IU Friends Weekend at the Lake

This past weekend Lee and I had an "IU Friends" weekend at the lake. We invited all of my roommates from college... Joni, Kara, Sarah, and Schlaura... and then our really good friend, Hoof. It turned out that only Hoof and Schlaura could make it :( We made the best of the weekend... rainy weather and all. Hoof brought his friend, Kat, with him and we had so much fun hanging out with her. She was a blast! Hoof is training for a marathon so he ran around the entire lake (close to 13 miles) Saturday morning. Kat ran about 8 or 9 miles and biked the rest of the way. Lee biked for 8 or 9 miles and sprinted the last 3 or 4 miles. I spent the morning back at the cottage with the boys :) The path going around the lake is made up of a ton of huge hills! They are die-hards!

My sister, Amy, and her fiance came up to help take care of the boys while we went out on the lake all day. It was so fun! Thanks, Amy and Chris, for all your help.

When we were hanging out and catching up, Schlaura mentioned that it felt like we had just picked up where we had left off. Lee said that was a sign of great friendship... being apart for so long and then feeling like we hadn't skipped a beat. I just love these guys. I hope the next time we can get the entire gang together.

A Mary Kay Party

My sister, Amy, is brand new Mary Kay consultant. I decided to host a Mary Kay party for some of my friends in my hometown. We are all mom's or mom's-to-be... so I thought an evening of pampering was in order. I had some babysitters on hand (Thanks Mom and Courtney) and so we had a nice quiet evening to just talk and have some fun. Amy does such a great job as a consultant.... is there anything she can't do?

Amy (a.k.a. Mary Kay, Jr.)

I thought these pictures were cute. Kiefer walking into our party to find my mom. He was so excited to see her!

Amy and the mom's at the party... I was taking the picture, of course.

Breaking In Our New Pontoon with The Blythe Family

The other weekend we invited our neighbor friends, The Blythes, up to our lake cottage. We had a picnic on our new pontoon and enjoyed the evening out on the lake. The kids had a blast running around the boat. I never knew how much fun a pontoon could be!

Graham, Krue, and Lauren at the cottage.

The kids having fun at our pontoon picnic.

Waving to Lee's brothers and friends on his parent's boat.

Lauren and Krue having fun in the sun...Kiefer checking out the lake.

Driving the boat with Lee...Neal and Graham enjoying the evening.

Lauren and Krue jumping on the bed. They were exciting to have a slumber party!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles...Washington D.C.

Last week my family went out to Washington D.C. to visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins and also attend my cousin, Melissa's, graduation from high school. It was interesting how we all got out there...my parents and Uncle David travelled by plane, my sisters and I travelled by train, my grandma, brother, and sister's fiance travelled by automobile. We literally got out there by "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles"!

We had such a great time! Lee stayed at home and watched the boys. What a nice break for me! I took a ton of pictures and chose several of my favorites to post. The pictures help describe the trip...

Ali, Amy, and I getting ready to jump on the train at 10:45 at night!

Ali turned 27 at midnight while we were on the train.

We were trying to make twenty-seven with our hands.

Amy (who is now a Mary Kay consultant) brought us

make-up kits to play with while we were on the train.

Having fun on the train.

Getting ready in our hotel room.

One day we went sight-seeing in Washington D.C.. Here we are in front of the white house.

Standing in front of the new WWII Memorial.

Ali and Amy kissing the Washington Monument :)

Dad in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

These pictures were taken at the the new FDR Memorial. Our cousin, Molly, is in these pictures with us. This was my favorite memorial! Very cool.

One day we went shopping at this huge mall right outside of Washington D.C. Our cousin, Megan, went with us... she is on the far right.

Dad, Ali, Amy, and I went to TGI Friday's one night.

At the graduation. Cousin Molly is in this pic with us.

It was a nice ceremony, but as always, it got a little long when they were calling out the names of the students. We were having fun with the camera.

Melissa, the graduate, with all of our girl cousins.

Riding the train home. Amy, sticking her head out the window taking it all in.

Some pretty sights we saw on the train.

This was a great trip. Good sister bonding, for sure. It was great to see our Bell cousins and hang out with them. Can't wait until Molly's graduation!