4th of July Camping

We actually slept in a "cabin" but this camping trip was one of our best ever... it consisted of a little . . .

fire cooking, four wheeler riding, marshmallow roasting, dirt digging, fish catching, rock climbing, lake swimming, dog walking, fire chatting, animal watching, firework watching, out house using, stick collecting, moth swatting, bear looking, fresh air breathing, tree carving, stump sitting, picnicing, delicious food eating and lots of great family bonding time.

Turkey Tracks. . . thanks for your hospitality.

We hope to come back soon.

Fun times visiting

We sure had a wonderful time visiting in Colorado this summer. Just a few little shots of some of our favorite times with Ry & Mels fam. . . . Brooke and Mel canoeing the blue lake

Cam with Mel on our fabulous beach day, so great, the kids didn't want to leave. They had lots of fun building castles in the sand. Too bad the battery died before we could get any great pics of their creations. It was beautiful weather and great company which made for an all around very nice day!

Ryan and Mel introduced us to our very first drive in movie! It was a fun time and we enjoyed the first show a lot. We saw Toy Story 3... which was a great movie. We had fun making lots and lots of popcorn to bring with us. Austin might have eaten a little too much of it, since the evening ended with him puking out the window of the car and begging to go home. :-( Poor guy. We sure had lots of fun anyway though!

Brooke loved looking through the hair books with her "Auntie Watermelon" and coming up with just the perfect style. It was a great little date and she is thrilled with her new hair cut!

Also on the list of fun . . Elitch gardens, trampoline jumping, rock band jamming, hide and seek playing, crazy frog singing, boat building, and lots of quality time with some of our favorite people ever...

Thanks for all the fun Smith Fam, we miss you guys!!

Yes, it was cccccold!

Cold? Nah, you wouldn't think as much, when it's warm outside. We were wearing sunblock. We're from Texas, where it has been BLAZING HOT... so we're not used to mountain lakes. We didn't realize that the water was somewhere around 40 degrees when John dared Austin to swim across.

When he hesitated, the bribery began. $5 . . . " But I don't have a swim suit". . . " go in your underwear" . . . "hmm, ok." . . .he sheepishly strips down, since there were a few other people at the lake. He gets down to his undies and in he steps. He's a confident swimmer, and swims longer lengths than this at swim practice. However, he wasn't quite prepared for the temperature. "It's CCCOLD!!!"

We couldn't have him stop at that point, so the bribe increased, $10 . . . $20. . . $25. and so it went as he hesitatingly made his way further and further into the chilly water.

The dare was one thing, it got him in the water.

But money?

Money drives that boy. He couldn't handle leaving it on the table.

It was much colder than he expected, and he really appreciated the encouraging accompaniment of Uncle Ryan, but in the end... HE DID IT!

Austin and Ryan swam across a 40 degree mountain lake at about 12,000 feet elevation. We were very proud of him for taking on the challenge and conquering it. He was pretty pleased with the accomplishment too. More importantly though, he was excited about earning $25!

He's a good kid that little Austin, and surprises us sometimes with his courage. He took that challenge and it was worth every penny of the money he earned to see him complete it.

It was a great accomplishment.

Way to go ACE & Ryan! We're proud of you!

revisiting the past

On our drive to Colorado we made a familiar stop along the way. I made this drive with my Dad so many times as a kid/teenager going back and forth between parents houses. It really wasn't a novelty for me anymore, since I'd seen it lots of times. It was a whole new experience for the kids and John though, which made it a new experience for me.

It was the perfect stop to get out and enjoy our first taste of fresh, cool air and stretch our legs after a long drive. Everyone enjoyed exploring the visitors center and hiking down into the old volcano. We picked up a few caterpillars and saw a lizard climbing under the rocks, but most of all, we just enjoyed the blue skies and unique scenery along the path.

Even though I had done it many times before, this stop at Mt. Capulin was special. It was really neat to watch my kids discover and enjoy something that brought back memories of my own youth, and to be the parent introducing it, instead of the kid exploring it. We couldn't have chosen a better pit stop!

Hooray for baby #4!

So, I've been off the radar of life, much less blogging, for quite some time now. But, with good reason. I've not been feeling well. I've been busy, working, being mom and then there's the baby....I'm half way done with this pregancy!! It's been a challenging one. I've had my moments of thinking we were CRAZY to add to another child to our family right now.

We found out today that she's a girl & I have to say, I feel so happy! It's the first time this pregnancy that I've felt so excited and happy. I really wanted a sister for my little Brookie and feel so very blessed to have been given this gift. Two girls, two boys. What more could we ask for? It's been a really good day. :-)