Fiddlin, Fishin and Fireworks!

For the 4th of July weekend, we rented a cabin on Center Hill at the Sligo Marina. Me, Mom, Courtney and Levi went up Friday afternoon, and Jeffrey got to come up Sunday and Monday. We had an AMAZING time! It was so nice (especially after a week of sickness) to get away and just relax with family. Unfortunately, Levi got sick Saturday night. :( I was so glad to have Mom and Court help so I could be with him. But...he was better the next morning, so we stayed and enjoyed the rest of our time together!

*WARNING: There are a LOT of pictures in this post!* :)

Friday consisted of getting to the cabin, playing with homemade bubbles, going to the Smithville Jamboree and a very longggg trip to Wal-mart. If you've never been to the Jamboree, I highly recommend it! We're already making plans to go back next year. It is like they took my favorite parts (food, exhibits, music) of the Wilson County fair and took out all the other stuff (rides, games, thugs, etc.)! I loved all the booths of handmade and local goodies, not to mention the delicious "fair" food! (Yes, I ate fried chicken on a stick! Yum!). :) They also had contests for everything from fiddlers to square dancers. It was so much fun! In fact, we had such a good time (and missed so much) that we went back Saturday night too! :)

I do have a Levi story to tell (of course). :) They had a "train/trolley" for the kids/big kids to ride. I wasn't sure what Levi would do since he'd skipped a nap, but we went for it. He seemed to just take all the sights in. Every once in a while, he'd smile, but he mostly just observed everything. I had my arm around the back of him so that my hand was on the outside part of the cart. About halfway through the ride, he looks over to my hand, takes it and puts it on his side, then pats it while smiling up at me. He didn't let me move it the rest of the time! I have to say that goes down as one of my favorite moments of his life so far. :)

We were supposed to have a boat Saturday, but it didn't work out, so we hung out on a houseboat at the dock (thank goodness for Courtney's friends, Sierra and Luna). :) We swam a little bit, laid out a little bit, but mostly chased Levi with his water gun. He made a fast friend when Sierra filled it up for him. :)

Dancing with Aunt Cece



He stayed like this for almost 3 hours!

After a nap and some fishing, we headed back to the Jamboree! We got to see some amazing performers, and I racked up on some Christmas gifts! :) The dreaded "throw up incident of 2011" happened when we got home that night. For those with weaker stomachs, I won't go into detail. Let's just say I didn't know a toddler, or anybody for that matter, could throw up that much. Yeah, not fun. Poor little baby. :( I think I slept 2 minutes that night just praying he didn't do it again.

Oh joy, the nose-picking stage...

We took it easy Sunday, keeping a close eye on little man. He never got sick again and was back to his usual self, so we headed out for some swimming! Jeffrey arrived that afternoon so we all went fishing before heading back tot he cabin for dinner and fireworks. The fireworks were great, but I was more amazed at the amount of boats and people! The marina was covered! Thankfully, we had a perfect view from our porch, so we didn't have to fight a crowd anywhere.

Testing the water

He loved his little chair!

My little fishing man :)

LOVE this picture!

Wasn't bothered at all by the worms. :)

We went swimming and fishing again on Monday (see a theme here?) before Jeffrey and I headed back home with little man later that day.

This picture cracks me up for some reason. :)

We are some fishin ladies!

I love spending time with my family, and to do it at the lake with fishing makes it even better! We all had such a good time, and I can't wait to go back next year! :)

We went over to Jeffrey's parents that night for a bit so they could see him. They got down an old wooden truck of Jeffrey's, and Levi loved it. :)

Helping Nana clean it up!

They had some poppers and a bottle rocket for Levi, and his reaction was more than I could've ever hoped for or imagined... :)

As you can see, he liked Poppa making the "motion of throwing" as much as he liked the actual throwing of the poppers! :)

Love hearing him say "wow"! :)

Overall, I'd say we had a pretty fabulous holiday weekend! So thankful we all got better to be able to enjoy it! :)