Pools, Showers & Bachelor Parties

This weekend was Jon's bachelor party. Jon & Erin and our friends the Harberts came to stay with us this weekend so the boys could partake in some bachelor party fun and the girls could partake in some wedding shower fun.

Friday night we went to my parents house for some swimming. Baby Harbert had a great time in the water and was not nearly as phased by the cold as we were.




She thought splashing was hilarious... as you can tell.


Erin & I in the hot tub where we enjoyed some adult beverages.


Jon...I think this is during the belly flop contest.


Saturday the boys had a "Day-O-Fun" for the bachelor party that consisted of fishing, drinking, golfing, drinking, food, drinking & a bon fire. While the boys were out and about, the girls attended Erin's wedding shower. The weather was beautiful & the food was delicious. Plus we got to watch Erin get dressed blind folded, what more can you ask for!



Erin's sister, Kate, brought out one of her goats for us to see. Baby Harbert was more interested in her water bottle. But at least we tried.


Here are the girls at the shower. Baby Harbert, Heather, Erin, me & Adrienne.

Annual Indy Soccer Tournament

This weekend we took a road trip to Indianapolis with Curtis & his girlfriend and my cousin Ross & his girlfriend to visit some friends and of course so the boys could play in the annual Indy Soccer Tournament. Jon of course was the instigator of this whole event. He & Erin met us there.

The boys played in 5 games over the course of two days, which is probably the most exercise, let alone soccer that any of them have had since last year’s tournament. They finished second in their bracket & made it to the second round on Sunday where they lost to a really good team. After the other team scored a goal on a bicycle kick, I think they pretty much gave up.

Other than soccer, we also got to visit with the Harbert’s and see how big their baby has gotten. I can’t believe that last year at this time she was still in her mommy’s belly. She’s so big and crawling all over. We also enjoyed some delicious Mojito's, Margarita's, Mudslides & some wine. It was a long night. It was really fun to see them and really nice of them to host the whole brood of us! Thanks Harbert’s!

Isn't she adorable. (Heather & baby)


Here are some action shots of soccer. Go Curtie!


Here she is enjoying the soccer game... well maybe she's enjoying the carrot a little more.


Some more soccer...


Jon pretending not to like babies... but not doing a very good job.


The boys afterwards... they were exhausted. Nothing like a little male bonding time.
(Jon, Curtie & Phil)

Powdered Peanut Butter You Say??

I was recently turned on to the idea of powdered peanut butter. As some of you may know I am a proud member of weight watchers. I also am desperately in love with peanut butter (pretty much anything that involves or tastes like peanut butter). However peanut butter is very high in points (meaning calories & fat), so I have had to stay away from it for a while now.

Well... ta da! No longer am I going to be peanut butter deprived. Check out this new powdered peanut butter. My friend at work bought some & brought it in for us to try. It tastes just like peanut butter (except it is only 1 point instead of 5 for the regular stuff). It is delicious! The only issue is they don't sell it anywhere close to me so we have to order it online and you can only order it in quantities of 4 jars or a semi-truck load. We pooled together & bought some as a group & it worked out great.

Here is the site in case anyone is interested:

http://www.bellplantation.com/

Happy guilt free peanut butter eating everyone!

The Arndt Visit

Sunday, my Aunt Susie, Uncle Jim & their boys Daniel & John drove up to Michigan from Georgia.  So of course we had to have another Maltby gathering.  We all met at mom & dad's house in Vicksburg for some food, swimming, dessert, paddle ball & of course an afternoon snack.

The whole crew was there, excluding my sisters & brother-in-law's, my favorite cousin Jessica and those who live out of state.  We had a fabulous time visiting and catching up.

My favorite second cousins/sidekicks for the day.  Corinna & Arianna.

Aunt Sharon, Uncle Jim, Aunt Susie & Dad.

Phil & my favorite cousin Ross after some serious cannon balls.

Aunt Laurie, my favorite cousin Greg & Phil.

After all that action, my little family was tired out.

Here are all the cousins (well the ones that were left) & Grandma.

(me, Staci, Phil, Grandma, John, Ross & Daniel)

Here are all the kids with Grandma. (excluding those in California)

(Dad, Aunt Sharon, Grandma, Uncle Jeff & Aunt Susie)

Beach Trip

Ok so here is my last post about the 4th of July weekend. We just did so much that it keeps dragging on and on.

Anyways, on Sunday morning my family, Phil & I made a quick trip over to Lake Michigan to South Haven. We spent the day at the beach playing paddle ball, climbing dunes & even braving the freezing cold Lake Michigan water (which I swear was only about 60 degrees).

It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun. Phil practiced his swimming for the upcoming triathalon while Jenni & I coerced my mother out into the lake on an innertube. This is an amazing feat for those of you who do not know my mother. She does not get into our pool unless the water is at least 80 degrees...and even then it's questionable. So to get her into freezing cold Lake Michigan was something spectactular.

Here are the girls getting ready for paddle ball (Jenni, me and my mom).


Jenni & Phil in the water trying not to look cold.


Here we are at the top of the dune... whew that was a long way up.
Jenni, Mom, Gualie & me


Here are Phil & Gualie running down the dune. That is the best part. The view from up there was beautiful.


Here is mom in the inner tube. We're so proud!

They love it when you wave...

On Saturday night, I went to the Battle Creek Balloon Festival with my family and some friends. While watching the balloons get ready & take off, we were lucky enough to learn ALL about the “sport” of ballooning. Yes I said sport… I bet you didn’t know that Hot Air Ballooning is the most romantic sport. Yes… that’s right, the balloons can “kiss” in the air. The announcer was also kind enough to let us know that the balloonists can hear you when you are talking on the ground and they are in the air, so make sure you are clapping for them… and they really like it when you wave at them. So of course we had a lot of fun with that one!

Since there were fireworks on Friday night, they decided to have the Balloon Illume (where they light the balloons up at night). It was really pretty and I got some good pictures. After the balloon launch we had some time to kill before the much anticipated Balloon Illume, so we decided it would be fun to ride some carnival rides. We might have been wrong.

We of course had to recap all of the bad memories of Carnies (the dreaded carnival workers, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term) that my mom has ever had. The first ride we went on was fun and relatively calm. The Carnie looked halfway normal & was definitely not using drugs (at least at the particular moment). The second ride however was another story. The Carnie running the ride I’m pretty sure was drunk. He was talking to his buddies for like 10 minutes while we were all sitting on the ride moving in slow motion. The problem is that he was on a microphone & his buddies weren’t. So you could hear what he was saying & not what they were saying… doesn’t really matter because it was not relevant to the people on the ride…Anyways, this ride was much faster & I’m pretty sure the Carnie passed out for a few minutes while we were riding. I’m glad to say we made it off the ride all still alive and in one piece. However, I did feel like I was going to Ralph the rest of the night.

Here are pictures of the balloons. My favorite was Sugar Bear (after the cereal). There were a lot of Kellogg balloons. The good part for us was that there was virtually no wind. So once the balloons launched, they just kind of hung out in the air right by us. It was pretty cool. It was not so cool for the balloons however. Some of them had issues & began to sink. I had to cheer Sugar Bear on... because you know they can hear everything up there!

Gualie & Jenni watching the balloons.

Mom & Dad (with Rhiannon & Jason behind them)

Here is us before the first ride. Gualie, Jenni, Me & Rhiannon

Don't be intimidated by the sign for the second ride... or maybe you should.

Here are Rhiannon & Jenni during our 10 minute leisure spin while the Carnie was busy being drunk!


Gualie & I after the second ride... we were a little wobbly.

This lady was walking around all night & creeping my sister out (I think Jenni secretly might want to be her). She had glowy things all over, even in her mouth! My mom kept trying to take her picture, but she was moving at the speed of light! No pun intended :)

Here are some of the balloons lit up. Notice Tony the Tiger next to my favorite Sugar Bear.

Fishing Extravaganza

Friday after the parade, we all went out on Uncle Jan's boat on Hamlin Lake. The boys & Grandma did some fishing while I enjoyed the ride & sunset and also finished reading my book.

Uncle Jan & Phil's dad, Rob were on a roll, catching fish every few minutes without even trying much. Even Grandma caught 5 or 6 fish. We hit the hot spot. Unfortunately Phil was having some problems. He caught a few fish right away but then hit a dry spell for a while. Uncle Jan was catching fish when he wasn't even paying attention... crazy stuff.

After a mighty long dry spell, my wonderful husband was feeling a bit down & discouraged. One last cast before we left to go home and what do you know... he catches the largest fish of the night... a 15" bass that required the net and the assistance of Rob to catch. He put the rest of those boys to shame! Way to go hubby!

Here are some pictures of the fishing trip.

Uncle Jan's first catch.... it was a slow start.


Phil... making the fish gods mad.


Grandma's first catch.


Here it is... the big BASS. Rob is holding his catch next to it for comparison purposes.


We did also enjoy a beautiful sunset amongst the fishing... there were a ton of swans around us and lots of baby swans... so cute!


Here is Tula checking out the catch.


Apparently it is a good omen to nail the head of your fish to a tree in Ludington... either that or the boys just wanted to show off their catch. Doesn't really matter, it's still gross if you ask me!

Ludington Weekend

Phil, Tula and I spent the holiday in Ludington with the Amsterburg family. Grandma Jill so graciously hosted us for the weekend. Friday we went into town for the parade, which according to Uncle Jan is the best parade in Michigan. We did see all sorts of floats, tractors, gymnasts, pirates fighting, goats and of course fire trucks galore. The highlight of the parade was the Scottsville clown band. It is basically a bunch of older men dressed in drag that play music while they march. They were the caboose of the parade. Some of them even did a nice little strip tease as they walked by. A little disturbing, but mainly funny.

Here we are waiting for the parade to start.


Rob, Phil, Tula & Grandma Jill waiting anxiously.


This guy was the Grand Marshal and also the leader of the Scottsville clown band.


Here are some of the guys... cute huh?

On our way back to the house, we stopped to see some of the storm damage. This bridge right by Grandma's house was totally washed out. It was amazing to see in person... scary too.

Later that night, we went out on Uncle Jan's boat to see the dunes and so the boys could fish (see later posting about fishing).

Phil & Uncle Jan enjoying the sunshine.

Saturday afternoon Phil and I walked around downtown Ludington and paroozed the Art Fair. There were so many booths and so many people, but it was really fun. We saw some very cool things and tried hard to resist the elephant ears.

After lunch, we celebrated Grandma Amsterburg's upcoming birthday with some pecan pie.

Maltby Pool Party

Sunday afternoon was spent at my parents house in Vicksburg with the whole fam... well most of it anyways.  My cousin Steve came into town from New York and brought his new girlfriend.  So of course we had to have a gathering so we could all meet her (or overwhelm her if you prefer).  She was a very good sport and seemed to have a good time. 

We also spent some quality time in the pool.  Here is my favorite cousin greg with his daughters in the pool.  I think he's flexing his muscles here... good thing he doesn't have a shirt on... he might've ripped the sleeves!

Here are Corinna & Arianna enjoying themselves... or at least Corinna is pretending.

Tula was supervising the boys to make sure they didn't get into any trouble.

Here is part of the group.  Noa (Steve's girlfriend), then Jessica & Corinna, then Steve and finally Arianna on the far right, who I am sure is telling a very interesting story to Uncle Steve.