fun night with the family...

We went to the Lewis' farm market last night. They have a petting zoo and some other fun things for the kids to do. Ryan was having a farm withdrawal!!

Anaya was having the time of her life! She LOVES animals!

Look at Anaya climbing up to see the llama! She is fearless! Everyone else backed off a bit when they saw the sign saying "LOOK OUT... I SPIT!" (I guess it could be because she can't read...ignorance is bliss!)

I need one of these at home!!Later, we met some friends for ice cream. Look at all those boys!(There were actually 8, and 1 more who was not there!)Why is it when a small child says something that an adult usually says it is sooo funny. Tonight a blue, rusted out, Chevy truck pulled up near our van in a parking lot and Easton says "That is my dream truck!" I almost died laughing! The guy who was driving the truck heard him and was laughing too! He said that it was a 1982 and belonged to his dad, it hadn't been driven in years, so he put in some new plus and... it runs like a dream!

Here is Easton cracking us up again, only this time he isn't saying something all that nice...but I had to laugh! This slide was at the farm, the boys loved it!

sweetness...

Anaya style! She is actually giving him a hug, although it looks more like a strangle hold! (That is what I want to do to that dog...strangle it! Seriously, have you ever heard a beagle bark?... Annoying!)
This dog however, is sweet and lets Anaya (or anyone for that matter) sit on him. About one second after this picture, she got off, and then Ryan called for Max(the dog)he jumped up so fast. It is a good thing she got off when she did or she would have been taking a ride! The boys thought that would be "saweet!"

Now this is a sweet picture!

Here she is trying to blow the hydrangea. Not sure why, I don't think she knows about blowing dead dandelions? We have done bubbles? I don't know what she was thinking but it was...sweet!

She picked the flower and carried it around all night! So sweet!

Fun in the sun and in the rain...

Fun in the sprinklers...

And fun washing the dog...They were just about done cleaning Max up when...
He rolled! Yep, he was about as dirty when they were done as when they started! But they had fun!

To try to fill their time I printed out a outdoor nature scavenger hunt and sent them out. I grabbed my book and hoped for about a half hour of quiet, but they were back in about 10 minutes with all 20 items! Oh man, next time I will have to find a longer list!!

Later that night the kids decided to make forts to sleep in! Easton went back to his own bed about halfway through the night(smart kid!)

Today it was raining! I got the kids lunch ready and I went in the other room for a minute, when I came out, they were gone! (except for Anaya, she was still in her seat.) I looked and found them outside on the porch! They decided it was a great day for a picnic! A picnic in the rain...crazy kids!

fun with friends...

We were able to spend some time with friends at their cottage recently.

We enjoyed eating "junk" around the campfire...

Ryan and Jayden went tubing, Dylan and Spencer liked kayaking...

and we all enjoyed just hanging out!

Easton and Kiria loved playing on the giant play ground together.

Thanks Elenbaas family for another fun time!

sparklers...

We finally broke open the sparklers we found in the camper. We had a hard time getting them lit at first~who knows how old they were?!? But we finally got most of them to work.
This picture cracked me up, Spencer is not usually my cautious child, yet, he looks a tad freaked out by this new adventure! I am sure we did them before, but I don't think he remembered it!

Dylan giving Jayden a lift to try to fry a little worm they saw dangling from a branch! Luckily for the worm, they were a little on the short side!

Easton enjoyed them, once we explained the fact that ~as long as you hold on to the very end, you won't get burned! He just needed the little safety report first and all was well!

Anaya, on the other hand, was completely freaked out!! Speaking of freaked out...

look what her crazy brothers did to her! The funny thing was that she let them! Believe me, she can certainly hold her own if she wants to. She was enjoying all the attention. They put nearly every bow, headband, and pony tail holder on her as possible! Then they gave her a pacifier they found... she thought she was pretty cool all decked out that way! Crazy kids, they are so much fun!

Our annual 4th of July camping trip...

Anaya and Olivia in their matching hats!

The boys enjoying the beach

All of the kids, just before Jayden fell and took several of them down with him!

Anaya loving Mea.

The giant marshmallows I bought in Mexico were a big hit!

Brayden and Easton being goofy!

Jayden and his walleye and trout. On the way up north he told Ryan that he wanted to catch a keeper walleye, trout, and a pike. Well he got all 3, however the pike got off before he got him in the boat! He was pretty excited!

Dylan and Spencer working on the fire.

Steph on the rip stick, doing a fine job I must say, I can't even get on the dumb thing... (But, she cheats and has Bryce help her get on it...then she's on her own!)

We went camping with my family last week, we had cooler weather, but a lot of fun! Anaya did great, she slept so good and had a blast running around outside all day! It was a much needed time of reconnecting with the family after our trip to Mexico.