Summer time has arrived!

It is HOT. That's about all there is to say about it. Just plain HOT. We have been enjoying a lot of time at the pool, since that's about the only place we want to be when it's 100 degrees out. The kids are lovin' every second of it too. We are getting all geared up for our first family trip this weekend! Kids are counting down, as are Shawn and I. Lots to do and we still have to sit down and figure out how we are going to fit all our junk into the van. Probably going to have to borrow the topper, dad...
I can't download pics right now since our computer won't even turn on...not sure what's wrong, but as soon as it's up and running I have some great pics to share.
An old college friend is on her way over to play so that's all I got for now -
Hope you are havin' the time of your life!
ST
ps - I caught Gabriella attempting to "go potty like big brother Austin". Why wouldn't she give it a go? If he can stand to pee shouldn't she be able to too?? hmmmm...yes, I had to clean the floor after the attempt.

Project Shop Til You Drop.

Last weekend my sister and I surprised my mom with a weekend shopping excursion. We told her Thursday night that she needed to come home from work Friday and have an overnight bag packed and ready and wear some running shoes to comfort her feet while we did some serious shopping. We had a blast although it went way too fast and we didn't even make a dent in the shopping arena. We quickly learned that it could take months to do all the shopping and go all the places we wanted to go and we didn't even go more than 15 miles from home!! We started out on the plaza friday night, did shopping til the shops closed then went to Cheesecake for some dessert and drinks. We stayed at a hotel on the plaza that night (thanks to priceline) and then got up early and shopped all day Saturday at various places. My favorite purchase of the weekend was my new beach bag. SO cool and only $18.99. It has tons of pockets for easy access and is perfect for the beach. Love love love it. I will post a pic this weekend. My mom and sister bought one too - we couldn't resist! I should have bought a few more to have on hand for gifts, but oh well. I also got Shawn the best fathers day present ever - can't post about that yet though....overall it was an awesome weekend, I just wish it could have lasted for about a week or so - maybe next year!! It will definitely have to become a tradition. Austin even asked me a few days ago when I would need to go shopping all weekend so that he could stay home with dad again. He told me that dad lets him do things that I won't let him do and that makes dad special. Hmmm...gotta love him.
On to other events - no doctor visits this week again!! YIPEE! Things are looking good here at the Turner house. We are loving our lazy mornings this summer and have finally ventured to the pool 3 times this week. The kids are loving it. We are going on our first ever family vacation next weekend - we are headed to St. Louis to stay with our friends, the Husters. They also have 3 kids - so that makes 4 adults and 7 kids all 4 and under....should be a blast. I can't believe they really want us to stay at their house. I hope we are all friends by the time we leave. Seriously though, we can't wait to go. The kids are so excited to go on vacation (although I'm not sure they even know what that means). Then the next weekend we are off camping again with the whole Settle fam, then the next weekend Shawn and I are off on our OWN for a canoe trip!!! YIPEE!! And then July will be about over and we'll just head out to backpack shop and get the kids back in school. Ok, we'll still have a few weeks, but it seems like summer is just flying by. Tonight Shawn has headed out for the Holy Spirit Smoke Off (first annual). It's a smoke off up at our church where you get on teams and smoke a bunch of meat and win stuff or something. Really I have no clue what it is, a bunch of men planned it. I know that I'm suppose to be up there sometime tomorrow to eat with all the kids. I know that Shawn has been there since 7 tonight and they are suppose to cook all night (doesn't the meat just sit in the smoker? isn't that why they call it a smoker?). Anyway, Shawn is super excited to spend the weekend sitting around cooking meat, drinking beer and hangin' with the guys...I should say he just got a pretty good Fathers day weekend, huh? Can't wait for mothers day....
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

Camp Chaos...

I am happy to report that Camp Chaos was a HUGE success! We all had a blast and came home exhausted, so much so that it took a few days and several Dr. Peppers to get back to normal. We headed out to Lake Perry Friday night and came home Sunday morning. The was Gabriella's frist attempt at camping and she LOVED it. All the kids came home filthy and tired. I call that success. Here's some pics from the adventure. (there were 25 of us all together that went)

First things first, we must have a fire. Come on boyscouts!!And how can you not love this one...Will and Gab, sharing a chair by the fire...ahhhhh...can't wait to show that one at high school graduation!
I love these cute little tushys at the beach...Ashlyn and her BFF, Addison. So cute. They absolutely loved the beach (even though we parents thought it was pretty disgusting).
And here's our stylish little Emma in the middle, Ash on the left and Addie on the right. So fun.
My happy little Ashlyn!
Here's the ladies man...Kiernan...with all his girlfriends.
Time for a boat ride! Austin and Emma loved their little love boat.
And here's all of our little campers! They had so much fun and none of them wanted to go home on Sunday!
Gabriella wins the "pop a squat" award. This girl LOVED camping. She thought it was about the coolest thing ever to just drop your pants and pee. So much so that I have found her heading outside to pee AFTER WE GOT HOME. Yes, she still goes outside in the grass to pee. Hey, at least her pants are dry.
Self portrait...

One of Austin's favorite parts of camping...SMORES!
AHHHHH....the kids are all asleep....or at least most of them....time for some beers and relaxation by the fire. And yes, that's a head lamp on Shawn's head. Always prepared.

Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

Quick update...

Here's a super quick update...
Gabriella's ear is looking great. She had her visit to the ENT last week and checked out great. We have to go back in 3 weeks for a hearing test, but they said it was healing great and looked fine. We even finished up the ear drops today. She has been a trooper through it all, and was probably wondering why we are all so worried about her. She never did say it hurt and by the third or fourth day of ear drops she was actually reminding me to give them to her (huh?!?!?)
As for Lucas - we were sent to an asthma doctor last week and were told he has asthma. I have to do a breathing treatment with him every morning and do breathing counts while he is sleeping and chart it all. He seems to be doing way better with his new medicine in the breathing machine. Time will tell I suppose. We go back in a couple weeks to check the progress on the asthma. Hopefully it will be good news. At least it is treatable. We got some awesome lotion for Lucas's eczema and it has worked wonders! Vanicream is the key. Anyway - all is good here and it has been much quieter. We haven't been to a doctor in 3 whole days!!!! YIPEE!!!
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST