7-11

 As per annual tradition, we hit up 7-11 on 7-11 for free slurpees. The store we went to planned ahead and had an employee back there serving up our drinks for us. She even mixed the flavors if you wanted.

We missed our Zekers, who was away at Sea Base.

Cheers to 7-11 and free slurpees!

[July 11]

Zeke's Sea Legs

Our scout boarded a small sail boat with about 10 other people and strapped on his sea legs for a week. 

The boys from Troop 9 flew to Ft. Lauderdale and then drove a couple hours to the Florida Keys.

The scout base is located at Lower Matecumbe Key. Sea Base began in the early 1970s and has since been taking Boy Scouts sailing, fishing, snorkeling and diving.

Zekers sailed the high seas for almost a week straight.

The scouts took turns of two-hour watch shifts during the each night. Zeke took these pics as the sun was coming up from the last shift of the night.

Troop 9 had two boats full of scouts. This is the other scout boat. It was a little bigger than the one Zeke was on. They had bunk beds below to sleep in, while Zeke and is group slept on thin mats on top of the boat.

So calm. I love how you can't see where the water stops and the sky starts.

The boys learned how to hoist the sails.

They sailed all around the Keys.

They did a lot of snorkeling. They saw a sting ray, nurse shark, and eel amongst the all the fish. There were also a lot of jellyfish that stung them a few times.

Zeke powered through a couple books throughout the week during the down time.

The captain taught them some sailing facts and skills.

Ocean sunsets are hard to beat.

If you find yourself on a sailboat on the high seas and need help navigating the waters, Zeke's your guy.

[July 7-13]

Friends and Fun On The Fourth

Because it was as hot as Satan's kitchen outside, DanFam5 went to the movies to see Into The Spiderverse on the 4th.

About 15 minutes into the movie Daisy and I actually left The Spiderverse because we thought a comic book movie was stupid. We snuck into a different movie, then went back and watched the last 10 minutes with the boys when ours was over.

After the movies we went to the Williams'. I was in my happy place on the water. Grant took the bigs out on the jet ski while me and Eli got to ride our own.

Ellie and Rusty have a little devotional book that they read with their guests and then have them sign it so they can look back some day and see who was over. Isn't that a clever idea?

We had brought some pop-its and sparklers home from Kansas, so we played with fire when we got home and listened to the fireworks going off nearby.

Happy birthday to America!

[July 4]

Celebrating With A Bang

After three years of celebrating our country's independence day in a foreign country, it was good to be back in the USA to celebrate the USA. And there is no better place to than to celebrate than at my parents'.

It's always good to enjoy the outdoors and walk though the pasture.

Of course we went downtown to check out the festivities and buy some fireworks.

When Daddy spins the merry-go-round it goes fast and they have to hang on for dear life!

Duane caught us walking through the car show and asked if we would pick the recipient for the Steve Hoard Memorial Award. We decided this was the car he would have liked best. One of the owners saw us looking at it and told us a little about the process of restoring it. A few days after the celebration, the owner texted Dad. He said thanks and explained how he put the plaque on a special shelf. After some shared conversation, it turns out that they were also interested in dune buggies, like Steve. The folks sent a picture of Steve in his buggy and they said they would print it out and place it on the shelf with their Steve Hoard Memorial Award.

We took a break from downtown to enjoy lunch time with family. Unfortunately I only took one picture of these people that I love so much. 

Zeke, Eli, Daisy, Stevie, Reika

But I did take pictures of the cows on our walk.

These ding dong cows start aggressively running toward Abe and I as we are walking through the pasture. They are only seeking treats, but they start stampeding towards us and their hooves are pounding the ground and it's scary! If we were to fall they could trample us. Plus there's a couple bulls in there, and I'm afraid they might think we are bothering their ladies and get angry with us.

We managed to escape this time.

We lit a few of our day fireworks before Randolph had their big show.

Brandi helped the kids light them.

We patiently waited on the church lawn for the big fireworks to start.

We ended the evening with our own little fireworks at home. It was great spending the weekend with family!

[June 30-July 2]