Turn that Frown Upside-Down!

So, as I blogged yesterday, PB was a bit meloncholy about the whole lake experience. She was content to sit with her life jacket in the blazing hot sun, never venturing in the murky water nor requesting a innertube ride.
And then one of her Fishstick cousins, frolicking in the lake water, enticed her to make a seaweed castle...

...with mud as her base.

And she came around.

What sweet comments you all left! Thanks, readers, I'm writing all of you into my will as caregivers to my sweet baby girl.

Perma Baby's Day at the Lake

Perma-Baby (to be newly named later this week) was, of course, based on her personality, not a big fan of being on innertubes, skiis, or kneeboards. But hey, whatever floats your boat (no pun intended). So, she was perfectly content to sit upon the rocks on the shoreline.
It was great fun.

She clearly had the time of her life.

Next up: how her cousin turned PB's lake day around.

Why I Took Big Ben to the Lake

Why would anyone in their right mind put a swimmy diaper on a baby, suit him up, lather him head-to-toe with sunscreen, and hike a 1/2 mile down a rocky path to a lake with him on their hip?

To get a picture like this...
And this.

Oh, and this.

How else would one remember 20 years from now how much his belly stuck out in those swim trunks?

Knee Boarding

This is my big brother. We were very close growing up. He looked out for me, I fixed him Mountain Dew's whenever he wanted one. He took our family boating while we stayed at the lake house. We had so much fun.
My girls all knee-boarded. Miss Middler was a pro.

They even learned how to kneeboard double.

I tried kneeboarding, but ended up skiing instead. We had a great time. Thanks, big brother!

My Dad: on the boat

Grandaddy is such a tropper. He went boating with us several times over the weekend. At one point, my brother (who normally always drives for us) turned over the steering wheel to my dad.

Grandaddy even got on the innertube for a ride. Well done! Great memories were made!

...and then there's the recovery.

Perma Baby's Birthday Bash #2

Perma Baby's official birthday, July 15, occured while we were up at the lake house. We had spaghetti to celebrate, then opened gifts. She was thrilled to open a tinkerbell figure and house. The house was an upside-down teapot with thimbles as seats. I remember making houses like that in my mom's corn patch.

She was very happy to adopt a new baby doll named Anna, the cousin of her cousin's doll Emma. The only problem has been that every night I now have 5 little girls to get ready for bed instead of 4!

I chose PB's birthday gift with purpose. I'll admit I had an agenda. I decided to buy PB some type of riding toy. She's just so laid back, so cautious, so content, so...non-risk-taking. Maybe now that she's 5, she should be playing outside more, trying to be a little more rough and tumble. So, she opened her new scooter, proudly hopped on and posed for a picture, then spent the entire rest of the weekend happily agreeing to let every other cousin ride her new toy! She'd much rather be curled up in someone's lap having a book read to her! Oh well, I tried!

We finished our party with cake and bubbles for all the cousins!

Happy Official Birthday, Perma-Baby! And dear readers, Papa announced last night...it's time for a new nickname. She can't be 5 and be called Perma-Baby, he says. And since he wears the pants in our family, what he says goes. Stay tuned for a post dedicated to her new nickname.

Corvette

We headed back up for a weekend at the lake house. What good is a small Tennessee town on a weekend if you can't hit a garage sale? We happened upon one and perused all their junk to see if we wanted to add to our junk. Meanwhile, Firstborn and her cousin spotted the garage sale lady's old Corvette. She was so happy they noticed it, she let them get in and even cranked the engine for them.

Now don't go gettin' any ideas, you hear? We still have 5 more years until you get your licence.

Summer Time Means Tractor Rides

I have a picture of me when I was about this age riding my PaPa's tractor with him. Big Ben hasn't minded spending some of his summer time on the tractor with his Grandaddy. Not one bit.

Fun at the Lake Part I

One of our highlights this summer is visiting and enjoying a lake house. My parents bought some land near a lake in Tennessee, and my brother whipped them up a beautiful house on it. When I say "whipped up," I mean it. He's so talented. It's beautiful, and he built it in a couple of months.

It's on a steep incline, making a great place for a swing.

It's a great place to spend time with cousins. Thanks, Grandma and Grandaddy, for sharing it with us. Thanks, Uncle Tim, for building it! I'll post some pictures of the house later.

Swim Lessons!

As soon as we got up to Nashville, we started swim lessons. PB was NOT happy the first day. She cried, she begged, but I did what every mother does when her baby is taking swim lessons. I smiled, said, "I know you can do it." then hid behind the building until she stopped crying!

And by the end of the first lesson, she was all smiles and calling out self-glorifying comments like, "Did you see me Mama?! I am weally good!" And by the end of her 7th lesson, she was jumping off the diving board and swimming the length of the pool (with a helper in the center).

She's the one in the stretched-out, lgreenish-yellow, 4th-daughter-to-wear-it swimsuit. It appears in this picture she had a quite a few scrambled eggs for breakfast prior to her lesson.

The backstroke seemed to be her favorite. As we watched, she backstroked all the way to the other side, then her instructor put her hands under her to guide her to the pool's edge. PB just kept backstroking, eyes closed, big ol' smile on her face, not even realizing she wasn't moving anymore!

Good job! I think she's earned herself a new swimsuit! What do you think?

A Shocking Surprise!

Firstborn has been asking to have her ears pierced for quite some time. She always gets an answer from Campbell Clansman, something like, "Maybe when you turn 25." In the back of our minds, though, we had decided a good age to have it done would be when I had it done...around 12 years old. CC and I decided that, after all our stalling and teasing about waiting til she is nearly 30, we'd just suddenly take her one day and get it done as a surprise.

So, last week as we waited in a WalMart Service line, I slipped over to the jewelry counter and inquired about the process. I came back and spoke Turkish to CC (with words Firstborn does not know), and we made a plan. We used to spell things out, but she learned to spell in 1st grade and it doesn't work anymore! (Anyone else ever do that?)

As long as I have a memory, I will never forget the look on her face when CC told her, "Let's get your ears pierced." She flushed, she gushed. It was precious. Oh, I love a kid that appreciates things!! Then she slightly panicked, and said, "Like (her favorite word) TODAY? Now?!"

She quickly chose the earrings she wanted and sat down. I then signed a consent form, thinking how disturbing it is that in many states a daughter can get an abortion without consent, but not an ear piercing. Then as non-chalantly as possible, a man marked my baby's earlobes and shot holes in her ears. She didn't wince.

We took lots of WalMart pictures. It's not every day your Firstborn gets her ears pierced. We love you, our precious tween!

Meeting Up With Friends

We had a delightful surprise. One of Campbell Clansman's groomsmen was going to be near Nashville and asked if we could meet for a meal. We took our two Turks and left the Singapore girls at home (looking like a normal family for a change). We had SUCH a nice meal together, and our kids had a great time playing together. Perma-Baby was arranging a future playdate with her friend before we even walked out the door. I thought this picture was so adorably cute. My Turks are sort of "framing" them. Look at Big Ben! He looks like he is her assigned groomsman at a wedding rehearsal! Thanks, friends, for spending time with us!

Recovery Mode

And so our fun week in Memphis came to an end. We are looking forward to getting back down there before we leave the good ol' USA.We had hardly been in the car a few minutes when I turned to see this.....

... and this!

Apparently, there was just one little Campbell Clanskid that had gotten plenty of sleep that week!

Perma Baby's Birthday Bash #1

Perma Baby turns 5 this summer (should she get a new nickname now?). She tells everyone she has 2 birthdays. That's because she always gets two parties! Her first party was last week at her Mimi and Grandad Campbell's house. (Should I call them the GrandCampbellClansmen?)

Mimi got her a beautiful cake and we had 5 pizzas.

Happy birthday, sweet baby!