A Few Firsts

Well...we did it! We took a leap and went camping! And I'm relieved to tell you it was lots of fun! Don't get me wrong...I still think camping is a ton of work but the kids had a ball! Ava kept asking if we could stay another night but one night was a good start:)

We went to a nearby state park only 30 minutes away. We found a great spot to pitch our tent...which by the way seemed so much bigger when it was just Matt and I camping:) Yeah..it says it's a 4 man tent but these 2 little ones take up space! We went to a small beach off the lake to play for part of the afternoon. Not the cleanest looking beach but the kids loved playing in the shallow water and in the sand! The pic below is after playing on the beach we realized how full of sand they were...like in every crack and crevice...we rode directly to the shower to wash off. Instead of putting their sandy suits and shoes back on we stuck them back in the bike trailer just wrapped in their towels. They thought that it was so funny! We did smores of course and they slept great!

The other second first for the summer was bowling! We found out kids can bowl free for the summer so we took advantage. Matt and I bowled too which was fun to do together. I wasn't sure if the kids would even be able to pick up the ball but they had a 6lb. ball and they did great. Well...it did take a few minutes for the ball to roll slooooowwwly down the lane:) But, glad to report none got stuck!

Lots of fun memories!!

No Green Thumb Here

If you could see my flower pot sitting on my patio table you'd agree that I really don't have a green thumb. I'm always questioning when to water and how much to water. In fact, Matt came home today from work and the first thing he asked was, "Um, what's with that flower on the table outside?" In other words....you should either help that thing or get rid of it:)

Well, thanks to my parents we planted a few vegetable plants because we have the space in our flower beds to do it. Somehow they are doing great!

Our tomato plants look great...they are loaded already. Due to a very bad wind/thunderstorm last night they were pushed down some but I think they'll be fine. We also have green pepper plants, cucumber and zucchini.
And here is our first cucumber!! We picked it today and the kids thought it was great...oh and they thought it was a pickle:) Looking forward to some fresh veggies!

Summer

I know it's July and I'm just now talking about summer! It feels like in some ways summer has just begun here. This last weekend we were able to get to the fountain/sprinkler at our local outdoor mall. It was alot of fun to see Ava jump right in. Last year she was still a bit fearful. She loved getting wet from head to toe!

Here are a few pics from our 4th of July weekend! The kids actually spend most of the weekend with my parents which was a win all the way around! They love it:) On Monday we took the kids to a nearby town for their parade...I need to make a mental note to not do that one again. There are tons of parades in the area and this one....well it was long but not tons of fun things and very slow.

The kids loved it though....again...it was so good to see Ava's growth from last year:) She no longer threw a fit when she saw people dressed up in character costumes! She didn't love it still but didn't say a word. Way to go Ava! Thanks to my friends who remind me that these things are just a season and they'll be gone before I know it. I wish you could see Coop's face a little better in the picture below...his chin has blue drool running down it:) Yep...he loved it because there was lots of candy involved!!

Hope you enjoyed your 4th and are loving the summer so far!