Summer

Summer has come and gone and I posted NOTHING on the wonderfulness of it. Hmmm....busy toddler, busy mom, crazy days, few pictures, lots of memories and NO documentation. I really need to get better.

Well Jesse went to his first youth summer camp with church and LOVED it! We were actually able to go as a family which was a bunch of fun. Jesse did his thing, Eddie worked like crazy with  the rest of the staff , and I was completely blessed to hang back and take care of the boys. I have a whopping three pictures from camp and I think they are all from Tracy's camera. I stole them off of facebook. :)

Jesse loves games and is VERY competitive. Our church does a great job of making up games that are fun and competitive. He thrived in it. Here he is running from water ballon bombs and hoping to escape without a bruise, hence the helmet and jacket. 

Daniel sliding down the bike ramp that ended in the water.  The little boys weren't allowed to do the bike  jumps so they had to makeshift a game on it when it wasn't in use, of course.

Me and my sweetie pie stealing some shade from a boat awning. 

Signs of Summer

Summer has arrived and I caught a few moments to prove it awhile ago but am just now posting them.

 A bit of progress on my tomatoes although I can't say much for the rest of the veggies I planted.

We also planted a sunflower garden of all sorts of varieties.

Someone needs to water the gardens. Jesse is teaching him to work hard. :)

A rapidly melting popsicle for his break time. 

Poser Pool

The heat has pretty much tapered off BUT NO, we had to go and pull this thing out.  Someone gave it to us and we have had it all summer. We just finished trying to get rid off it at a garage sale and there were no takers. Hmmmm, I wonder why? Well Daniel begged for it to be put up so Eddie inflated it and the boys had ONE day off fun. It ended up deflating fairly rapidly.

Not quite the slide experience he was hoping for. At least he isn't too big to enjoy such a childhood memory. We would keep it but the other boys are just too big and it had a major leak.

Check out the duct tape on our hose. Hahaha! Our dog chewed it up RIGHT after I bought it and I wasn't about to replace it.

Boys Backyard Campout

Ahh, our yearly boys backyard campout. Normally we only have a few friends over but this time around we decided to have all the boys in our co-op come so they could get to know one another a bit better (there are new families joining). NINE boys total were here and I believe they all had a blast. We had the three oldest ones in the small tent and the 5-8 year olds in the bigger tent. It worked well.

Here is how it went down. Arrival, wrestling in the grass, pizza time, scooter riding out front, name game, glow sticks, bike tricks by Eddie Roman (all but 2 boys were jumped over), fire and marshmallows (both holding equal value), tent time accompanied by Africa stories (Eddie just arrived home from there), and finally star gazing as they eagerly looked for the meteorite shower, which was a bit disappointing. I think a few of the boys were waiting for the sky to fall!

Best buddies!

The whole gang!

Maybe we should invest in a portable fire pit!

Marshmallows aflame!

Stories strait from Africa!

Cartoon time.

She was exhausted! We left her in her run most of the time and she barked furiously for being left out.

The Waterfront at Camp

The waterfront at camp was great. There was kayaking, snorkeling, swimming, and best of all, crab searching! The kids had to take a swimming test before they were allowed to go out on their own. So at the appointed time they jumped into some wetsuits (which was a bit weighty for Matthew) and headed for the floating dock. There were two sessions. Jesse was in the first and Matthew in the second. When Matthew attempted it he only got half way out before putting his hand up for help. When Jesse saw this he jumped right in and started swimming toward him. He cares when it counts and I was proud.

Daniel could care less about the swimming and wanted to search for crabs ALL day long. He was so cute but it got old fast...at least for us to old to care.

Crab searching buddies!!

There he is!

They would swim for hours. Kristy has a GREAT picture of them in their wetsuits. Hopefully I will get it soon.

Avalon Day Trip

In the middle of the week during family camp we took a day trip to Avalon. The older kids took a nice long, hot and sweaty hike with the dads over the mountain and into the city while Kristy and I took a refreshing, breezy boat ride to meet them. Both groups loved their choice of travel. It was a gorgeous day and the first time ever for us to vacation with friends. The pretty little city met us with cozy shops, ice cream, and a pizza parlor with the perfect view. We are hoping to return next year and make it a tradition.

In the five years we have known each other I think this is our first picture together. She is a sweet friend.

Daniel seems to go unnoticed!

Yes we had ice cream BEFORE lunch while our friends took their yearly golf-cart tour. We opted out since we would have had to rent two.

Our good friends, Chad and Kristy Wood!

Hannah, Daniel, Jesse, Matthew, Tiffy, and Libby.

Don't ask!

Like I said, "Don't ask!"

Sleeping Arrangements at Camp

Here is a funny moment of our trip. Libby and Daniel became good friends. She was staying in this beautiful open air tent with her sisters and mom and dad while we were staying in a cabin just across the way. The two of them decided to visit her tent on their own. Daniel sweetly escorted her into her tent and then tried to untie the flaps behind him. We were standing on our cabin deck watching with her daddy and he wasn't about to have that happen. LOL!

They were so sweet and FUNNY! At one point Libby stopped, and being the sweet controlling little girl she is, put Daniel's hand between her knees to keep him from going further while she did something.

I LOVE this sleeping bag!

Yes he went to bed like this. The dirt was THICK. Gross I know but SO much fun. It is CAMP.

He did marvelously!