Vacay Dinner.....Yummy!!

I always look forward to the day that the men go out deep sea fishing and bring back the catch for dinner. It always beats heading out to eat. This year was especially yummy! 

Dad always does his special fried fish. Little milk, little cornmeal, little special ingredients! 

Delicious!  

 Jared brought his "A" game for his grilled fish this year. He was whipping out special sauces and what-not and it was gooooood!

Teamwork.....I was the photographer so I didn't have to help in the kitchen:)

 Little Buddy even participated as our resident corn shucker. 

Fresh salad is the best!

This was the best meal of our entire vacation! 

Beach!

Ahhhhh....finally. Beach vacation! (And I'm finally blogging it 9 months later! That's why the journaling is scant :( Note to self: Never forget to blog your vacation :/) We headed to our usual neighborhood and rented a house near the beach.

Lanie was set to go in her smocked swim suit!


It was all good until something didn't go her way. I think she decided she didn't like the sand on her hands.
The boys were stoked about being at the beach. They look forward to fun in the waves on our annual vacay.

Someone else also gets their thrills at the beach. It helps when there are yellow flags (and some red days!)

A little beach baseball:

Mom was Lanie's favorite playmate. She's the only one that has the patience to sit still with her :)

Sandcastle building:

More wave catching!
We were so glad that Uncle Jared was able to make the trip with us. He was riding the waves right along with the boys!
Fearless Rhett.... you gotta watch him ALL the time!

A Trimming.....and Then Some

My little boy-bander has been begging for a change in the hair department. I've been reluctant. I mean, I've put many a year into growing out his mane and I'll be the first to admit that I LOVE it. Let's reminisce for a moment......ahhh:
No longer is he NKOTB material. He's now more the likes of, let's say, Daughtry (because they don't seem awful and I actually really like them):
Wowzers. I know. Gone. All of that beautiful surfer boy hair....lying in the floor at my friend Jodie's. Cade's gone all mohawk as well. I was actually glad that he stepped out of his box because his entire life he's preferred that his hair resemble a ken doll....or a very straight laced accountant. And did you know Grant has two ears? And a forehead? Me neither.
I didn't shed any tear over the loss of these locks. Pretty much because I rationalized that Justin Beiber got his million dollar hair cut off and he's still just as cute as ever. And he sold a wad of it on ebay and made a mint for charity. So, if it's good enough for the Beibs, it's good enough for my kid.
Next thing you know these kids are going to be wanting tats.
They are both loving their new do's and I'm still learning to recognize my second born in a group of kids. If I don't get on the ball with it I'm going to end up leaving him at the ball park or something.
Well, a big sarcastic thanks to Daniel for all this hair nonsense. And no, Rhett is not getting in on the action. A mom has to draw the line somewhere.

Just a Spoonin'

I feel that it's noteworthy to give a glimpse into the nightly roundup of the three boisterous boys that live under this roof. Most know that Cade and Grant decided to bunk up when Lanie joined our family, but Rhett was doing just great being stag in his rockin' pirate room. The times they have a changed:

Cade has slept in his upper bunk bed a number of times that I could easily count using my God-given appendages. He instead spoons Grant nearly every night, a habit that brings tears if I try to break it. Now, to add to the filling of the full sized bed, Rhett has decided that he wants to sleep with his brothers and they're happy to include him. A triple spoon.
After a couple days of this I noticed that the mornings were not filled with smiles but instead were saturated with yawns and rotten attitudes. I put the nix on the Triple Spoon and tried to banish all to their own bed spaces. What I ended up with was Cade and Grant still in the full bed and Rhett camped out in the floor on a sleeping bag. It's been this way for months now and I foresee no shake up anytime soon. I'll now be renting out Rhett's room and possibly Cade's top bunk. Pricing is negotiable but not free. A stay at home mom has to be resourceful if she's going to get any shoes this month. Thumbs up to brotherly love!

Playing, Panda, and Pizza

In an unbelievable flash of time I found myself planning my eldest child's NINTH birthday party. Ninth. Nine. The year after eight and the last before double digits. His birthday parties are pretty easy to throw. I let him invite his buds over and then they rough house and play. Easy for me, fun for them!

The party started at 10am with some shenanigans involving fake guns, lots of running and hiding, and the clubhouse. I stayed clear of whatever was going on so I can't be sure.
Then there was jumphousing (which happens at any and all Morgan functions) and a water balloon fight. We gave the boys numbers and broke them into two teams. I had, prior to the game, spent no less than an hour filling up what felt like 762 water balloons for a fight that lasted 0.7 seconds.
The temps were uncharacteristically cool for the end of May but it didn't hinder the water game. All boys were poised and ready.

Noah may have been the smallest kid there but he was hurling those balloons like nobodies business!
Good times, great fun for these buds!
Cloudy skies can't stop the craziness around here!
They settled shortly for a little lunch and the traditional birthday festivities.
I did, however, go non-traditional with the cake and got these PartyPops by my friend Julie. They were all kinds of good. I may or may not have eaten 5.
Given that Cade didn't have a cake to put the candles in we stuck them in his scoops of ice cream. Big wish!
Cade was a fan of the PartyPops.
As was Rayce.....
And Baylor.
Bobby was savoring the deliciousness....
Next up was Bobby and his "Hey boys! You wanna shoot things with a bb gun??" Did he really need to ask six boys if they want to shoot something? Nobody does hanging with boys at a party like Bobby. He's secretly twelve and loving every minute of it.
We implemented the rock-paper-scissors game to determine the shooting order to keep things fair.
Everyone got several turns.
I even got in on the action myself and apparently no one felt confident when the girl got the gun. Whatever.

They were shooting this water jug filled with blue water. They all got a kick out of seeing who shot it where.
After the shooting ceased, we changed clothes and loaded up and heading to see KungFu Panda 2 where they feasted on popcorn and fruit snacks. The movie was a definite "must see" and everyone enjoyed it. It's always amazing to watch the transformation though- you walk in with six perfectly normal boys and walk out with six kids that think they know how to roundhouse kick and aren't afraid to use it. Our evening rounded out with a little pizza dinner at Pie in the Sky. As we entered the 9th hour of partying one of the kids looked at me and said, "Are we going to get a goody bag at this party?" Umm, son, you'll be leaving this party with a bag full of memories. Surely they'll be good ones!