When We Get Bored...

We get out the pants and get in the tub! My children love to paint themselves and each other. Of course this can only happen in the tub just before taking a bath. They have fun and if I keep them in the tub the cleanup is minimal, so why not?

You would think that they would get cold but they could do this all afternoon!

Pirates!

Some of my nieces and my nephew were in a community play about Pirates. Sydney and Logan really wanted to go and you could get in for half off if you dressed up like a pirate. So, here are our little pirates. Not too bad for just throwing these costumes together at the last minute!

Boating

We were lucky enough to go out for an afternoon/evening on my brother's boat. It has been a really long time since I rode on a boat and we had a great time! I forgot how fun it can be to be on a boat. Ryan (my brother) took us to Colonial Beach and it was just a perfect evening. Heath and I went tubing and we all got out and played in the water for a while. Ryan even took us to a little beach and the children were able to collect a few shells. I only took one picture right after we boarded the boat because I was scared that I would drop the camera overboard or something. Here are the children all ready to go. They were seriously excited to get a chance to ride on a boat. They have been asking constantly when they will be able to ride on it again.

What a perfect day!

Kirtland Days

After we visited most of the church history sites in Kirtland we looked around for some more fun (and free) family activities. Just a few miles away from our hotel we discovered this AMAZING playground. The word amazing is an understatement. I have never been to such a playground. It was ENORMOUS and the kids had a great time! It was broiling hot outside so sadly we were only able to stay there for about an hour. We did get to takes lots of pictures though. Notice all of the flushed cheeks. We went really early in the morning but it was still seriously hot.





























We also spent lots of time at the indoor/outdoor pool at our hotel. I think this was Sydney's favorite part of the whole vacation.












Here the children are sleeping in the hotel. Let me tell you that it is getting tight for all of us to fit in one room! We bought pool floats for Sydney and Logan to sleep on. Thankfully they thought it was fun.


















We also enjoyed eating at Steak N Shake while we were in Ohio (we ate there twice!). We discovered this restaurant when we went to Atlanta and thought it was a great deal. Cheap, but good. The way we like it. Plus they were super kid friendly. Here is Logan enjoying himself while he is waiting for his food! GOOD TIMES!!!

Kirtland, Ohio Trip

We took a short trip to Kirtland Ohio during the beginning of July. We wanted to go somewhere close enough to get to in one day but far away to be new and exciting. I am not sure how, but we decided on Cleveland/Kirtland. Most of our time was spent seeing Church History sites. They were all pretty neat and each held the spirit. Once again I was not the best at taking lots of relevant pictures but hey, at least I took a few.

These pictures were taken in the in Kirtland. This building is where the early saints made Pot Ash to sell. I loved all of the flowers! We Went in several buildings, I really enjoyed the Whitney store and home.

Here are a few pictures of the Kirtland Temple. We took a tour and it was very interesting to see this holy place through the eyes of The Community of Christ.

Sydney took this one:

After we saw the temple we were able to go the Kirtland Stake Center for a play called "This is Kirtland." I thought they did a pretty great job, especially since it was free. It gave lots of history on the early saints in Kirtland and best of all I got to see an old college friend of mine who was in the production.

Kirtland and all of the surrounding church history sites we visited were great. I think we made a great choice for a last minute mini vacation.

Cool Dude!

Logan is a really funny kid and he is adept at getting out of trouble by cracking Heath and I up. We are working on it, but seriously, he is funny!!!! Here is an example of his everyday antics. Just being cool in the car. Man we love that kid!

Pool Party!

We have spent several afternoons this summer at the pool with my sister and her kids. They have a great neighborhood pool and my children love it. Neither of them are good swimmers yet but they still manage to have fun. Frankly, they are a little too brave for my taste since they aren't good swimmers. In fact, Logan had a close call and was rescued by a blessed stranger. That scared me and made me feel like mom of the year. Despite this we still managed to have fun and I was calm and semi-rational most of the time. Here are a few pictures from our pool days:

My sweet little niece, Camille.

Grammy Whispers

When we were at the zoo a few days ago I caught this sweet moment between my mom and Noah! When I was a little girl my mom used to make me laugh by whispering nonsense in my ears. It would almost always tickle and if I didn't laugh right away should would always tell me she loved me in my ear. I loved it and it makes me smile to see her doing the same with my children. So sweet!

The Richmond Zoo

We went on a spur of the moment trip to the Richmond Zoo with my mom. We had a great time and the weather turned out to be ok and not too hot. Even though the zoo is pretty small we loved it. It was just about the right size for our children to walk all around. They also have lots of interactive exhibits. You can even feed a giraffe. How many of you have done that? I'm guessing if you have you probably did it here at the Richmond Zoo. Overall it was a perfect day and Sydney even managed to talk Grammy into paying for her to have a ride on the carousel. So fun!

And just to prove he was there - here is one of Noah: