Seeing Double!

The boys and I had a special treat on Thursday when we were fortunate enough to spend the day with two of our most favorite friends...Abigail and Ansley! Whoever said "two are better than one" must have had these girls in mind!

Our morning started off with a visit to Krispy Kreme...one of the girl's favorite spots! Krispy Kreme has never been so much fun! (And it will probably never be the same after our visit!)



Then - thinking "the more the merrier" - we headed over to pick up another one of our sweet friends, Ruby Walton, and continued our adventure by spending the day splashing in the pool. (We are very blessed to have such generous friends who share their pool with us!)











I know I speak for all the Sandersons when I say we had an awesome day!

Bath time for Camdyn

I think I told you that I have a new friend that comes and stays with me while his mom is at work. Tonight, he got to stay through bath time! I have to say this was a lot more fun than washing the dishes! I just had to share this picture with you...he is SO cute!

Happy Birthday, Scott!

Scott's birthday always falls right in the middle of basketball camp...where he spends the day in the gym from about 8 in the morning 'til 9 at night...for pretty much the whole month of June! So today I convinced him to meet me for lunch at the Copper Kettle, where all his boys (and of course, a friend!) surprised him with cake and presents!

Nothing sweeter than summertime!

Clint, Grant and I were lucky enough to be able to head down to Tim's Ford Lake for the weekend. Thanks to the patience of our "boat driver" Tim, all three us can now add "wake-boarding" to our list of things we like to do at the lake! Of course, I just HAVE to mention how it only took me two times to get up, but it took Clint five times! Not that I was counting! :) Every now and then moms just need to have something to brag about in a house full of boys!

Clint's turn...

Grant's turn...







Thanks so much to our friends the Arneys for inviting us to the lake for the weekend! Friendships multiply the good in life! Thanks for sharing happy days with us!

Adventures in TP!

Oh...someone's gonna get it! We turned the other cheek, really we did. But then I guess...we just ran out of cheeks! After cleaning up the yard from three "after-hour visits" in the past couple months from some of the boys friends, I finally agreed it was time for a little pay back! Our motto...if you're gonna go...go big! After seeing the finished product, I would have to say our mission was a success!

Come Sail Away!

With Carter's High School graduation behind us and another school year coming to an end, the Sanderson's decided to take to the high seas and sail away on another family vacation cruise! This time the boys were looking forward to seven days of fun and a few new islands they had never seen before. (Their mom couldn't wait to get going either!) Carter had invited his friend Jackson to join us, so the seven of us boarded a flight to Miami, and headed off on another adventure! (I took over 500 pictures - but don't worry! - I'm not going to make you look at them all!) ... Come sail away with us!







My "cruising buddies" - leaving Miami!

Welcome to Cozumel, Mexico!

After spending Saturday and Sunday at sea, our first Port of Call was Cozumel, Mexico! We spent the day at Playa Mia - a beach excursion with plenty of things for the boys to do! Jet skis, paddle boats, water trampolines and of course beach chairs where Scott could keep an eye on us all!

Shell seekers...

After a while, I had decided we needed to walk further down the beach and look for shells. Although my fellow "shell seekers" were not as excited about the idea as I was, they soon found a reason to participate when I found the first shell and started "smack talking" about how it took real island skills to find them, which of course I had and they didn't! Not to be outdone, Clint dove into the water and, as luck would have it, comes up with the best shell of the day! I wasn't really sure if we would be allowed to bring them back on the ship with us, but since they didn't have any live creatures inside we were able to come home with some great shells from Cozumel!

Next stop...Grand Cayman!

An early morning rainbow promised this was going to be a beautiful day for snorkeling and swimming with the stingrays! Our excursion on the island of Grand Cayman took us way offshore to a sandbar - maybe half a mile or so off the coast - where the stingray were use to visitors stopping by! At first, the boys were a little jumpy as the stingray came in looking for food, but they soon got use to the beautiful creatures as they would glide right past you and even let you hold or pet them! (I didn't mention to Scott how this was a similar kind of stingray to the one that the Crocodile Hunter had run into! We would never have gotten him into the water!) While out snorkeling, we saw fish, several huge "occupied" conch shells, a starfish and our guide even pulled up a lobster! I think this was probably my favorite island of the three...and we spent the last part of the afternoon sitting on the beach, trying to convince Scott that we definitely needed to come back here!

Dinner time...

One of the many things I love about cruises...plenty of food, available at any time during the day! Once you have tried to keep four boys and their dad fed on a daily basis, you will appreciate the luxury of this! Each night we would all meet in the dining room for dinner...another luxury, since our regular schedules at home rarely allows all six of us to show up at the same table, at the same time! And my most favorite part..for one whole week, I didn't cook it, I didn't serve it, and I didn't clean it up!! Now that is my kind of vacation!!

Welcome to Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Dunns River Falls!

Our last Port of Call was in Ocho Rios, on the island of Jamaica. We first headed straight to Dunn's River for some waterfall climbing!

Dunn's River Falls is one of Jamaica's most famous waterfalls, with over 600 feet of cascades. It is one of the very few waterfalls in the world that actually empties directly into the ocean, where you begin the climb.





I wish these pictures of the waterfalls would have been a little better quality, but knowing there was no way I would be able to keep my camera dry, I grabbed a little disposable waterproof camera on the way off the ship. They aren't as clear as I wish they were, but at least you get the idea of how much fun it was...and cold! We all had a blast! (You will see where Clint was getting aggravated at me for stopping along the way to take pictures...I was suppose to be holding his hand!)

Then it was on to Dolphin Cove to hang out on the beach. Here the boys enjoyed seeing more sea creatures...dolphins, sharks, and stingrays! Clint even tried to convince us to let him swim with the sharks, but he lost that battle this time!











Farewell from Jamaica! ... I'm thinking they may already be planning their next adventure!