1st Camping Trip of the summer!!

The 1st and not the last:
It was quite the trip! We took a bit of a senic route to get there, but no matter. It was a nice drive! Our campsite was AMAZING! So funny because as we were driving longer than planned to get there, we talked to the kids about just having fun anyway, and that sometimes things don't go as planned and that it's ok. Little did I know we all would need to remember these words......read on.......

Here is Sasha playing by one of the two rivers that surrounded our spot! It was just gorgeous and provided hours of entertainment for us all! The water was soooooo cold, but that didn't stop any of us from wading and playing around in it!

The kids really, really, really, loved having a fire at all times! First thing in the morning. At lunchtime. At dinnertime. At bedtime. FIRE!! FIRE!! LOL! They all loved helping getting it going and throwing sticks on it. So funny. Addie also wanted to roast marshmellows the whole time. So, I pretty much let her. Silly me, thought 2 bags of marshmellows would be "plenty". NOT!

We seriously had such a good time. Here is a picture I took to prove it. Thanks, Sasha for letting me steal your hat. I guess I DO like to wear hats after all.

Seth's face in this cracks me UP! Look close at Sasha's very nice lipstick. She offered me some numerous times. I declined. Audrey was such a good little camper! We were soooo glad we brought the pack-n-play. I "wore" her in a baby-carrier a lot and that was great.

Here is the rockin' tent my sweet dad gave Will for his birthday. He wanted us all to go camping and wanted to make that happen. Our little 3 man tent is no longer big enough. My dad slept in his van on a bed he made there. Sweet times.

Here is the river we had to cross to get to our campsite. It was so stinkin' cool! LOVED that!

Here is Addie going across the log bridge. No she does NOT have shoes on. She didn't wear any pretty much the whole time. Seriously, that girl. She also changed her clothes every time she got something on herself. So, she ran out of clothes 5 minutes after we got to camp.

We ended up leaving early due to Seth and his poor tummy bug. He got sick.....all.....over....the...tent...and...sleeping bags........at midnight on our second night. Will and I had a little family counsel to decide what in the world to do. I wanted to just tough it out and leave in the morning. Will wanted to go home. Our air mattress had just popped. Two of our five sleeping bags were "outta commission". (Read the first two sentences of this paragraph to clarify). Our tent was....um....yucky. So, we decided to pack it up. We got scared outta our wits by a HUGE skunk we interuputed going through our trash. It would NOT go away. Gross! I heard a noise by our table and we both shined our flashlights over there. It was soooo funny but soooo scary, at the same time. Will chucked some rocks over there and it would NOT leave. It was HUGE! I guess my dad had seen like 3 earlier that night, but didn't want to scare us! We packed up everything and it took us nearly 2 hours. We had to leave my dad a note telling him what happened and apologizing for leaving him to load the rest of our stuff into his van. (Our van could not hold what we had brought). I guess when he found our note in the morning, he thought about staying one more day, but the skunk smell was soooooo bad he packed it up and came home, too. That darn skunk sprayed the heck out of our stuff we had left behind and it stunk soooo bad. We spent the afternoon cleaning it all in our back yard. Will and I have talked about our little adventure and laughed about it all. We will never forget this trip. EVER! But, know what? We will laugh about it now and laugh about it later, too. We know our kids will take note of our attitudes about things like this, and we want them to learn to just LAUGH. Things go wrong. Someone might puke in the tent. Your airmattress might be flatter than a darn pancake. A skunk might scare your socks off. But, you gotta just laugh. We want to go again. Wanna come with us????

Take a good look....

My precious little Addie has sucked her thumb since she first discovered she had one! So, that would be since she was a teeny, tiny little baby! We have many a picture of her sucking her thumb to prove it! She has made us smile when she sucks her thumb and pulls a piece of yarn or something through her other fingers, at the same time. So precious. BUT, having said that.....it is time for it to come to an end. She turned 5 and the past few trips to her dentist I have been told by him that I need to think about "helping" her stop. He recommended getting an appliance attached to the roof of her mouth that makes it, um, very uncomfortable for her to suck her thumb. So, we got it in this week. I don't have a picture of that contraption, but it is horrible. (Don't tell Addie I said that, k?). It has these sharp prong thingys and it has made her tongue so raw and sore. She kinda talks differently now.........it is cute! I know the soreness will go away once her tongue gets used to having it there, but in the meantime she is cursing the dentist night and day. She can't really eat anything but applesauce, ice cream, slurpees, yogurt and other similar menu items. She will have to have it in for about a month to make sure the habit is truly broken. I keep telling myself it is for the best. Right now, though, I feel so bad for her........ Daddy and I bought her a new Zhu-Hu pet to make her feel better. That helped, right Addie??? LOVE you!

So, take a good look. No more thumb sucking for Addie. (As I read back over this post I actually got teary-eyed over it. Is that weird?)

Ummmm, more randomness.....

What do you call a post that just has some pictures??? LOL! "Randomness" works for me! Enjoy!

Seth wants to play the Wii ALL the TIME, so I let him after jobs are done etc. Then we turn it off for a bit. Then he comes back and gives me "the look". I say, "Ok, but first you have to read me a book". He groans. I stand firm. See, reading is fun, Seth! Your sisters like it!

I have about 25 pictures of Audrey looking just like this: wide eyed, mouth wide open. She is such a joy. I wonder how many times a day I kiss those cheeks of hers???

Look what happens after a trip to the DI. Did you know they have dolls like this for around $1.00.....or $3.00 (Sorry, Sarah! Julia picked the most expensive one!) This picture was taken after they had played like that and tipped the couch over not once, but TWICE. Addie's doll got smashed like the Wicked Witch of the West. Her foot got broken and I am not a very good broken-foot-fixer, I was told by a sobbing Addie. Shucks.

Is this not the cutest outfit ever!!!!????? My friend keeps bringing me the cutest clothes that her daughter has outgrown. Yay!

I don't know what to say about this one. She is just so sweet, so precious and such a blessing. We all say over and over how glad we are that she made it. The kids still pray she will make it and not get sick or anything like that. Having a baby in our home again has brought such a sweet spirit. How can you not smile as you look at her sweet face and kiss those chubby cheeks?? She has been such a blessing and a bright spot for our family. Happy day.

S-U-M-M-E-R.....I just love it!

I love summer! Here are just a few reasons why:
Slip-and-Slides are so fun. Yes, I have put on my swimming suit and joined in the fun. Yes, my yard is fenced, so NO you can't see me!! Ha ha ha!

What is better than summer mornings? Watching TV in your jammies 'til Mom says, "That's enough. It's noon. Time to get dressed....." (Ok, I am exaggerating. It is more like 10am. Besides letting them watch too much TV or Wii, I am making my kids read to me each day and they are mad about it. Ha ha ha!)

Not sure what this picture of my Audrey Anne has to do with summer, but it was so cute, I had to add it to the post! She is seriously the most happy baby ever. She brings us so much joy.....and interrupted sleep. No, she is still not sleeping through the night! Oh well. It's ok.

Summer means wearing a different dress every 10 minutes.....well, at least to Addie it does. We also started feeding little Ree Ree cereal this summer. Here, Addie is feeding her. She HAD to put her apron on to do it. Good idea, Little Boo.

Summer means SWIM LESSONS from one dang awesome teacher! She teaches in a neighborhood pool and I LOVED it! We would walk to their lessons each day! They loved, loved, loved it. I hope she never stops teaching.....

Garage sales! The kids got these chairs from a garage sale and also the awesome "fancy glasses" Addie is holding. Sasha LOVES glasses like this and squealed when she found some for .25 each. They came right home, set up their chairs, filled their glasses with lemonade and had a little party. Oh, and YES I did wash them real good before they drank out of them.

Parades! Addie looks like she is trick-or-treating. We sit by the start of the parade each year and so they throw tons of candy. They surely run out FAST, so I feel bad for those poor saps sitting at the end of the parade. Yay for Founders Day!

Every night, the kids and I put out a blanket and lay on the front lawn. We eat an ice cream cone, usually, and just watch the cars drive by. We talk about whatever is on our minds and look at the clouds. I love doing things like this with them. I love going to get a Slurpee from 7-Eleven. That to me is summer!! I love the smell of sunscreen. I love going to the pool. I am loving watching my garden grow. I am loving eating lots of fresh veggies.....oh and ice cream cones. I am loving my summer break as much as they are. I have been reading a ton, just for fun and am feeling rejuvinated, ready for what lies ahead of me in a month or so. Until then I am just enjoying all that summer brings. Ahhhhh, I love this.