Cruising with Kellie Pickler!

FM106 hosted a fundraiser for their Check Up for Chicks program that provides mammograms for women who can't afford them, along with some other breast cancer related services. They sold tickets for an Edelweiss cruise on Lake Michigan and Kellie Pickler was on the boat with us. Amanda and I thought it would be really fun, and it was for a good cause. Kellie was awesome!  She sang a couple of her newer songs and then asked what we wanted to hear and she sang those. In between songs, she chatted with the audience. It was a small group, only about 100 people on the boat, which was really neat. After singing, Kellie went onto the 2nd deck and took pictures with everyone and signed autographs. Such a wonderful evening!

Badger Tour Champs!

Kaylee was invited to play in a beach volleyball tournament at Bradford Beach with her friend Ashley from her Sting team. We didn't know how the competition would be and they had only practiced together, on the beach, for about 30 minutes, the week before. Ashley's parents and I just hoped they would have fun. They played GREAT and finished in 1st place!  We were so proud of them...only two girls, covering the whole court...not bad for 12 year olds!

It was a little cold on the beach, but they still had fun!

Kaylee is wearing the white t-shirt.

Champions! 

Way to go girls!!!

Sting Camp

Kaylee spent two weeks at volleyball camp with her Sting friends. Lots of fun!

Natalie came along on Thursday, 

she cheered for Kaylee.

Kaylee and her friends leading the stretching

End of the day cheer.

More stretching...

End of the Season Party

Kasey Bell's family invited Kaylee's team to their house for a pool party to celebrate an awesome season!

Playing in the pool.

They just can't get enough of this game.

Cake!

Fun with the frosting. 

They signed their photo books for each other.

Such a great group of girls.

4th of July

This is probably our last 4th of July at the lake, so we spent a couple days out there...just enjoying the lake and spending time together. Grandma came out and even got to take a ride on the pontoon.

Eli is so sweet...he even got to drive the pontoon!

Grandma got to go on the pontoon, too!

Simon and Jordan played in the sand.

Lots of smiles...

Kaylee & Caroline are ready for the fireworks.

The Villages

Kaylee and I were lucky enough to be able to spend a week in The Villages with Justin's parents. We spent time at the pool, saw a couple movies, and got caught in the rain...a couple times. It was such a nice, relaxing week. No schedules, no volleyball...just hanging out with Grandma & Grandpa.

 

Pool Time!

We headed to the Farmers Market at the new Town Square and

the storms started to roll in....quickly!

We got a little wet!

Kaylee's annual picture by "her" sign. I need to pull out the picture 

from the first year we did this and see just how much she has grown.

We had lunch with Grandma at Johnny Rockets, one of Kaylee's favorite

places. Of course it was raining when we came out. 

Grandma & Grandpa took us outside of The Villages to check out Gator Joe's for lunch. 

It was a really cool place, right on a lake...on the beach.  The food was good...and the 

atmosphere was really neat!  Thank you Grandma & Grandpa for taking us!

Kaylee and I had to go to Peachwave one more time for 

frozen yogurt the night before we left to come home.

Starbucks at the airport...it was an early morning.

And we were sad to be leaving...

Siesta Key Beach

Mariah had to catch her plane home in the evening, but we wanted to spend a little time at the beach. We heard that Siesta Key Beach has awesome powder white sand that doesn't get hot. So, we drove a little further to get to that beach. It was great! The sand almost felt like "Moon Sand". We only had a couple hours to spend there, before heading to the airport to drop Mariah off, but it was worth the drive. We had fun. Then we dropped Mariah off at the airport and Kaylee and I headed to The Villages to spend a week with Justin's parents.

Kaylee and Dru hitting the beach for some down time after a week of volleyball.

My girls and me on the beach.

A little cloudy, but with temps in the 90's the clouds were a welcome site.