Pictures...because words are hard

Since I can't seem to get my act together enough to write blog posts these days, I'm going to post pictures with descriptive, and where appropriate, humorous captions.

Happy 11th birthday, Fletch!!

You've come a long way, baby.

 

Now get to work. You're 11 years old, man.
Time to earn your keep around here.

 

Teachin 'em young.

After making them work like Hebrew slaves, I fed them well.

 Rare Miniature Asian Buck sighting at the
AR Nature Center.

After getting to know the Natural State a little better,
it only seemed right to chow down on fried catfish.

Visiting the Heifer Village. Great place to see how people
around the world live.  These insecticide-treated
mosquito nets save countless lives in Africa.

Ninjas across Asia

I don't care who you are....riding a tire on a swing is fun. 

Fasterrrrrrr!!!

Three little rednecks on a tire swing

Longest drive competition (2nd place) - First Tee Golf Camp

Another great year at golf camp

 

Swimming the backstroke at the Championship Swim Meet.
Way to go, Fletch!!

It's how we work on our gross motor skills at the Hall Academy for Classical Studies.

Midsummer Classic - Hall Family Style

One of our favorite family traditions is spending the Independence Day holiday with our good friends, the Perkins. I should say Perkinses, because there are three of them. And we love them all.

Madeline was one of Fletcher's first friends at Mother's Day Out in Oklahoma City. Ginny and I became friends through the kids and working out at the Y in our neighborhood. And we're pretty sure that during that time, Clark was slipping something in our drinks, because during our 2 short years in OKC, we all became OU Sooner fans, despite having lived in TX since the 1980's. (I am a native Texan, but I was born a little before 1980.)

This year, we met in Eureka Springs. It's not exactly a vacation wonderland, but the main objective of our annual get-together is less driving, more catching up. And eating.

Eating ALWAYS includes making a 4th of July cake, and the kids' creation did not disappoint this year.

Clark can be credited for single-handedly outfitting our children in Sooner wear. He is now adding OKC Thunder gear to their wardrobes. We like. They gave all the kids Thunder shirts, but it seems I forgot to take pictures. Blame the beard.

We do.

This is what happens after too many nights on call.

We love the Perkinses - for so many reasons. Over the years, we've shared great joys and great sorrows. We've watched our children grow from babies to pre-teens. And we've swapped war stories from the trenches of both.  And we know that if they've put up with the craziness that is the Hall family all these years, they're probably here to stay.

Pool Hall

In case you have been vacationing on the North Pole and missed the weather reports in the greater South and Midwest, it's hot. Bare legs sticking to the car seats hot. Pour a stiff drink before opening the electric bill hot.

So we go to the pool. We're there so much, I'm having the mail forwarded.

The littles are feeling very big since they can swim on their own.

Yes - they're fraternal.

Water guns

Spiderman dropped by on the way to his movie.
His alter ego is our favorite swim teacher and lifeguard, Tim.

And big cheers to Fletcher for his first place showing in last week's swim meet. Go Leawood Lightning!

Christmas Card Sneak-Peak

Spoiler alert.....you may see this image, and/or ones very similar on a card in your mail in late December. The boys did a great reasonably acceptable job of smiling on command. This is the only shot I've seen from the photographers. I hope it's not the only decent one of the bunch, because as the number of kids in your family increases, so does the likelihood of meltdown or mayhem....and it may be a while before I'm up for another photo shoot with these clowns.

They were bribed with ice cream.