Table Rock Vacation

The weekend before Peter's birthday we met up with our really good friends the McBride's for a little relaxing vacation on Table Rock Lake at a little cottage.  I was excited for many reasons but most important to visit and chat and relax.  And that is just what we did!  We got in on a Friday evening during a torrential downpour and fun exploring the cottage and catching up.  The next morning the rain was gone and for the rest of the trip the weather was perfect.  A nice reprieve from the heat of the summer. 

Peter and Cole were like two peas in a pod by the morning and were ready to explore!  Here they are looking out from our patio and seeing who could spit the farthest.

 There was  a huge sand pit with all kinds of things for the kiddos to play on and that is where we headed first.

 And then it was on to the zip line.  The kiddos had SO much fun I just wish I was 10 pounds lighter so I could have enjoyed it as well.  I was so proud of them all for hanging on tight and not falling off!  And they did great at waiting to take their turn.

 After the excitement of the zip line we headed down to the lake.  For a Missouri body of water, this one was really clean which was awesome!   The boys had fun being boys and throwing rocks in the water.

 They got brave and got their feet wet in the water. 

And it wasn't too long after that Peter and Cole were all up to their bellies in it!  They had so much fun digging for shells and jumping in the waves when boats would go by.

 

 Isaac preferred to sit with mom for a while after he took a tumble on the rocks.  And I loved soaking up the not too hot sun.

 A relaxing pic from the cottage of the cute sisters.

 Maren brought some pipe cleaners-and they spent hours twisting them together into odd things.  Who knew they were so entertaining!

 After lunch we headed to the boat dock where they had paddle boats, canoes and kayaks for their visitors to use.  We were either crazy or brave and took both the boys for a ride in the paddle boats.

 They also had this awesome trampoline on the water that we let the kiddos play on for a little bit.  If they were a few years older I wouldn't have been so nervous, but we still had fun.

 Then because we didn't get enough water we headed to their pool to test out the waterslide.  The kids wore the stairs out taking turns on it.  As you can see it was a big hit!  It was the first time I had been in a saltwater swimming pool and I must say I am a huge fan.

 After a yummy dinner and the little ones were asleep we made a campfire and roasted marshmallows and had nutella smores.  Yummy, is all I have to say.  It was Peter's first smores' experience and I think he is hooked.

 Learning the art of marshmallow roasting...and exercise in patience.

 What a perfect way to end a perfect day.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a lot of visitors over Labor Day weekend which was so much fun.  Friday and Saturday Alan's sister and her family stopped in to stay the night on their way up to Iowa.  It was raining which we loved, but was not so good for kiddos to play in the yard so we did bubbles instead with cousins.

 Saturday I watched the kiddos while Erin and Jason went to  the temple.  Once they came back the kiddos had fun playing with Jason.  I think that Jason really enjoyed our little rough and tumble Isaac.

 Later in the evening on Saturday my parents and little sisters came to visit for the rest of the weekend.  The boys had a fun time reading stories with Pa Pa before they had to go to bed.

The boys had so much fun playing with their cousins, even if the girls probably didn't appreciate all of their boy energy!

Handy Peter

So the other day Peter was playing with a few pieces of wood that I had laying around from some little project.  When I asked what he was doing he said he was building, and I said , "Ok, have fun" and he did.  But a little while later, I think out of frustration that he couldn't do much with two pieces of wood, declared that he needed more wood...and a few second later said, "we need to go to Uncle Stan's!"  I just laughed.  He was right.  Uncle Stan has lots of woods scraps and aunt Karen is more than happy to find a home for it.  So that is what we did.  He spend the next day tinkering around with a little hammer, some nails and some scraps of wood.

 (by the way this was in the summer, and it was hot, but for some reason Peter wanted to wear a thick sweater...)

 Isaac enjoyed the fun too but I thought a plastic hammer would be a better idea for him since he has a tendency to hit things he is not supposed to.....

Take me out to the ballgame....

Alan's work has some fun family activities that they sponsor and most of the time we don't go because the kiddos are too small or he is on call.  This time they had tickets to a local minor league baseball game with dinner provided beforehand.  Alan was on call but I thought the boys would like to go and since I had some extra tickets I invited my aunt and uncle to come.  It started raining right as we were parking...which was unexpected since we have been in a drought...but we still had a great time.

 

The ballpark is very family friendly and the rain stopped after we were done with dinner, which was under a tent thankfully, and the boys had a fun time!  They especially loved one of Alan's co worker's children who were boys a few years older...they were in awe! :)