End of Season Ball Party

It's the end of summer and school is fast approaching.  Baseball has been over for a few weeks now, but Alex's Coach Pitch Team had their end of season ball party today at the Lake.  Shane missed his T-ball party because we were on our vacation at the time, and Zach's Little League team probably isn't going to have a party, so this is the only ball team party my boys were getting to have.

Fortunately, one of the Coaches was a member of the Lake, cause the Lake is the very best place to have a summer party.  The children all love swimming at the Lake, and the pavilions there are so nice for a party or a picnic.

I hadn't even gotten out of my car before the boys were running to the beach area of the Lake.  They have a great pier and diving board to jump off.

Alex on the diving board . . .

Alex jumping off the diving board . . .

Zach jumping off the diving board AND catching a football . . .

Grilled hotdogs, cupcakes, chocolate sheet cake, chips and dip . . .

And trophys . . .

The Red Sox had a great season, and this party was the perfect way to end the summer.  Thanks to all the Coaches and Mommas and Grandmothers that helped make the party so much fun for these little sluggers!

And so ends another baseball season for . . . 

                              the Ferrell boys and me!

My Favorite Coconut Cake

My birthday was this weekend.   I didn't have any big plans for celebrating because Dave had to work.  :'(

I spent the day hanging out at home with my boys and washing clothes.  Fun!  In my mind, my birthday didn't begin until Dave got home from work.  But while I was waiting for my birthday to begin, I decided to make myself a cake . . . my favorite kind of cake . . . for my birthday  . . .  My Favorite Coconut Cake :)

Here's the Recipe:

My Favorite Coconut Cake:

Here are the ingredients you will need:

White Cake Mix (and the ingredients required to make the cake)
15 oz. Creme of Coconut
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 large Cool Whip
6 oz frozen grated coconut

Step One:  Make the cake according to directions on the box.  Pour the cake batter into a 9x13 dish and bake it according to the box's instructions.  While the cake is baking, set the Cool Whip and the frozen Coconut out to thaw.

Step Two:  Mix the Creme of Coconut and the sweetened condensed milk together in a bowl.

Step Three:  When the cake comes out of the oven and while it's still warm, poke holes with a fork across the top of the cake.  Some people use the end of a wooden spoon, but I think it tears up the cake too much.  I poke lots of holes all across the top the cake with the fork, and then I pour the creme of coconut/sweetened condensed milk mixture over the cake.  I use a spatula to spread the mixture over the top of the cake and to spread it evenly over the top.  Some of it wants to seep along the sides of the pan, but I use the spatula to continue to spread the mixture up and over the cake.

Let the cake cool.  I put mine in the refrigerator after it had cooled down some in order to speed up the cooling process.

Step Four:  Once the cake is completely cool, spread the whole container of Cool Whip across the top of the cake.

Step Five:  Sprinkle the grated coconut across the top of the cake.  Easy and soooo good!  Let it sit overnight in the refrigerator and then cut and serve!

Of course I didn't wait for it to sit overnight.  We had it for dessert that night, but it was still good.  It was better the next day.

So I made my favorite cake for my birthday.  When Dave got home, he grilled some steaks.  Each of the boys made and decorated birthday cards for me along with some gifts . . . candles, bath gels, and socks.  :)
Dave played it safe and gave me money.  :)

All in all I had a great birthday.  A great birthday 
with just  . . . 

                                 the Ferrell boys and me!

Ferrell Family 4th of July

Another family holiday . . . but just another day of work for Dave!  My sweet hubby had to work the night shift on the 4th . . . but his hard work at his job makes it possible for his family to celebrate this great day together on our farm by fishing and swimming.

His brother, Joe, and wife, Marlana, and their children all came down to Ferrell Farm to spend the 4th with us!  I was so glad to have Joe and Marlana there with me.  It helped to make the holiday special for the boys since Dave was at work.  And since I actually woke up on Wednesday with a sore throat and a summer head cold, I really appreciated their help!

After Dave left for work, Joe took the boys to Ferrell Pond for an afternoon of fishing.

The boys love fishing so much!  Aunt Michelle and Uncle John gave all 3 boys fishing poles and tackle boxes for Christmas last year so the boys have been dying to go fishing.  I love the distorted perception of this picture.  It looks like the fish is larger than Alex!

Here is a more true to size picture of the "giant" fish!

Everyone caught fish!  Even Madison racked up some big ones!

Here's Alex, Zach, and cousin Chandler showing off their afternoon catch.

Marlana whipped up some hamburger patties . . .  (cause I was sick remember) ( love having family take care of the boys and me)

Uncle Joe grilled the burgers and hotdogs to perfection. . . .  after catching the gas grill on fire . . . but perfection none the less . . .   LOVE that expression on his face!

While they were getting supper ready, the boys cleaned their fish.

Chandler taught Zach and Alex how to clean a fish . . . Here's Zach cleaning his first fish . . .

So that's our 4th of July.  No fireworks.  No Barbeque.  No Dave.

We celebrated on the 5th of July instead!  Dave was off the rest of the weekend so we shot the fireworks on Friday night, the 5th of July.

Yep that was us.  Sorry neighbors . . .

The Ferrell boys dressed up for the show!  Ha!

Shane loved the sparklers . . . until a burning ember landed on the top of his foot!

Dave let the boys "help" with the fireworks . . . with lots of his supervision . . .

Love those little boys . . .  

In fact LOTS of adult supervision . . . Marlana and Joe jumped to help supervise . . .

Dave, Joe, and the children fished and swam all day Friday and Saturday before the Joe Ferrell family headed back home.  While the boys fished and swam, Marlana, Madison, and I painted and crafted together.  Marlana brought some wooden cut-outs for us to paint. Here's my cross:

Marlana's cross and letter "F":

As you can tell from the many pictures and this long and very involved post . . . 

It was a great and fabulous 4th of July weekend for. . . . 

                                  the Ferrell boys and me!

Ferrell Family Roadtrip: To Mount Evans

Date:  Saturday, June 22, 2013
Georgetown, Colorado

The next morning, we packed up our things and headed out to find something to eat in Georgetown.  We stopped at another local food place to have lunch.

After lunch we set off to drive up to Mount Evans.  Dave had warned us to pack something warm to wear for the day we go up the mountain.  A good thing too because we started up the mountain wearing summer clothes and shorts and half-way up the mountain, we stopped to explore . . . and almost froze!  I dug around in our suitcases and found the boys' winter coats, and they quickly pulled them on.

The view . . .

I noticed Shane looking around as if he were hunting for something.  When I asked what he was doing . . . he said he was looking for a place to pee!  Can you believe this?!?

This is one of the stops along the way up the mountain where you can stop and hike a trail.

There were so many rocks for the boys to climb and play on, but there was no way were going to hike any trails . . . not at this altitude!  Oh my!  Dave and I were breathing heavy and hard the higher up we went, and it was so chilly up there too!

But the view was fantastic!

The higher up we went . . . the more snow we saw!

We stopped along the way up the mountain to take pictures . . . Pardon Dave . . . the altitude was affecting him I think . . .

The road winded up and along the mountains . . . taking us further and further up . . .  Sometimes the view looking down was not distressing . . . like this one . . .

But sometimes the road was right along the edge of the mountain and it looked like we would fall right off the edge.

Can you tell that is a road right there on the edge of the mountain in the picture below?

I spent a good portion of my time leaning over toward Dave trying to get away from the edge!  The boys just laughed at my discomfort.  So sweet.  :D

The view was awesome . . .

Once we got to the top of Mount Evans, the boys started digging into their bags looking for socks and blue jeans to wear.  It was very cold!  Dave's least favorite kind of weather!  Ha!

The boys wanted to play in the snow, and Dave just wanted to get back in the warm car so I stayed outside with the boys.  Alex picked up some snow for a quick taste.

Guess how high up we were?  The road going up to Mount Evans is the highest road in the United States. . . not the highest continuous road, that is the road going through the Rocky Mountains.

My sweetie pie . . . Look at how bundled up he is and this is the middle of June!

And then there was even more snow . . .

While the boys played on the snow, I noticed lots of people were climbing further up the mountain using a path going up through the rocks.  You can see some of the people up at the top behind the boys in the picture above.

Alex climbed and played in the snow longer than any of the other boys.

He's my boy that loves to play.  :)

Zach didn't put on any socks and he got snow in his crocs.  At this point, I told him to go to the car and get some socks.  :)

Shane had fun climbing up the rocks and in the snow, but he kept getting snow down in his boots.

I love my boys so much . . . even when it's soooo cold!  Ha!

Here's a picture Dave took from the warm car as he watched me and the boys play in the snow.

At this point I told the boys that we needed to hike up to the top of Mount Evans like everyone else.

Ha!  We started up the path, and I started struggling to breath and feeling lightheaded, and I decided it would probably not be a good idea to try hiking up the rest of the way.  The high altitude was really making it hard to do any kind of activity . . . even just walking!

On the way up the mountain and again down the mountain, we saw mountain goats.  Actually, we had been looking for mountain goats the whole way up the mountain, but it wasn't until we got almost to the top that we actually saw some goats.  Dave had offered a prize to the first one that spotted the goat.  And the prize goes to Shane!    You can see how hard it is to see the goats against the mountain rocks.

Going down the mountain was much easier for me than going up the mountain!   On the way, it actually started snowing!  Truly bizarre! But so cool too!

We stopped at the gift/souvenir shop on the way down so the boys could get a happy, and while walking to the store, Shane fell and busted his forehead!  Scared us to death.  He had blood running down his face, and he was crying so much.  The people in the gift shop had a first aid kit and let us clean and bandage his head. Such a traumatic moment!  You can believe that Shane got everything he wanted in that shop!  Nothing upsets Dave as much as when one of the boys gets hurt.

Well, this post is pretty long and plenty full of pictures so I think I'll stop here and continue on tomorrow with the rest of our trip down Mount Evans.

So until tomorrow and while still going down Mount Evans with . . .
                            the Ferrell boys and me!