Father's Day & Fun

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO THE BEST DADS IN THE UNIVERSE!!!!

I am so thankful for each of them!

And I'm a wee bit proud of the Super Daddy of Elias, Isaac, and Olivia!

We surprised my dad by showing up at his house on Saturday while mom was working (they had plans Sunday).  I love surprises, so I thought it was great! (he did too) 

When we got there he was in the middle of cutting down a large tree part that had fallen during a storm, but was still stuck in the tree. J got to climb the tree, Dad did some yanking, Isaac did some cutting, I did some stacking, O found a real inch worm, E walked around wanting to be held.

Then the rest of the day was a play day!

 Since Luci was already stinky, she got to go in the lake. She's hunting tennis balls.

Found it!

 E didn't much like the water in his life jacket, so he stuck to wagon rides around and around and around and around.

 Mom and dad got a new table set and umbrella to go right next to the water.  It was GREAT weather to sit and watch the kids play.  They dug for rocks in the water and ended up with a big stack.  If they keep at it, dad might have enough to outline the mulch!

 This is SO Elias. He will grab on to my (or Olivia's) hair where-ever, when-ever, how-ever he can...and suck his thumb. (I will definitely miss it when he grows up!)

Popsicle snack.

And for other summer fun..... playing in the rain. And then they went in and had hot chocolate!?!!

 Elias's face was cracking me up. O kept pushing him down the driveway and he would laugh and laugh.

 Splash pad at the zoo, 1hr before it closed...perfect for very few people being there. 1st time for us.

 Pretty sure Elias liked it.

 Yep!

 I thought this was cool.  A giant giraffe. Olivia is at the bottom. It spits water from its mouth. 

 Bucket dump.

 It has things just the right sizes for the kids. Highly recommend it.

 And this is how you play barbies and pirate ship. All the girls get to ride and then then get attacked by nerf guns and the ship sinks. 

Camping Near Cumberland Falls KY

We went camping with friends from Ohio.  We met at Cumberland Falls, KY and camped a few minutes away from the falls.  The kids: Olivia, Eliza, Garrison, and Isaac. Aubrielle and Elias stayed home with grandparents.

The falls are known for the Moonbow (rainbow at night during full moon), but we got to see a regular rainbow during the day.

Down a little closer to the falls.

Climbing on rocks after lunch at the falls.

Lunch.

This cracked me up. It reminded me of the raccoon in Over the Hedge who has a giant wagon of food he took from a bear.  We had a 200yd walk to the campsite.

Setting up the camp. It was a good way for the kids to bond...they all had jobs to do that required them to help each other.

Dinner.  Cooked hot dogs and pita pizzas for the kids.

Meat and veggies for the big kids.

There was a lake near by that we visited.  However, the water was cold with all the clouds.  It eventually started to rain and we left.  But it had great potential.

These were the only ones to get in and this is how far in each of them got.

Todd and his talent with his amazing bug whacker zapper.

Perfect place for hitting trees! The kids also went on walks in the woods by themselves (which they thought was amazing), but were never so far that we couldn't hear them. They also made bracelets with beads and some with duct tape. The boys played uno.

Morning. Because of all the trees, the rain barely reached us most of the time. It rained 2 short times during the day and once in the middle of the night. It kept the weather nice and cool though so it was perfect.

Good morning! The kids slept great. They went to bed at dark and woke up at the crack of dawn. And the parents had a laughy time around the campfire until the wee hours of the morning.

Todd and Kristen. 

The kids were super excited that they restarted the fire in the morning. Olivia has learned that blowing on it makes it bigger....just gotta get a liiiittle closer. 

It rained the hardest when we were packing up to leave...which just made us move faster.  The kids had fun playing in it with umbrellas.  This was the porch of the camp store.

We stopped so Justin and Todd could go look for the cache (you know.....geocaching...) that was near the  Cumberland Falls entrance.  No luck, found the spot, but no cache.

This was about 5min after we got into the car to head out.

We stopped at Bubby's BBQ for lunch.  The kids got their own table.

The Bubby's Bear. High five.

At the store next door.

Boink.

It was a super fun trip with fun friends.  Olivia keeps telling me she wants to go over to Eliza's house and see her again.  Maybe another camping trip?????

Memorial Day

We remembered.  And we are very thankful to all who have served and are serving our country...Gramp!...Grandpa!...Uncle Will!...  

Cute story: I was telling I&O about Memorial Day saying something like we remember all those who have died before us to help make us free. Olivia says: Jesus died to make us free. Then Isaac pipes up and says: Adam died before us.  Well, neither one were wrong!

We spent the day at G&G's house. Isaac & Olivia got to stay the night with them by themselves and went to Dollywood the next day.

 Boat (it has a little motor now so it's not as tiring on the arms!) and swimming in the pond.

Of course.

 G&G get away too!

 I thought this was sweet.  They really do help each other out a lot. 

 The pinwheels were a hit!

 So was the pool.

 Elias loves having a bath outside that he can play in without having to be told it's time to get out.

 Thanks for all the fun & food G&G!!

 J is at it again.  He's so handy!

 We have been introducing the kids to the "cool" cartoons through you tube.  They include: flinestones, road runner, bugs bunny, superman/spiderman/batman, muppet babies, ninja turtles, and the one they are watching is pink panther.