rain, rain, and more rain...

Whew... just about had enough... Not really, I try so hard to be thankful for the rain. It really is such a blessing when it rains down upon us. The kids love it - especially when they can get out in it! Once again, as the rain poured down on us on Friday, the kids got out on the ramp and had a blast with the boogie boards slipping and sliding and getting muddy and wet... I love watching them have so much fun!

fathers day

A week late, but better late than never, right?

The kids and I bought Jason air chairs for his big day of celebration. We got 2 red ones that now hang on the backporch. We took the couch off the porch and it is now living on top of the ramp temorarily for fun for the boys. There are pictures of them skating on the ramp below. We gave Jason the chairs on Friday because we were going to have a busy weekend and we wanted the time to not be rushed. Unfortunately, we aren't using the chairs a whole lot right now because it is so hot outside, but when the heat breaks (and it will) we will be loving the chairs. I haven't taken any photos of the chairs yet, but I assure you there will be some soon.

On Sunday, we rode up to Duncan Creek in Dacula for Jason to get some skating in. It was HOT HOT HOT, so didn't stay long, but at least he got to go, right? I hated that it was so HOT outside. I know how much Jason and Kalib look forward to skating there. After they got done, we headed over to Jason's aunts house for Fried Chicken and time in the pool with the cousins. It was a gorgeous afternoon and the kids really had a blast playing together. I wish we saw everyone more often and time didn't pass us by so quickly... Anyhow, here are some photos from last weekend...

couch skating...






Duncan Creek


He already got a lecture for not wearing a helmet... he swears he forgot it in our rush to get out the door.







Aunt Debbies








There are lots more photos on my flickr page, feel free to click on any of the pictures to look at more... It's so hard to choose between them all!

Labor Day

On Monday we had a few folks over. Nothing big, mostly skating and chilling with yummy wine. On Sunday, Jason picked up a skateboard for Austin. (It was used). He painted it and fixed it up for him and gave it to him on Monday when they came over. At first, when Austin climbed up on the ramp, he was just going to grab any board up there to skate on, but as Ashley and I waited patiently (impatiently is more like it), Jason finally gave him the board he fixed up for him. It was super sweet (in typical Jason fashion). Austin wasn't 100% sure it was his until he saw that Jason had painted his name on it. And then, he was really excited. He spent the whole day practicing rolling around on the ramp and it paid off to have Chad (as always) to help him learn to pump. He really started figuring out how to bend his legs to keep himself moving and he'll be tearing it up before long. I hope you've got decent insurance Ashley. Anyhow, here are a few pics from Monday...The Cooks brought along Hoodi... and that pig can squeal. Kalib didn't do any skating until everyone left. I guess it's too much pressure to skate when there is an audience and his bud Elijah was here to hang out with too. Did I mention that the food was just... amazing?! I made potatoes, Sarah also made potatoes and beans and Salmon, I also made chicken and squash, Kris Cook brought a london broil that he had fixed up and a salad, Chad and Susan brought Scuppernongs (or muscadines - depends on who you ask). We had wine and chips and some seriously good humus... mmmmm... makes my mouth water. Checking out that it really is his name on the board. This kid has got serious focus!Hoodi's getting bigger and man can she squeal - she does NOT like to be held or touched beyond giving her a bottle.Hubb getting ready to drop in And finally a picture of Chad - This is actually the beginning of a video I shot of him. He's got a torn rotator cuff, so those sweet wives that were all here razzed him all day about being safe while skateboarding, but the truth is, you can not stop them from skating if we wanted to. It is so deeply ingrained in who they are - it is their way of life and they pay for it from time to time, but they always get back up and do it again... I admire this about skate boarders who are truly in love with the life!

Kalib is 8...(long post)

On Friday, Kalib officially turned 8. I can't believe our baby is 8. I'm still in shock. It feels like we just celebrated his 5th birthday and now he is 8. So, we had dinner at the Outback (his choice). He got a steak and a free scoop of ice-cream.

After dinner we came back home for presents and cake with the whole family. India made cupcakes. Here we have India helping him read his card. What a good big sister.
For his big birthday present from us, we sent him on a scavenger hunt. Here's the video of Kalib opening the first clue...

Here are the kids getting the 2nd clue. They were so fast, I couldn't keep up to get more pictures of where they went.

The last clue led him to the present which was his very own digital camera! He loves to take pictures when he and his dad are skateboarding and now he has his own camera to do so. In the next few days, I'll post some of his pictures he has taken.
Here Kalib is pretending to blow out the candles on his cupcakes.

They couldn't wait to get into the new legos meme gave him. Indiana Jones legos, how cool is that?

On Saturday, we had Kalib's friends party. He had a skateboarding party and only wanted to invite boys. We figured we would start them all out young... Here are the kids first getting started. I thought for sure they would be a little more timid than they were since this was the first time most of Kalibs friends were on a skate board. (His dad got to have some friends over too, but I didn't manage to get too many pictures of them this time).

Here's Austin taking his first turn. He had no fear and once he got going, he didn't want to stop. He's coming back today to skate some more.

Here's India helping Aaron figure out how to stand on a board. She is always willing to lend a hand.

Here's Wesley and Julian waiting their turn.

Luke looks all sweaty, but they played some water balloon games and he's actually just wet.

And here's Ossian. Ready to rock n' roll. They are going to come back when they don't have to take so many turns and there aren't other adults waiting to get a turn.

Last, but not least, here's a pic of the heavenly cake I made for the party. It's an ice-cream sandwhich cake with caramel, fudge, pecans, cool whip, and tons of ice-cream sandwhiches. A small taste of heaven. Kalib doesn't really like cake, so when I saw this recipe a few months ago I held onto it for his birthday. We decorated it with Tech Decks (mini skateboards). Too bad there isn't any cake left!

Hubb Cap City

The ramps got a name! It's official on Georgia Skater.com! Woohoo!!!! Here's the link to the pics... Hubbcap cityhttp://www.georgiaskater.com/pix/thumbnails.php?album=186 and here's a video made by Patio on Thursday of last week.

A 3rd Layer

On Friday, it rained and it rained and it poured all before Hubb could get the ramp painted, so the wood buckled and got bumpy - not good for skating... after some serious deliberation as to what to do, we decided to go ahead and sink the money into the third layer which is supposed to be the bomb - he also got a very large tarp to help protect it from the rain. It is the biggest one I have even seen. It would have to be big to cover this ramp...

So here I am, being the supportive wife, no one was here when Jason started laying the 3rd layer except me and Kalib, so I got out there to help (let it be known I love physical labor when I don't HAVE to do it!) It was fun, but when the guys showed up I made dinner... (chicken legs, squash, potatoes, and collards - yum yum) and got out of the way and just watched the action. India went to the grandparents for the night.

Here we have our little man still working on getting all the way up on the other side and then back down. I have a feeling he will have it within the week. He is super determined!

Here's my happy Hubb. All he likes now really having the ramp finished is priming it and painting it. Have I mentioned how cute he looks skating? I LOVE IT!!! He's still punk rock after all these years.

This is Alfredo. Now he can skate. He was the 2nd person to get here and I would say they started skating around 6 and he didn't stop even to rest until 9. He is fun to watch and his stamina is just amazing.

Another pick of Alfredo. Kalib took this shot. He gets lessons from Chad. Before long he's going to be taking better picks than me and skating better than Hubb.

Chad... He's usually the guy with the camera taking shots, so here he is sweaty and skating it up! Most of the folks Hubb skates with will never read this, but I appreciate all the help they have given in the last few days to finish things up. I know they all benefit from helping in the long run, but it is much appreciated! We have a finished 1/2 pipe in our yard and it IS super cool!