summer time fun with the dad

family came to visit this past weekend. grandma and grandpa and lainakay and her family. grandpa brought his canoe. he's been wanting to do this for a long time. we packed up some food and headed to a park along the river. it was a nice day. the temperature was perfect as we sat and watched the kids dig trenches in the sand and grandpa paddle everyone around in the canoe.

ahhh, summer

a warm summer evening at the fair

(actually, perfect weather for the fair-low humidity, few bugs)

long lines,

funnel cakes & cotton candy

bright lights

fireworks

dizzying rides

music

and

good friends!

*there are no pictures of the boys and dad because for most of the night they wandered off to ride the big rides!-i can't believe my boys have graduated from kiddyland! fun for dad though!

saturday morning trail walk

looking up at the ceiling of the "summer house"

the dad maneuvering the trail with the stroller-i promise, i won't plan a trail walk until thing 4 can ride in the back pack!

back to life, back to reality, back to the here and now.

we are back from 2 full weeks of nothing but fun!! we packed up all 6 of us and flew cross country to visit grandparents and cousins!

the kids had a blast, playing with cousins, swimming, boating, motorcycle riding, playing with fire(only on the 4th of course), playing with cousins some more and swimming some more!
unfortunatly my camera was packed away during most of the fun.

the boys got back together with cousins they know and love.

thing 3 was too little last time to remember anyone so she started brand new friendships with cousins she now, absolutely adores.

while visiting we had a big family reunion with the dad's family on his mothers side. we got to catch up with his cousins and meet spouses we hadn't met and their children. it was tons of fun!

it's good to be home, but i could live on vacation!

let the fun begin!

over the river and through the woods ...

well, we do cross the river and drive through the woods to get there!
anyway, we are heading to grandmas for the week. we are very excited! life has been so busy we haven't been there since december! they have been here and we have gotten together at my brothers but we haven't been able to get there. the things are looking forward to seeing their grandparents and cousins, thing 3 hasn't stopped talking about lainakay's cha-cha since the 4th when she came here. then they are also looking forward to bike rides with grandma and grandpa and frog and turtle hunting with grandpa at the ponds. so much fun. and maybe a break for me. i know i'll be going school shopping-no sales tax in their state and a babysitter!!!! can't beat it! maybe i'll get a bit farther in my harry potter book. i bought it the day it came out but can't find the time to read too much. i fall asleep when i actually sit down by myself like that! i'm sure i'll still be around and blogging but have a great week!

been busy

okay, so quick update as i have been absent for a while.

the 4th wasn't so good-it was rainy and cold! lainakay came up to visit with the kids. that was fun. she stayed till the 5th and that day was really good weather. we took the kids to the local "beach".

then on saturday my mom-in-law arrived. we had a really good time with her here. she wasn't here for long but we all had fun. thing 3 said last night "where's my grammy?" too cute. she is just now old enough to really remember her. the dad took a day off and we all went to a water park.

*****************************the boys at the end of the day

thing 3 sacked out towards the end of the day

******************************************************thing2 coming out of the tube

thing 1 swimming

thanks grandma for a fun day!

back to reality

so we are back from the cape. we had a great time-the things want to move there-can't blame them though. the picture above was a view from the boat on our way out for a whale watch. which was awesome-loved it! it was just amazing to see those awesome animals swimming around and so close to the boat. Thing 1 is an animal lover-always has been so he was really into it. i hope he becomes a whale watch tour guide so i can go whale watching all the time-or i'll just have to buy my own boat so i can sit out there and watch them whenever i want to and not fight the crowds on the boat trying to see!

thing 1 and thing 2 spent most of their time body boarding

thing 3 played in the sand-she didn't like the water

most of the time we found her plowing through the sand with her head-unfortunately we did not get any pictures of this. she was like a little ostrich. we have no idea why she was doing this but she seemed to enjoy it- and then sometimes we would find her with her face pressed into the sand-crazy girl!

the dad had a blast with his snorkle gear he chose for himself for fathers day -he kept bringing us fun treasures off the ocean floor including a huge horseshoe crab! i enjoyed sitting quietly in the sun watching everyone have a good time!

we had a great time-can't wait to go back!