Brace Yourself...

If you thought I unloaded a lot of pictures on you before, you ain't seen nothing yet.  My husband wins some kind of major award for the thought he put behind giving me the mother of all cameras for my birthday.  I had no idea how much I loved photography until now. Is that even possible?!  All I really thought I wanted was a new lens for my old camera, that wasn't old at all (and can be yours if you'd like a Nikon D5000, in perfect condition and less than a year old).  I was using the 18-55mm kit lens that it came with, and while it was great for what I used it for I wanted to test the waters with something more.  Mainly, a lens that would zoom further for when Bethany's cheering or what not.  It goes without saying that I was completely and utterly shocked when I opened a new Canon 60D.  I have no idea how to use it and my pictures are laughable, but I'm loving it so far.  I got it two days before my birthday, which also happened to be just in time for J's big motocross race on Sunday.  I find it less than coincidental that his racing buddies knew about it ahead of time.  As in, they all wanted to see themselves in HD video come race time!  These aren't the modest and most humble of men we're talking about. Ha!

Let me rewind to last week when my precious mother-in-law asked if she could have the girls for a couple of days because she had some time off from work.  We didn't even have to think twice about that one.  My children would pick a grandparent over Mama and Daddy most any day of the week!  They spent last Thursday and Friday with them, and J and I joined them on Saturday - after making a pit stop at the track for a quick practice on his new ride.  Did I mention he'd gotten a new motorcycle?  Call me crazy, but I think that might have been the catalyst behind the new camera.  He's sweet like that.  When we got to Selma Saturday, I walked into a surprise party...

 Poor Grandmommy.  I know how excited and determined all three girls get at the thoughts of planning a party when they're here, but I would never have wanted them to put that on her!   The rest of the afternoon was spent playing in the play room, riding the four wheeler, and stuffing ourselves with Pop's yummy food...

 

 

And by nightfall, the kids were curled up on the couch ready to snooze...

Towns and the other two lovies really enjoyed getting to spend time with their cousin Keaton!

The next morning it was time for this...

I have one word for you.  HOT.  Blazing hot is what it was, actually.  After Sunday it's very apparent how deep our love is for J.  Otherwise we would have gone seeking air conditioning before we even had time to break a sweat.  Hence these pictures...

Bethany took this one...

Those feet were almost incapable of coming clean by the end of the day.  Who needs shoes?!

This chick was the sport of all sports...

She doesn't have much love for the outdoors or getting hot, for that matter.  But we were excited to see J do his thing on the track, so we didn't complain too much...

It still makes me a nervous wreck to watch him, but it's fun just the same!

J and his friend Eric love to ride together.  His daughter Reid was there, and when that happens the McClendon girls don't let her out of their sight...

That was one of the few times we escaped the heat in search of a few minutes of cool air.  I think the look on Reid's face says it all.  She's wondering why on God's green earth these people have kidnapped her and are holding her hostage.  I'm serious when I tell you that all of them were fighting over who could hold her, whose lap she sat in, etc.  And just because she's half an inch shorter than Cate, Buggy considered her a baby and wanted to play mom to her.  It didn't take long for her to warm up to all that, though...

After a day in the dirt and sun, we came home ready to crash!

Monday was another scorcher.  If you've got to be outside, this is the only way to do it...

Blondie thought she was of celebrity status in her shades...

And this, well, it just makes me smile...

Got to love that little cheek hanging out!

With the water park under our belt, B convinced me to take everyone to the mall in Huntsville.  She didn't have to twist my arm all that much.  We ended the day with a birthday dinner at Mellow Mushroom because, let's be honest, it's hard to do fine dining with our circus...

Pictures from the other side of the table didn't go nearly as smooth...

We couldn't leave without stopping by the table where some, um, colorful ladies were painting faces...

A kitty face for Towns and a "butterthly" for Cate...

I'll cry when she starts pronouncing her Fs correctly.  Thlip thlops, thloaties, butterthlies...love it!

Bethany graciously declined to get her face painted, but I couldn't resist a picture of her...

That famous pose of her really got her daddy going...

We'll have to teach him!

We got a little camera happy before we called it a night...

 Not only are we camera happy, we're also the opposite of camera poor...if you want a great Nikon let me know before it's eBay'd!