House-sitting

Our very first week out of school, we went over to our friends house to house-sit for a week while they went on vacation to Hawaii.

Now, normally I would be totally jealous of a trip to Hawaii. But this time, we felt like we had our own little paradise! Surfboard and all!!

We didn't waste any time making use out of the pool and all its amenities. The kids couldn't get enough out of the slide or

the diving board (Addie actually did jump off the diving board. Just once, but she did it!).

Ashton is all geared up ready to go! By the end of the week, she finally was able to stay afloat without the extra help of the ring... finally!!

And as an extra bonus... the HOT TUB!!! It got great use morning, afternoon,

and night!!

And we also had the privilege of riding their four-wheeler!

So we divided up our time between the four-wheeler (only when daddy was around),

the pool (here with one of our good friends, Kaleigh), and of course

the hot tub!

In case you didn't catch it the first time, the four-wheeler

the pool :)

and the hot tub!!

Everyone took their turns and had a blast!

The surf board was a lot of fun in the water.

Even Randy got up on it!! Very impressive! I never attempted. I did get in the pool a couple times, and the hot tub even more. But after watering all the plants, but favorite spot...

was right here!! Relaxing on the side with a good book!!

We rocked the sun all week!!

But we also learned to rock the shade! Doesn't Avery look so relaxed!

They have an amazing back porch where we could still enjoy the beauties of outside with a little comfort of the shade when needed. And a speaker system to listen to some great tunes!

To help us stay outside, we would cook-out on the grill.

Addie is waiting for her hot dog!

We also did other things, like sidewalk chalk. This was Austin's masterpiece that I loved and had to grab a picture of. The whole John family!

And us girls painted our toenails!

But there were also jobs to be done! Randy was back in his element, mowing 20 acres on this bad boy!! I watered the plants, fed the cats and (prepare yourself) a rat. But for us it wasn't like chores at all. It was a great way to start our

John Summer '11!! :)