Summer has started

We decided to keep busy this summer. Dylan and Lauren started swim lessons at Happy Hollow pool last week. The week started out sour with thunderstorms on Monday, but luckily the rest of the week was good. It got a little cold on Friday (65 degrees outside of the pool) but the pools are heated and they are kids! Dylan surprises me all the time. He was moved up to the level 1-2 and loves doing what the teachers tell him! He is doing front floats and pushing off the wall to swim to his teachers. It's great!Lauren wasn't too sure about the lessons at first. She is a little shy when she doesn't know the teachers. She has been doing great and shows me the animals that she learns. It's soo cute!
Ricky had a fun project to do for the first time ever...put together a bike. We broke down and bought one for Dylan. He has outgrown the one he used last year and was always wanting to walk because of it. As soon as Ricky had it done, Dylan was off! He rode around the pond 2 times while I walked once! He LOVES it! He was outside riding around the pond again today for over a half an hour. The next step is learning how to ride without the training wheels!
I also took on the task of babysitting from 9-2 everyday. It's just one little boy who's 18 months old (4 months older than Ethan) and I feel like I am at a point in my life where I can handle it. I started last week and things have been great so far. We load up in the car everyday for swim lessons and some days we have little adventures! We made it to the store one day and the park another. The kids do great with him and love him so much.

A camping we will go!

This past weekend, we decided it would be fun to go camping with my parents. I don't even remember the last time I went camping! I know it's been a long time and I used to really enjoy it, so I thought it would be fun! We headed down to McCormick's Creek State Park on Friday afternoon. It should have been a 2 hour drive, but due to some fun circumstances it ended up taking us 3 1/2 hours. I can't believe I forgot the sleeping bags for a camp out! We had to head back home to get them. The kids did great in the car and had a great weekend. We got there around 8:30 pm, but the kids were too excited to go to sleep. The adults hadn't eaten dinner yet, so we made some hamburgers while the kids ran around. Dylan really wanted to make smores, so Ricky got the fire going. Ethan is going to be our little dare devil. He couldn't stay away from the fire. He had to be continually watched at all times. We put the kids to bed in the tent with grandma, and surprisingly enough, they were all asleep in about a half an hour! Ethan even slept on the ground with us! I wasn't sure how the kids would do, but they were excellent! Lauren had a little fever and was coughing, so she woke up twice, but we had a good night sleep otherwise! The adults enjoyed a game of euchre before heading to bed. Saturday started around 6 am when the sun was rising. (That was to be expected with 3 little ones in the same tent!) We made some yummy breakfast over the fire, bacon, scrambled eggs, and potatoes, and then headed out for a hike. I wanted to hike by the water so we could let the kids play in the stream. Apparently a rigid trail is not a good idea with little kids. Ethan was in a backpack carrier, but Lauren was having difficulties. It was a wonderful time, nonetheless. I couldn't have asked for better weather in June! It was around 70 with a low of 50 in the evening! Perfect weather for camping. After the hike, we headed over to the shelter where my mom's company held their picnic (The whole reason for camping there!). Ethan fell asleep in the car on the way over there, a whole half mile drive! We let him sleep while we enjoyed some pulled pork sandwiches. It was really good. We goofed off for a little while and then headed over to the pool. The kids had a blast and it totally wore them out! We left around 5 and the kids slept the whole way home! It was a great weekend of camping and I can't wait to go again soon! Dylan asks me all the time when we are going again! He really likes it a lot.

(Pictures will be coming soon!)