Crouton without the "u"

On Sunday after church we hit the road to look for campgrounds we could stay at in the future (because we have an amazing tent now)! :-)  While out and about, we stumbled upon "Croton Dam" and enjoyed the opportunity to have a quick little family adventure - and history lesson too!

Camping out in our own backyard

We finally opened up the tent g'pa and g'ma Sovilla got us for Christmas (thanks!)  We thought we'd do a test run of tent camping before we actually venture out onto a campground.  You could hardly say we roughed it - the house was only 100 feet away and we slept on air mattress.  Nevertheless, it was a new and somewhat outdoorsy experience for all of us.  First time any of our kiddos slept in a tent.  Micah noticed right away that it was "loud" - the crickets, toads, and other nocturnal creatures are mighty vocal in our neighborhood.  Scotty and I noticed right away that none of the kiddos could fall asleep until the sun set.  And we weren't fooled - you could tell we were still in suburbia, because I woke up a couple times to the sound of someone drag racing down a main street a couple blocks away!   

Wow - it's going to be a big tent!

Reading up on the set-up.

Watching the set-up while eating snack.

Hammering in stakes.

Spring loaded poles are fun to assemble.

First time in - loads of smiles, lots of fun.

Loving it too - first time in (after nap).

Found a hiding place once the air mattresses went up.

Fun place to just "chill out."

Taking "friends" to the tent to sleep.

Joy's "new bed" (just bought the air mattress at Meijer that day).

An escapee!

Though we did get our escapee back into the tent for the night, he woke up to the drag racing just shy of 6am, and he started talking and bouncing against his pack-n-play, making an awful racket.  He and I slipped into the house so as not to wake up the others and finished our sleeping indoors.  Daddy and the older two came in a couple hours later, having "roughed it" all night long!  Scotty told me when Joy woke up the first thing she did was take in a deep breath and say, "Thanks for the new bed, daddy!!" 

We love our neighborhood park!!

Just being :-)

The end of July and the beginning of August have been about just being together - enjoying summer days, doing some light schooling, knitting, watching the kiddos continue to grow and develop, enjoying Bible study with some fellow mommies, Scotty getting reinvigorated for another app...life is good, God is so kind to our little family.

We've got a climber!

Tending tomatoes - we've already harvested 6!

Joy's new favorite pastime - riding her trike.

Noah's first ride on the Gator.

Practicing balance...

...at the children's museum.

Noah's favorite pastime. ;-)

Sporting the new scarf she asked mommy to knit for her (how could I refuse)?

RC toy time.

Bike and trike race time (Micah won).

Playdough!

Micah wanted to learn knitting too. :-)

Same Boat, New Pond

We took Micah's RC motorboat out for another spin today.  Since Papa and Mama's pond belongs to the new homeowners, we headed over to a small body of water off a nearby walking trail close to our house.  As the older ones handled the remote, Noah was glued to the speedboat's every move. :-)

What a Lovely Start to July

Last week was jam-packed with lots to do and celebrate - anniversary, birthday, national holiday, a 4-day weekend with Scotty (woo-hoo!!!).  LOTS to thank God for in regards to family and good times together.  Here are some snapshots from our wonderful "staycation."

7yrs of marriage - enjoyed Olive Garden take-out after the kids went to bed.

Our "baby" is 1yr old!

Oohing and ahhing over some colored smoke balls on the 4th.

Noah observing with his "rabbit" face (scrunched up nose)

Getting a sparkler in before bedtime (in PJs already)!

Ohhing and ahhing over the big and bright ones!

Papa and Mama were here for the night show.

U of N attire Papa flew in with for the tikes :-)

Enjoying the hotel pool where Papa and Mama stayed.

Micah was an absolute fish!

Noah's "rabbit" face yet again. ;-)

Cherry picking on the weekend - YUM!

Joy's rarely made it in the bucket - but straight to her mouth.

About a 1-mile walk to a beach front after cherry-picking.

Hmmm - rabbit or porcupine?

Micah being brave going farther out with daddy.

Joy loved "jumpin' in the lake"

Everyone except Noah got "buried" - Joy was first!

An absolute sand crab by the time we left!

Burying big brother was mighty fun. ;-)