Fourth of July

We had a busy, yet nice Fourth this year.  We started out by going out for breakfast at a local café, came home and the kids played outside with neighbor friends while I did some baking, and then we shared cookies with the neighbors.

At lunchtime, we headed to Keith’s Uncle Jim’s house for swimming and a cookout with family.  The pool water was COLD, but our kids didn’t mind one bit.  Thankfully, they had cousins who were quite willing to supervise them in the water.  (I got in for a while after lunch, but mostly just enjoyed chatting with family while watching from the pool deck.)

Four kids on a raft – Max, Alex, Cailin, and Sky

Jensyn & Jessica, Kyle & Jensyn

our three with Jessica

Jess & Max, Jensyn & Grandma

Kyle & Jensyn

recreating a family picture taken years ago…but with a few new kids!

We came home for Jensyn to get a late nap & to eat dinner, then we headed out to see the fireworks.  Our town wasn’t doing fireworks this year, so we headed up north to the fairgrounds to see the fireworks.

Jensyn has  mouth full of cotton candy, so these pictures are goofy

Alex made a new little friend while we were waiting for the fireworks to start.  It’s amazing to me the way kids can so quickly make friends, but Anthony (the friend) and our boys had a great time running around.  Alex actually watched the fireworks from Anthony’s blanket…not that it was terribly far away, but it was just odd to have our child run off and hang out somewhere else for the first time!

Jensyn enjoyed the fireworks, but she was a little afraid of the loud booms.

All 3 kids fell asleep on the way home.  I unloaded them and carried them in one by one.  (Keith was unloading everything else from the car.) I set Alex on the living room chair, and he went right back to sleep.

I set Jensyn on another chair, and her eyes popped right open…wide awake. 

Max…well…I set him down in the laundry room so I could take off my shoes, and he crawled to the short distance to his bedroom doorway and slept RIGHT THERE on the floor!

We had to brush their teeth since they’d had cotton candy, and it was like brushing the teeth of limp little rag dolls…they slept right through it!

They had a great day, though, and so did we!

June Camping Trip

We are making an effort to go camping four times this year, so we started our summer by choosing four weekends to set aside for camping.  Life has been more than a little crazy around our house lately – sick kids, emergency surgery for the dog, some health issues for me, a water leak in our garage – and it almost sidetracked our first trip.

We decided at the last minute to just go ahead & take the camping trip even if life was crazy.  We had fun, and I’m glad we went!  Packing last minute was a bit tricky, and the trip did get off to a bit of a rough and rainy start!  Oh well – our kids had TONS of fun, and we’re making good memories together!

This campground is only 10 minutes from home, but it’s one of our favorites.  It’s a great place for your first trip of the year, as it’s easy to run home if you’ve forgotten something when getting the camper ready for the year   They have lots of fun activities for kids, a fun lake, and the owners do a great job of keeping things nice. 

It was pouring down rain when we arrived, so  Keith & I left the kids in the car to watch a DVD while we popped up the camper.  Once it was set up, we hung out in the camper and cooked hamburgers on the griddle since it was too wet to start a good fire.

taking a walk in the rain…

Later that night, we were able to get a fire going and make “campfire cones” and s’mores.   The campfire cones were a recipe (if you can call it that…) that I found online.  We filled sugar cones with mini marshmallows and M&Ms, wrapped them in heavy duty foil, and put them in the fire for a few minutes.  YUM!

Jensyn enjoying her campfire cone…

Daddy decided that Alex was old enough to add a log or move a foil pack in the fire with careful supervision.  It still made Mama very nervous, but I guess he has to learn sometime.

This was our first year camping without a Pack N Play.  It was nice to have easier access to the dining table, and Jensyn did a GREAT job sleeping on the bed!  I was impressed that she didn’t roll off! 

A few dark-ish bedtime pictures…Jensyn doesn’t have a sleeping bag yet, nor would she stay in one if she did, so we used a Halo Sleepsack with foot holes, and it worked out great.

sweet morning snuggles…

We tried a slightly different way of making a pudgy pie pizzas on this trip.  I bought rosemary flat bread, and we put the cheese/sauce/toppings inside of that instead of regular bread.  I really liked it; Keith thought it was just okay.  The kids gobbled it up, so I guess they were good with it.

Just to help my memory, this is the flatbread we bought…it fit in the pie irons almost perfectly.

Jensyn enjoyed “helping” with the dishes – which usually meant clothes soaked with water & a washcloth that was dropped in the dirt.  But she was happy

The beach…the water was still pretty cold, but it didn’t stop the kids from having a great time!

Alex and Daddy has their annual mud fight, and Alex built mud & stick towers on (a very patient) Daddy’s head.

I entertained the kids in the shallow water,
and Keith took turns bringing the kids into the deeper water.



We admired the beautiful peacock.
(Jensyn was scared of it…)

The kids…danced with chairs on their heads?!  Whatever entertains them, right?

What else…

• Our neighbors loaned us a fun bean bag game…this was Max after we’d put the game back in the car.  I wish I’d gotten a picture of the game in play.
  
  
  

• One of the ladies from my Bible study was camping right across from us with her family.  Her kids are very close in age to ours, so our kids enjoyed playing together over the weekend!  Her kids shared their bikes with our kids, and we shared our beanbag game and toy tractors with them.
  
• We also realized, but not until we were packing up on Sunday, that my cousin and her family were camping there too!  We got to chat for a few minutes, and I got to meet her little ones – who are 2 yrs old and 8 months old – for the first time.  It was fun catching up with each other!
  
• We enjoyed the Glow In The Dark wagon ride on Saturday night.  At dusk, they load up all the kiddos on the big wagon.  In order to get on, you must be holding/wearing something that glows in the dark.  They drive up and down all the campground roads, the kids cheer, and all the campers on their campsites wave as you come by. 

I think that’s about it…one trip down, three more to go!  I love that we’re spending quality time with the kids, enjoying the outdoors together, and building great memories!

It may be a TON of work camping with small children, but I think it’s worth it!