her Happy Birthday (the big 5-0! Happy Birthday mom! :) ) She asked me if I had posted any more blogs and it reminded me I took a break and forgot to post about going to Savannah! :) On our way out of Hilton Head we stopped in Savannah. First we went with Dave and Kerry to a flea market (interesting...) and then we had to say goodbye (sad!) so they could head to the airport. After we decided to head over to Forsyth Park. WE just wanted to walk around and check it out before our drive home and I'm so glad we did. It was SO pretty! :) We had such a great vacation.

Love my family!

This was after they saw the park (I love that Lex is reaching back to help Ryan. I'm not sure what she was saying but I'm sure it was squeals of COME ON RY! :))


Then they were slightly distracted by a helicopter...

She is getting older and more beautiful I swear! :)

I love this face.

Daddy helping them not get soaking wet in their dresses but still play a little in the water...

15JUN11

One day while we were in Hilton Head we decided to drive up to Charleston for the day. It's a 4 hour drive roundtrip but I thought it was worth it. There is so much history there! We were later than we expected to be (I will take the blame for insisting we stop at Sonic before leaving yes, it's a problem.) So we missed the tour we had planned on doing but we went down to Market Street on our own and got to just walk around and then go to lunch. Then we went back for a later tour. We only got off the bus at Fort Sumter but we drove by Waterfront Park, market street, the battery, and old jail, and tons of old cool houses with so much history! After being in Europe for so long I think I forgot that there is ton of cool history here in the states too! Not a lot of pics b/c we were on the bus but here are a few anyway...

My fam! :)

Fort Sumter.

Ryan had fallen asleep on Kerry during the bus ride which was actually nice b/c I was able to really listed to our guide. But that's why I only have Lex. :)

14JUN11

One of the morning we were in Hilton Head Kerry convinced me to get up early and go down to the beach to see the sunrise. It was soooo early for vacation but I decided it would be fun. I took my camera and tried to have fun shooting something other than the kids! I also stole 2 of the pics from Kerry's camera b/c she has a great zoom lense. It was SO pretty and fun to see I've never seen a sunrise before! I'm glad I went but that doesn't mean she convinced me to go again the morning before we left. (Don't worry she convinced Dave!) Once was good for me! :) I'm such a bum on vacation!

I just liked this shot...


These are Kerry's camera. So pretty.

Right when it first popped up. When we first go there there were only about 5 other people and by the time it was coming up there had to be about 50.

Got the bird in it! :)

13JUN11

These pictures are in absolutely NO order and there are a LOT of them! :) We went to the beach 5 times while we were in Hilton Head and I'm telling you the girls (and Kerry and I) NEVER got tired of being there. I usually had to make them leave even though I know Ryan especially was EXHAUSTED! :)

These are the poses I get from Ryan when I tell her to "pose!"

Papa burying the girls!

Ry's turn!

Ry and Grandma Kerry building a sand castle.

Lexi and papa chilling in the ocean.

Hilarious! Ryan just decided to join in with this family in covering their dad in mud. Luckily, he was a great sport and only got a LITTLE nervous when she poured it REALLY close to his face. Notice the mom to the far left who was cracking up (when she wasn't helping to cover him!)

Lexi LOVING the waves. This was one of 3 friends she made while we were there. I love how easily kids make friends.

Lunch time!

The first night we went to the beach. This was right before papa decided it was okay to take them fully clothed into the ocean (and also forgot his phone and wallet were still in his pocket!)

And after! They had such a blast with Grandma Kerry and Papa!

As I mentioned in my previous post THIS is what Ryan thought the best method for being in the ocean. It's a terribe pic b/c it was with my phone and the humidity made it foggy but she's there in the yellow squating and watching.

Love my water babes.

Kerry took this pic of Lex and I have a little argument over snacktime I think! :)

This is how Lex burried Ry. So funny with the sand castles around her and the sticks over the top of her for some reason. And Ryan held SOOO still. Love my girls.