More Ferrell Family - Best of 2011

In the previous post, I highlighted the memorable moments in the first 6 months of 2011.  In this post, I'll continue on by highlighting the best of our Family for the months of July, August, and September of 2011.  Please know that I'm creating a record for my family so forgive me for the length of the posts.

July:

Zach was picked to play for the Noxubee/Kemper Allstars at the end of the regular ball season.

The Allstar tournament was held in Hatley beginning on June 30th through July 2nd.

They played three games in the tournament.  They won the first game, but lost the next two games and were eliminated from the tournament.  I thought Zach played great, but I am biased.  He had a great time!  The coaches were very encouraging and supportive of the players, and I think Zach learned a lot from this experience.

In July, we took our first family vacation to the Smokey Mountains.  We stayed in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and purchased a vacation package for Dollywood and Splash Country.

We went to the Dixie Stampede and ate a huge feast and watched a great show.  We cheered for the South, and on this night, the South won!

We went to Gatlinburg and had a family picture made:

We spent two full days at Dollywood.  We had a great time!  It was a great place to take the children even a child as young as Shane.  Here are some highlights:

River Rampage

Merry-Go-Round Dragon (Shane's favorite)

Roller coaster that Shane could ride (He & Dave are in the yellow car)

Magic show with Zach as the magician's assistant

Merry Go Round-- one of Shane's favorite rides

Tea cup . . . look at Shane's face . . .

We went to Splash Country another day and stayed until it closed at 7 p.m.!

On the way home, we spent the night in Chattanooga and went to Rock City the next morning.

Swinging bridge:

On Lookout Mountain:

See 7 states from Lookout Mtn.

Great view!

August:

School started.  Zach began the 3rd grade with Mrs. Lori as his teacher:

Alex started the 2nd grade with Mrs. Mitchell:

Shane started K3 . . . at first not too excited about it.

His teacher is Mrs. Leslie and Shane loves her! 

He's always saying, "My teacher says . . . "

Zach started Pee Wee Football. 
He's the fourth one from the left . . . in the brown Viking tshirt.  This is their first  football practice.

September:

Zach played his first pee wee football game against Kemper Academy.  All my family went to see him play . . . Michelle, Nana, Pawpaw, and our whole family.  Dave was off so he got to go too.    This picture is one of my favorites of Zach . . . taken by one of my friends:

Zach played Safety. . . . #25 

I don't know what a safety does except it looks like he was the last line of defense if the runners got past the main defensive line. . .  but I could be wrong. :)

They didn't win a single game . . . but the team was made up of mostly 3rd and 4th graders who had never played before, and the teams they played were mostly 5th and 6th graders.  Next year, I believe the team will be so much better with this year's experience behind them.  Here he is at half-time during a home game.

He loved playing football.  His coaches were so encouraging to him.  Zach was the smallest player on the team, and he still got to play as much as all the other players.    

Of course one of the highlights of being on the PeeWee Football team is riding on the fire truck during the school's Homecoming parade.

Zach is the second boy from the left . . .

Shane was in the parade too.  His class had a float and he got to ride on it.

Shane is the second boy in blue from the left.

Sweet Alex was on the sidelines watching the parade with me.

That brings the Ferrell family through September 2011.  The next post will highlight the months of October and November.  I've really enjoyed re-living these memories while putting this post together.  I hope you have enjoyed my family's memorable moments of 2011 so far!  I certainly have and I am looking forward to finishing this Best of 2011 with

the Ferrell boys and me