Summer Fun in Tennessee - Part I

Let's face it. We had so much fun this summer that I'm fairly confident I'll be blogging about it until November. It's taking forever to pour through all of the photos I took, but I'm so happy that I have this blog because it's making me keep (somewhat) up-to-date. So, let's take a little trip back to July so I can share a few photos from our trip to Tennessee.

We had the. best. time! It was awesome! Truly! We decided to kick off the week at Wilderness at the Smokies in Pigeon Forge. It's basically a massive indoor/outdoor water park flanked by an awesome hotel made just for the pure enjoyment of kids and families. We all had a blast. I love water parks! Always have! It's so much fun to splash, slide and swim with the boys. Plus, they're little dare devils and will ride anything they're tall enough to ride. I love it!

The next day, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We met their newest addition, Bakhita - such a cutie! - and we swam at Aunt Margie's house. Such fun and that was only day one! Next up... our trip to Safety City. SO AWESOME!

Here are a few photos of our trip to Tennessee. More to come!

This kid is a hoot! I would love to know what goes on in that little brain of his.

Getting ready for the massive amount of water that's about to dump on their heads.

Charlie looks thrilled! Chase is like, "What the...?!"

Whew! They made it!

This photo is hysterical. I asked for ONE picture in front of the
Wilderness at the Smokes sign. They are so mad at me for making them pose
for yet another picture, so they decided to show their displeasure on their faces.
Too bad boys! You should know that I will get my picture one way or another!

Ta-dah!
Ok, so it's not a great photo, but at least they attempted a smile.
I don't feel too bad. They LOVE looking at the photo books I make.

And they're happy again. Nothin' a little snow cone can't fix!

And now onto Grandma and Grandpa's farm...

This is Praise and little Bakhita!

I love this photo! So cool!

Chase and his Daddy.

The next day we headed to Aunt Margie's...

. Chase... mentally preparing for his 2 1/2 summersault with a twist.

Um... I think he needs to work on his form.

Charlie and Grandpa having a laugh. 

Me and my bubs.

 And now it's time to show off our mad diving board skills...

I love this kid. He's got style!

I'm not sure what to say about this. Interesting technique, Charlie.
You might try looking where you're going. Just sayin'.

Mike, showing off his best cannonball.

Ok. Step aside all. My turn! Here's my back dive in stop-time photography.

Look! I even pointed my toes! Mrs. Van Meter would be proud.
Who turned 40 this year?
This girl!

Thank you, Aunt Margie! We had a great day!

Welcome, Summer Party!

Yes, I know it's back-to-school time and I'm aware that Charlie goes to Kindergarten next week, but frankly, I am still enjoying summer. So, with that in mind, I am going to take a quick trip back to the middle of June and post about the party I held on June 21 - the official first day of summer.

(Truthfully, I took entirely too many pictures over these last couple of months and it's taking me forever to go through them all, but I digress.)

Anyway, we had a fabulous time at our Welcome, Summer Party. It was a laid back affair (by Kellye Arning standards) complete with our inflatable water slide, bounce house, sprinklers, water guns, bubbles and snow cones. We invited a few of our best buddies to play in the sun and splash in the water. It was great! It's becoming one of my favorite parties of the year because it's so festive and fun.

On a sad note, it's hard to believe that summer has practically come and gone. I tried so hard to soak it all in and enjoy it as best as I could. Thank goodness I have such fun pictures to look back on.

With that said, here are a few of my favorite photos of our Welcome, Summer party!

Aren't these cute? Flip flop cookies. Love it!

The decor was fun and festive, too!

I served snacks out of buckets with shovels. Why not?

Our buddies all had a great time.
Charlie, Max, Chase, Jackson and Lexi

The snow cones were a hit!

Charlie and Chase loved racing each other on the slide.

Who doesn't love a good water gun fight?

Lexi had lots of admirers!

I love Charlie's smile!

Charlie and his girlfriend, Lexi.
They both think they're getting married when they're older.

Uh-oh. I hope Chase isn't moving in on Charlie's girl!
What is Charlie doing? Kissing Lexi's arm? So funny!

Charlie still has his hands all over Lexi!

Chase's best buddy, Max, loved the sprinklers.

Colby loved jumping onto the inflatable slide.

This is Lily. She's Henry's baby sister.

And this cutie is Henry.

And this little guy is also name Chace (although spelled differently.)

And this cutie is Brody.

Ah, summer. You will be missed!

The Many Faces of Chase

Chase is one-of-a-kind, there's no doubt about it. What a personality! This kid has more facial expressions than anyone I know. He definitely makes life more interesting.

I bring this up because as I was editing more photos that I took on our trip to Hilton Head - ridiculous, I know - I noticed all of these great pictures of Chase with various facial expressions. He's a total ham! I love it! The funny thing is all but one of these photos were taken on the same day. Just goes to show you how crazy this little dude is. He's nuts!

Anyway, I'm on day five of our Hilton Head trip which means I'm almost done. YEA, ME! What a great photo book I'm going to be able to make this year. I can't wait!

Coming up next... our great pirate adventure. ARGH!

In the meantime, here are a few photos of Chase in all his nuttiness.

We had a great time using a dump truck as a riding toy!

Jonathan, Erin, Colby and Max joined us on Wednesday. What a group!
(Check out Chase's expression, of course.)

There were tons of dolphin sightings.
Check out the pair of dolphins in between Mike & Jonathan. Cool!

These boys had a blast together.
(And yes, Chase has no pants on. Don't ask.)

Check Putt-Putt Off the Summer Bucket List!

As I mentioned, this year I created a Summer Bucket List so that we'd be sure to take full advantage of all that summer has to offer. (Click here to read the original post about our 2013 Summer Bucket List.) Putt-putt is one of the items we wanted to tackle, as neither Arning Bros had ever experienced it. So, while we were at the beach, Mike and I decided to take the boys on their first mini golf adventure.

They did quite well at first. Both Charlie and Chase were gung-ho, swinging the club in every direction and inching the ball to the hole until it finally went in. But, after the ninth hole, neither one of them really understood why it was taking so long. I believe 18 holes was a bit much for them. Regardless, we had a great time and now we can check putt-putt off of the bucket list.

Here are a few pictures of the Arning Bros at mini golf.

What great focus and intensity shown by Mr. Charlie Arning.

Chase was much more willing to take direction than Charlie.

Chase is still working his his form.

So's Charlie.

Mama played too.
Did she win?
That's not important.
Next subject.

Charlie has the best smile, don't you think?

What cuties!

We survived putt-putt!

Fun was had by all!

Onto the next adventure!