Camping Fun

Well, we did it.  We finally took our first camping trip all by ourselves...just the Webbers.  We have never camped without either my parents or Carey's parents before this summer!  And guess what...we had a great time and managed everything all by ourselves; like real, live grown-up parents!  I was a little nervous, mostly just about food/kitchen stuff.  I've never had to be the one to remember the can opener and cutting board (forgot that one) before!  It all worked out, though, and now we know we can do it:)

We didn't get off to a great start.  I ran the Wharf To Wharf on Sunday morning and then came home and got the last few things ready to go.  Carey and the kids got home from our church's worship gathering and we hit the road.  We made it about 40 seconds before we had to turn around and go home!  Carey is leading worship at a friend's church next weekend and had forgotten that he had to get the songs picked and emailed in before we left.  So, he did that and about an hour later, we hit the road for the second time.  We must have been leaving town at the same time as the other 15,000 people that ran Wharf To Wharf because it took us 35 minutes to get from our house to blue ball park (which is about 4 minutes away).  We stopped there for our first bathroom break!  From there the road was clear and we finally felt like we were on our way.  Unfortunately, we weren't!  We made it a little past the summit and were completely stopped in traffic.  S-T-O-P-P-E-D.  Like, not moving even a little bit.  We started a Tinker Bell movie at that point and our kids watched the entire movie before we even made it to Lexington reservoir.  So, what should have been a 3 1/2 hour trip turned into an almost 6 hour trip!  Oh, and of the two movies that I grabbed for them to watch in the car, only one of the cases actually had a movie in it!

You might think we were all falling apart by the time we got there, but we really weren't (all glory to God)!  Carey dealt nicely with the traffic (we kept saying we were so thankful we didn't have a screaming baby in the car) and the kids really hung in there!  As soon as we got to our camp site our kids made friends and ran off to play and climb rocks, which left Carey and I free to set up camp.  That felt extra glorious because trying to get set up and settled with the kids needing to be entertained or helped is usually the hardest part of camping for me.  We had a great night, roasting marshmallows and watching bats fly and the stars come out.

The next morning we woke up ready for a fun day at the lake.  We ate breakfast (why are camping pancakes so good?), packed up our snacks and floaties and headed out.  As we pulled up to the beach, one of the kids pointed out a sign that said "no dogs beyond this point".  What?  No dogs on the beach?  I had checked the website ahead of time to make sure we could take Banjo with us.  I was kind of freaking out!  Carey went over to the marina/store to ask if there was somewhere on the lake we could have our dog, and I started begging the Lord for ideas.  I figured that maybe we could find someone with a smart phone and check Craigslist for a nearby dog-sitter or something.  Turns out that dogs just have to stay off the main beach at the swimming area (which is a new rule that they really should update on their website).  We found a great little spot off to the side of the marina and had a blast all day long.  We did lots of swimming, floating, snacking and laughing.  At one point, Seth and I got out of the lake and plopped down on a towel on the warm rocks/sand and Seth said "Ahhhh...now this is what camping is all about."

The next day we cleaned up camp and spent about an hour or so at the lake before heading home.  Our trip home was wonderfully uneventful!  We wish we could have stayed longer and can't wait to go back next year:)

My $.79 badmitten set was a big hit!

This awesome fallen tree/secret fort/balance beam was in our campsite!

This sweet girl is always ready to help!

Banjo got a little nervous and climbed up into Carey's arms!

We went on a "hike" part-way around the lake.

Cookies and milk at 9:00 in the morning!

One last look at the lake before we left!

4th Of July

Unlike our summer, the 4th of July did not get off to a good start, but got progressively better as the day went on!  I tried to sneak in a run while the kids were watching cartoons, which usually works out fine.  They know daddy is sleeping so they can get him if they need him, otherwise they just sit and stare at the tv!  For some reason, when I walked back into the house after my run, the majority of my kids were crying and Carey was upset that he had woken up to fighting.  I'm still not sure what happened, but I think it was all about red leggings!  Then Haley didn't want to go to the parade we always go to and Abby was freaking out, because she so looks forward to it (which makes it seem like it's a lot more awesome than it is).  But, the kids and I did manage to make it out the door without anyone in tears and with all the snacks and entertainment that we would need for the two hours that we would wait for the parade to start (gotta get there early to get a good spot)!

I think my kids favorite thing about the parade is that they get to get a doughnut!  And maybe all the dogs!  Once we made it down there, we did have a really good time.  We got to catch up with some dear, special friends, we painted nails, played Uno and saw lots of friends.  Carey made it down shortly before the parade started and Grammie Lori, Uncle Nate and Auntie Melissa came shortly after it started! 

If you only get a doughnut once a year, might as well pick the biggest one, right?!

Our friend Sam came and joined us (and hung out with the kiddos and I while we waited for it to start).

Gotta love the dogs:)

After the parade we went home and played in the pool and lounged around at home!  Later in the afternoon we had a bbq out in the street with our neighbors and had a great time!  The girls were all in bed well before fireworks were happening and thankfully, Banjo was not bothered by them!

This is what happens when we hang out with our neighbors...soda and candy!

Look how fun our neighbors are!

Off To A Good Start...

We are about 3 weeks into summer and school already feels like a very distant memory!  We started the summer off running with Haley and Abby's dance recital the day after school got out and then Vacation Bible Camp for all three kids the following week!  The dance recital was so much fun, as usual.  This year the girls' half-sister, Hannah, came over to help me get their make-up and hair done and then went to the recital with us.

Seth was SO happy to give flowers to his sissies!

 This was the first year that all three kids got to go to Vacation Bible Camp.  Seth has been waiting to be old enough to go for the last couple years and was thrilled to finally get to go.  They all had a great time and are already talking about going back next year!  Oh, one funny thing is that every single morning, other than the first, Seth said "I'm not going to 'cation Bible Camp today" as soon as he woke up, which is only funny because about an hour later he would always change his mind.

First day of VBC with their fun friends, Maizie and Lucy:)

We continued our favorite tradition: strawberry shortcake for dinner on the first day of summer, which seemed extra delicious this year.

Other than that, the kids have been spending a lot of time playing in the pool and playing/fighting with each other. 

One day they had been playing together and came out looking like this!

This was when we were still filling the pool.  As you can see, we have a very attentive lifeguard!