Family Camping

Our annual family camping was in the beginning of June at Pine Grove in Tilleda.  It started on Cierra's last day of school.  We won't make that mistake again.  It was unfair and stressful for her.

Still, I'm so happy they came.

The kids and girls had a good time on the beach.

The kids were able to catch minnows with their nets. 

I love little Henry in his goggles!  :-)

The children surely love digging in the sand. 

I didn't spend much time on the beach but love that it is a place for these beauties to relax and chat.

Lydia got to be buried. 

She turned into a mermaid!

Eddie sure was cute in his goggles.

How I love all those littles!

Campfire really is nature's television!

Evelyn ended up with a stomach bug and needed to go back to our house for the night.  On the way, a deer ran into Sammi's car.  Ouch!  Could've been way worse.  

The playground isn't just for the kids.

It is a good thing we camped so close to home.  Eddie just wasn't having it on the second night.  Andrew and Cierra ended up getting in their car and going home.

We did get to play the cup game.  This has become a family favorite.  I think Clint was the big winner this year!  I'm thinking we should skip the campground and just have the kids sleep overnight in the back yard with us.  We could play games and big people could go home and sleep in their own beds if they wish to do so.  

I do love camping.  Just not a fan of all the work to do it.

 

Strawberry Fields

We always go strawberry picking. This year I could only go with Erin.

We weren’t in the patch very long, and we already had our flats fall. I only needed enough to make jam, so that was rather easy.

I do love fresh strawberries!

 

Eddie’s Birthday Party

Guess who's turning 3?  Our little Eddie is such a great kid!  I enjoy him so much.  He tells me all kinds of things and asked to go shopping at Walmart with me.  

The Sua family was in town for the weekend so we had a big birthday bash!  Lots of good food and even better people to share it with.  

Clare brought the cotton candy machine and he enjoyed his very much!

Cierra created a Cars themed party.  She is so talented and creative.  I wish I had just a hint of her kind of creativity.  Mine talents lie in other areas and that's the way it is meant to be.

Our little man is 3!  Love him to pieces!

 

Hotel California

Pat purchased tickets for us to go see an Eagles tribute band in Appleton.  

They are called Hotel California.  

I like the Eagles music so why not?  These musicians were really good.  I enjoyed it very much although I do not care for so many guitar solos that are ripping my ears off.  The guitarist was amazing but repeated solos was not my gig.  We had a good time but I don't need to see them again.  

 

Cowboy Henry

On May 30th, Sammi and Clare were both chaperoning field trips so they asked me to watch their younger children.  Eli was only here for about four hours and then we dropped him off at school.  

 I was outside wearing my hat while doing some work.  Once I took it off, Henry asked to wear it.  He wanted it cinched up so I did it for him.  I told him that cowboys have their hats done up like that. 

He told me he was a cowboy!  I'd like to see a real cowboy wear that kind of hat.  :-)

Memorial Day Band

Cami wasn't in band since it doesn't fit in her schedule.  Mrs. Koz made the band an optional thing this year for Memorial day.  Bad choice.  She had six students show up to play.  

Cami was asked to play the snare drum so she asked her mom to play and it grew from there.  Clare and I both played the flute, Sammi was on bells, Tom on crash cymbals and Erin on the bass drum.  Without our family, she would have been up a creek.  

Mrs. Koz taught Brock to play Taps and they played it together.  

On the down side, there was one saxophone who played so loud and badly that it really ruined what we were trying to do.  Still, it was fun to play and support the school and community!

 

Bedroom Refresh

After arriving home from our mission, I did a lot of painting in our home.  I didn't do our bedroom though as it didn't need it.  

While we were in Grand Cayman, Pat said he'd like our bedroom to be the color of the ocean so I've been thinking about that for quite some time.  

If I'm painting our room, then I'm painting over the woodwork.  It isn't quality wood so I don't have an issue doing it.  I just knew it was going to be a lot of work.  Once Andrew was done with his semester, I figured I had a couple of weeks to get it done.  I painted all of the wood except for the actual windows.  I need them to come out in order to do a good job on them.  

I love the crisp clean look of the white wood.  I also love the color called "Sea Cruise".  Our bed and dresser are wood so now they also need a refresh.  Those pictures will come after I get started with that project.

I LOVE IT!