Our First Camping Trip

The day after school ended, we took our first family camping trip to Hickory Hills in Bath, NY (not too far, just in case children didn't cooperate). We went with our good friends Jenn, Sam, Grace and Alex. They have a really nice motor home that we all used, and then at night, some us of slept in a tent (really cool when you're a kid!).

When we first got there, I sent the kids out to look for 4 leaf clovers (figuring it would keep them busy for a while as we set up)...sure enough, about 10 minutes later, Miss Natalie had found one!!! I can never find them...it must have been good luck, because the weather was nice and we had an amazing time!

Kendall hangin' out on the hammock

Nolan on our picnic table, he was so good and so happy to be there. He was a "happy camper", if you will (we were very proud of him)!

We stayed 2 nights, and even though we were camping, we ate like royalty! We had NY strip steaks and potatoes the 1st night, and awesome BBQ chicken and fruit and potatoes the second night. Of course, we had hotdogs and hamburgers...many other goodies too!

When it started to get dark out, it was time to build a fire (our favorite part of camping we've decided). We made s'mores and sang songs. The kids were getting pretty tired!

Time for goodnight hugs and off to bed. Natalie, Nolan, Mom and Dad slept in the tent.

Kendall slept above the driving part of the motor home with the Nichols family...she loved it!!!

After the kids were down, the adults stayed up and "played" for a little while.

"Two-can Sam"

"Building a fire"

Looks like these girls are ready for bed, goodnight!

The next morning, we headed down to the hobby lobby for crafts. Kendall, Nolan, Natalie, and Grace all made pinwheels.

After crafts, we took a walk to visit the rabbits. The kids loved them.

Disclaimer: Natalie is not drinking coffee, she is holding mine so I could take a picture :)

Photo shoot time!!!!! Natalie and Kendall

Nolan

Grace

Sara (mom) and Jenn (mom)

Sam (dad)

Time for a walk!!! We took many walks, but this particular walk was to take a wagon ride. Natalie pushed Grace and Kendall pushed Alex (with some help).

The wagon ride was really fun. It took us around the campground. Scamper the camper (a squirrel mascot for the campgroud) even rode the wagon, we sat right next to him!

We got a pretty decent family pic...considering we were camping!

The Nichols family...all ready to go swimming after our ride

Time to swim!!!!!

More campfire time, this night with glow ring pops!!! How fun :)

The next day was the day we left. Daddy played monkey in the middle (notice the monkey has the ball).

We hung our for a while and then, it was time to go. We are going to try to go again before the summer is done, it was a perfect trip with GREAT friends.

Another exciting part of camping: our nephew (Jenn is Dennis's sister), Owen Richard was born!

What a great weekend!!!

Father's Day

We had a very fun and busy day on Father's Day this year! We went over to Grandma Cruise's house and played with Daddy. Andrew came over too! We are very lucky to have such a good Daddy in our family.

After we played and ate some pizza, it was time for church. Daddy got to go home on watch the race since it was Father's Day. After church, we headed to the cemetery to visit Grandpa Cruise. June 21 is also his birthday. Grandma, Aunt Cassie, and Aunt Shelley had his grave all decorated with balloons and flowers. It looked awesome. Each of the children colored a rock to leave at grandpa's grave. They worked hard and made some really nice rocks.

As you can see, Nolan didn't limit his coloring to only the rock...he colored himself pretty well too!

We had a very nice visit.

When we returned home, it was pretty late. Natalie made Daddy a very nice card. My favorite part was where it said "thank you daddy for teaching me to make a peanut butter open in the palm of my hand"...and "remember when we rode the 4 wheeler together"...so stinkin' sweet!


Kendall learned and sang daddy a Father's Day song. She is singing it to him in this picture.


Nolan gave Daddy big snuggles. He is the best Daddy ever, we love you.
Happy Father's Day!!!

Hillbilly Teeth

Check these goofball out!!!

They're somehow still adorable even with hillbilly teeth!!!

Nolan's Final Birthday Bash

Now that June is coming to an end, we finally are finished celebrating Nolan's 3rd birthday (1 party is just never enough). We went over to Gammy's house for pizza and presents. Aunt Dani and Uncle Chris came, too.

Nolan got many nice gift from Gammy, Great-Grandma, and Gree. He got a big bubble maker, a puzzle, rocket balloons, a rocket launcher, and his favorite: a remote control ATV (4 wheeler). What a hit that present was, I have recharged the batteries 3 times already!

After he opened his gifts, it was time to check some of his new toys out!!! First toy: the ATV!

Everyone had a chance to play with the ATV. It was a really fun toy ( even for the adults).

Next, we tried out Nolan's new rocket launcher (compliments of Gree). What a great toy the rocket launcher was, too! Everyone had a nice time making the rocket blast off. It went really high. You can see it in the picture, it's the blue and red blur in the tree above Dani's head.

Gammy also bought each of the children washcloths. In order to turn them into washcloths, you have to soak them in water.

Ta-Dah! It was a really fun project, thanks Gam!

Time for brownies (still warm)!!!

Happy Birthday Nolan(and yes, now it's really over until next year)!!!