Good Times

Our new clubhouse:)

The kids (specifically Katie and Mags) have been asking Dad for a few years now for a clubhouse. Any given Saturday you could walk outside and find a wagon, stroller and cardboard box draped with an old comforter and sheet-complete with a cardboard sign that usually read "NO BOYS." So after seeing how eager the kids were to have a little "place of their own" and getting fed up with never being able to find my scissors or the tape or any kind of marker, we decided that they could really use a tree house/clubhouse. And what I mean by that, is that we tossed around ideas of a little platform stuck up in a tree with a ladder going up to it......

But here is what came instead........you know, a little platform, stuck near a tree, with a roof over it and a front porch, with 2 windows and a door, up 7 foot in the air from 6 telephone poles, completely sided with tin....a place for the kids to call "their own"Building the floor...that is Brian on the right and his uncle Jack(the brains behind this undertaking)
Taking a break...well everyone but Jack(that guy is amazing!!) On the ground is Brian, Dan and Grandpa Rose.
Jack anchoring on the roof...thank goodness for Jack's amazing carpenter skills and his big heart to donate his time on our "little" project!!

A little Jack and Beau:)

The Lake

Maggie getting on her skis-by herself, thank you very much;)

Jack and daddy-getting ready to ski together

The beautiful double rainbow after the big storm

Maggie

Katie

The real truth of why we do all this boating;)

Aunt Bernie, Tammy and Eric cleaning potatoes

Beau excited about eating corn

"I'm cool dude," says Vann

Vann, my nephew Zack, Jack and Beau-what a bunch of blondies!







Happy 4th of July! We again spent our ever-too-short 3 day weekend down at Barkley Lake in Eddyville, Kentucky. We always stay at Brians' uncle Jack's place...a weekend getaway lot that is jam packed with people, campers, motor home, and boats. The kids love to go boating and well, so do I...what's not to love? On Saturday, we picked fresh blackberries on the side of the road and brought them back for Grandma Rose to whip up some cobbler-yum! Uncle Jack had planned a big fresh fry with hush puppies and fried "new potatoes" as well as some fresh corn on the cob. We were all waddling after that meal was over. Some high points this weekend-Maggie not only learned to get up on her skis with me helping her take off, but she mastered it and now I don't have to stay in the water with her-woo hoo! Also we got the special privilege of celebrating Mass on the top of one our friends houseboat on Sunday. Fr. Tony was vacationing with them and they invited a bunch of people over that they knew were down. It was a great example to all of us that we can worship no matter where we are. It was neat to see all of the other boaters driving by checking out this surreal scene of 40+ people on the deck and am man in a white robe leading us in prayer and scripture-too cool!