More camping pictures from my friend's cameras

 Around the campfire:

The boys show Lainey a bug:

Participating in various camp activities (laser tag, golf, animal show, wagon ride, & the bounce pillow):

 

Summer Week #1

Our first week of summer was pretty busy, but nice.  The highlights included: a daddy-daughter date to a Nationals game for Liz, a mommy-daughter date to see Beauty and the Beast for Liz, a family outing to see Brave, a family camping trip, dinner guests, and Liz attended a birthday party (while the other girls had a playdate--I know this sounds like Lizzie is only one that girls special attention).

 

The family camping trip was our biggest endeavor last week.  We went to a Jellystone camp which was fun, but hot and really unlike any camping I've ever done before.  The site had a super-chlorinated pool (as in, lots of the group had sore eyes from it), mini golf, paddle boats, playground, laser tag, bounce pillow, and various craft options.

Below Alaina is wearing what suppose she thinks all princesses wear when they camp.

 

 

My kids have never seen the Yogi Bear cartoons but they were still interested in the statues and costume characters.

About the pictures, I left my "good" camera at home and brought my old one (regretted it).  I also didn't realize that there was a smudge on the lens until the end of the trip.  Oh well.  Check at the shot below of Ellie pretending to be a dog.  She does that a lot now--I actually think Lizzie started it--it enduring unless we are in a hurry and she wants to crawl.

 

After camping we headed over to Luray Caverns.  The only other time Drew and I have gone was about ten years ago so it was fun for us and very exciting for the little ones who were experiencing it for the first time.  Lizzie was especially impressed.  She had wanted to go to the caverns, but shortly after we entered them she approached Andrew and I separately to apologize for complaining earlier and thank us for taking her to such a cool place.  Lainey's interest waxed and waned, and by the end of the tour Ellie was asleep on Drew's back.

 

 

 

 

On the way home from the caverns we ate at The Apple House.  It had been recommended by a friend based on the apple donuts, but the barbecue wasn't too bad either.  We actually didn't order any donuts, but Lizzie inadvertently earned us some.  Near the end of our meal she accidentally knocked over her sister's drink.  We gave her a stack of napkins and told her to clean it up.  The waitress saw her wiping up the floor and offered to pay her in donuts.  They were sure tasty.

Hanging Out

I love having a back deck.  That's were the kids do playdough and other messy art projects.  Usually I don't even go out with them because I can see them from the kitchen sink (or I sit just inside the doorway and get some computer time in).  In the shots below the girls had just finished sweeping up rainbow rice spilled from their sensory boxes and decided to use the brooms as horses.  Then, Alaina removed the bristles from hers and said she was a ninja.  .  .  .  And, yes, that is a chip clip in Ellie's hair.  She wears them almost daily. 

 

 

Public Updates

In the interest of catching up our family record of the last few months, here are some updates:

Along with Gabrielle's birthday we celebrated a few others  .  .  . 

The little girls attended Elsa's amazing camping themed party.  It was pretty awesome and you can check it out here and here.  I think Ellie's favorite part has the marshmallow fight--probably because she didn't fight.  She just wandered around, scooped up jumbo marshmallows off the ground, and shoved them in her mouth.  Families were invited to the party, but Liz didn't go because she was at a Girl Scout campfire thing that sounded pretty cool itself.

We went go-carting at my friend, Celia's family-friendly party.  I think the last time I was on a go-cart was in high school and probably on a date.  Incidentally that's one of the things we did on my very first date ever.  So fun.  Drew couldn't make it to the party so I rode with Lainey and Liz rode with a bachelor friend of the birthday girl (which sounded kind of weird when I told Drew about everything, especially when Lizzie starting talking about her friend, Jerry, but really it was all fine).

We had to replace the main water line into our house which was completely unexpected and financially painful. Speaking of spending money, Drew's commuter car died (after we spent a nice chunk of money on it last month).  So, we donated the Altima to Habitat for Humanity and bought a replacement.  We both like the new vehicle a lot better, but we're not loving the expense.  It's affecting our summer travel plans and now I feel bad for signing Lainey for preschool.

We have enjoyed the random weather.  Really, it's been pretty mild and pleasant until, oh, yesterday.

 Lizzie finished 3rd grade with a bang.  In her last week she competed in Battle of the Books, passed out teacher gifts (the owls below contain candy, a thank you note from Liz, and a gift card), and performed in the school talent show. Liz gave gifts to seven of her teachers and she made each note unique telling one teacher that she was pretty, another that it was good he that he was strict with the students.

We turned Ellie's carseat around (and I later realized that she was supposed to face backwards till three--oops) and placed her next to Lainey.  Sometimes they play nicely together, but every car ride they fight.  It gets loud and having them in the very back seats is only a marginal improvement on the noise.  Seriously, why don't mini-vans have an optional glass partition that you can raise and lower like in limousines?!

Oh, and Liz taught the girls taught the girls how to suck honey suckle.  In all it's a nice few months.