Celebrating Uncle Bruce's Life

Our last day in Kentucky, we got a phone call.  Stephen's Uncle Bruce had passed away to be with his Father in heaven.  Bruce's twin brother, Brice, is Stephen's dad.  He was devastated, as were many, and it was hard to be far away wishing there was something we could do.  We were all very sad, and started planning a trip to attend his service and be with the family.

This picture was taken six years ago (I think)  Uncle Bruce is on the far left, with Brice in the middle in yellow, between him and Stephen.  I have more recent ones...but I really like this one.

Though it has been a LONG time since the kids have gotten to see this many of Stephen's side of the family, they immediately took to socializing and playing with their family and cousins like it had just been yesterday. 

Courtney showed Clyde how to catch a lizard and not get bitten.  Though they DIDN'T catch him by the tail, he still dropped his tail to avoid being caught again.  Clyde kept it...and now it has turned green.

Cousins!  Rarely get to see each other, but when they do...

 Lucy, with her allergies, rarely gets to love on dogs.  But Marley was very sweet and calm so she petted on him as much as she could.

First evening gathering at Uncle Milton and Aunt Paula's house...

 The day of the service for Uncle Bruce arrived and my kids were very sad.  I was mean and made them smile for photo ops that rarely happen.  But when it was all over, we began RE-introducing them to people whom they had met as babies and toddlers... or had never met at all.  They really enjoyed all the family time.

Older girls, ready to depart....sure did miss seeing Madison!  This is Lucy, Courtney, and Summer.

We had the "cousin van" on the way there.

Iris and Anna...

Got a pic of Brice's boys...aka- Stephen and bros... (Reece, Stephen, and Don)

 Brice talking to two of his boys, Stephen and Don...

More cousin pics...  (funny fact- 6 of these 7 cousins' dads have the same first and last name...just a different spelling)

Courtney and Lucy with Aunt Betty...SOOO happy to see Aunt Betty!

Aunt Paula and William...LOVE

Stephen and and his cousin Kathy....

More Brice and sons... LOVE these <3 are="" br="" do="" dudes="" handsome="" i="" if="" myself="" pics...="" say="" so="" some="" those="">

Gathering and hanging out at Milton and Paula's later...

Bashful Lucy with Funny Outgoing Dawson...

more Brice and sons....(hey, I'm not crazy...it's been a while...extremely rare event that I'm repetively documenting here!)

 Robert, Bruce's sweet and creative son, and his supportive girlfriend, Annette...

Later girls drawing...

Boys juggling and pillow fighting...

Hanging out...

Last day, while Joey and Stephen took Reece on an unexpected, early, partial trip home after he unexpectedly broke his leg :( , the rest of us, still at Tammy's, went out to eat and prayed for healing and safe travels and for comfort and the peace that passes understanding for everyone grieving Uncle Bruce

We appreciate so much Joey and Tammy opening their home up to an additional five people!!  Dustin, THANKS FOR YOUR ROOM! We know yall HATE thank-yous, but oh well.  It's how I was brought up ;)  Love staying with you guys... it felt like home!

Kentucky Part 2

On our second full day in Kentucky, after Daddy left for the conference, we went for a swim!

The kids spent most of their swim time "diving for jewels", which really meant swimming to the bottom and capturing these sequins.  Apparently it's tricky, because they try to move away from your hand.  This kept them quite busy.

Lucy got cold so Nana let her cuddle.

After this, we ate lunch and went to a wonderful playground at a gorgeous riverside park!  They played here a WHILE!

When you get hot, you push this button to get misted. :D  We were big fans of this.  It definitely sustained our play time!

Clyde being brotherly and giving his sisters a free ride.

Lucy picked the local brew house for dinner and her Daddy showed up to surprise us!  BEST burgers ya'll!!!

The next day, the girls dressed up in Colonial clothing to visit the historic home of George Rogers Clark, Locust Grove.  Colonial was a little early for this period, but it was the closest we had.  George Rogers Clark was a fascinating frontier Revolutionary War hero, who Clyde is presently learning about.  I had high hopes for this excursion.

We made it to the gift shop...

And the small welcome museum...

But right as we entered the house and the tour JUST started, Lu got really lightheaded...so I headed out to let her change into something cooler.  When we arrived back at the house, with her still weak, we found Iris in the same condition.  So we changed her clothes and just left. Narry a picture. :(

 Here's a link....I really want to go back and visit!

After cooling off, re-hydrating, and a picnic next to the river, they were up and running again...

When returned to downtown, I walked them to Stephen's conference where he whisked them away to the oh-so-fun Lock Pick Village!

While they did that and Nana rested, I ate apple bread pudding!  (not all of it by far)

And did some sight seeing.
 

The next morning, Nana and I returned to the playground we went to earlier.  We had a picnic and let the kids play. 

Iris pretended to be Raven, her new beloved character from Teen Titans.  Lucy was Starfire and Clyde was Beast Boy.  (no pics)

Later we toured St Matthew's Mall (really beautiful for a mall!) bought Clyde a new jacket (he lost his), and went to the dollar theater to see Ant Man!  They LOVED it!!

Late that night, Nana kindly watched over the kids for us while I joined Stephen and some of the other hacker wives at DerbyCon.  These ladies were SO nice!!  Caroline, one of the other wives, and I went upstairs to a concert sponsored by the Con.  It was....interesting.  We laughed SO hard.  Probably shouldn't have.  This gymnastic lady was actually really good.  The music and other oddities were....not so much.

Sunday morning we headed out!

Everyone was pretty pooped when we got home, but it had been a good trip!