Summer Celebrations, Part 2

Amanda & David's neighbor put on a private
fireworks display over his lake on their acreage
for his own family - and theirs!
It was MAGNIFICENT!!!

A fun-filled 4th with our family in East Texas
wouldn't be complete without a small town parade!
Here are some highlights:

After lunch, we went on our first
geocaching experience, which
led us down this fabulous country road...
straight to a cemetery!

Amanda discovered the cache in a tree!

After the Erickson's neighbor's fireworks
display, we went back to the cabin to
shoot off some of our own -
and a LOT of sparklers -
with the little kids.
GREAT memories!

You can really sense the movement in this one,
with a car driving by (we shot them off in the road),
Dad, G'pa and JSS readying the next firecracker
and COS dancing around with her sparkler.

This was as the last firecracker was fading -
what a serendipitous moment I happened to catch
when JSS turned to give his Dad a Hi-5!
I LOVE it!!

Shooting poppers off the cabin's porch the next day...

...as we enjoyed some cold watermelon
and out of this world company!

Summer Celebrations, Part 1

Summertime is for celebrating at Casa Smith! This year we combined JSS's and COS's birthdays with our Nations the week before Independence Day and hosted a "Good Ol' Fashioned 4th" themed birthday party! We had around 60 kids, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles enjoying yummy food, fantastic fellowship and fabulous games straight out of Mayberry.

Cub Scout Twilight Camp 2010

End-of-the-Year Field Trips

"Bee People" Field Trip

Animal Detectives: CSI Style

National Weather Service Station Tour
& Weather Balloon Launch