Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, September 7, 2008
camping labor day weekend!
we partied with my family on saturday...luke picked tacos for lunch, then presents, playing outside & cake. fun time with family for sure! acquired some hotwheels, clothes, crash n smash stadium & a gecko! (due to allerigies, the doctor said no fur or feathers for pets). Theo is the leopard gecko's name.
then we packed quickly & took off for deam lake state recreation area. not a bad drive south. set up camp as the sun went down. rode bikes, had a fire & off to bed. on sunday, we were joined by the mc clain family. dave & matt have been friends for over 30 years. dave & mary have 2 boys jack (7) and liam(4). jack & luke have the same birthday! they pitched their tent, we had some lunch & everyone headed for the beach. lots of space, nice sand & clearish water. wore the kiddos out for sure. had dinner & hung out around the campfire.
monday we had a tasty breakfast thanks to chef matt. we played at the campsite then rented rowboats to do a little fishing. between the 8 of us: caught 1 fish, 3 little people peed in the woods, tangled 2 lines, lost 1 bobber, and laughed a lot! back to camp for lunch & packing up. headed home.
great weekend! some time to celebrate luke, some time in the woods & some time with friends. good days...
then we packed quickly & took off for deam lake state recreation area. not a bad drive south. set up camp as the sun went down. rode bikes, had a fire & off to bed. on sunday, we were joined by the mc clain family. dave & matt have been friends for over 30 years. dave & mary have 2 boys jack (7) and liam(4). jack & luke have the same birthday! they pitched their tent, we had some lunch & everyone headed for the beach. lots of space, nice sand & clearish water. wore the kiddos out for sure. had dinner & hung out around the campfire.
monday we had a tasty breakfast thanks to chef matt. we played at the campsite then rented rowboats to do a little fishing. between the 8 of us: caught 1 fish, 3 little people peed in the woods, tangled 2 lines, lost 1 bobber, and laughed a lot! back to camp for lunch & packing up. headed home.
great weekend! some time to celebrate luke, some time in the woods & some time with friends. good days...
Monday, August 11, 2008
august 11th...busy day!
august 11th...first day of 3rd grade, first day of kindergarten & matt's 35th birthday! whew!
we sang to matt in the morning, but since none of the rest of us are morning people the real celebration had to wait till we were more awake!
we got rachel off on the bus to the first day of third grade. her teacher is mrs. bousman who is teaching third grade for the first time & also has a 3rd grader of her own. rachel says she is nice.
luke is an afternoon kindergartener. this means we have lunch together and then i take him to school at 12:50 and he rides the bus home. he had a good first day with mrs. moos (pronounces like mows). they read a book that 'i already read this summer' and they 'didn't have recess at all'. but he says he had a good day.
we had watermelon at the bus stop to celebrate the first day of school!
daddy opened presents...
then we loaded up & took dinner to john, jen & kiddos to welcome baby emery.
then we went to golden corral for dinner and all ate too much!
then a game of wii golf. daddy won! i'd say we let him win since it was his birthday, but really he crushed us!
then cookie cake, icecream with whip cream & chocolate syrup...
then baths & now off to bed for all of us!
what a happy day!
we sang to matt in the morning, but since none of the rest of us are morning people the real celebration had to wait till we were more awake!
we got rachel off on the bus to the first day of third grade. her teacher is mrs. bousman who is teaching third grade for the first time & also has a 3rd grader of her own. rachel says she is nice.
luke is an afternoon kindergartener. this means we have lunch together and then i take him to school at 12:50 and he rides the bus home. he had a good first day with mrs. moos (pronounces like mows). they read a book that 'i already read this summer' and they 'didn't have recess at all'. but he says he had a good day.
with his teacher at drop off
getting off the bus
we had watermelon at the bus stop to celebrate the first day of school!
daddy opened presents...
then we loaded up & took dinner to john, jen & kiddos to welcome baby emery.
then we went to golden corral for dinner and all ate too much!
then a game of wii golf. daddy won! i'd say we let him win since it was his birthday, but really he crushed us!
then cookie cake, icecream with whip cream & chocolate syrup...
then baths & now off to bed for all of us!
what a happy day!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
state fair!
had a family day today...thought we'd spend it reclaiming the house, but quickly deduced it was the only day we'd make it to the state fair.
the fair won out! we picked up our free fair train--a benefit of matt working for the town of fishers and headed out on the 2:45 train south.
our first stop was to check out the elephant rides. rachel quickly decided that one loop around a small yard wasn't worth her $6.00(she brought her own money to do something fun). luke decided he did want to spend $4.00 he brought to be a rider on the stock car track. daddy didn't seem to mind spending his money to be the driver. they did great & were one of the better cars on the track. they passed a bunch of other drivers. luke lost his hat and daddy swooped it up a couple of laps later--rachel says only one car ran over it.
we headed on to the little hands on the farm exhibit. basically it seems designed to help city kids understand their food comes from a farm, not the grocery. the kiddos donned aprons & grabbed a bucket.
they collected an egg from the hen house, picked an apple, gathered wool, planted & harvested a vegetable, drove a tractor (pedal powered), milked a cow & took their goods to the market. they earned a dollar to buy something at the 'store'. luke picked a box of frosted flakes & rachel a granola bar. they got a free pioneer seed hat & a college choice backpack. and it was fun.
we checked out some tigers! it was cool. a little scarey to think they were behind just 2 fences, but there were 2 guys in there with them. they would have been an easier meal. good, unexpected show.
we perused the pioneer area, looked at some tractors & visited some friends at the new mac reynolds barn. the barn was just dedicated last week...great place named in honor of a great guy. we caught dan eating ice cream & toney sitting around. mike was working. rachel got a $5 tee shirt!
off to find some dinner with stops at the ffa building for putt putt & a couple other stops. rachel ate a gigantic 'small' corndog, luke a hotdog & burgers for the grownups. we shared some fries & cooled off in the shade. we headed out for more fun at the fair. we saw some 4H projects, milt by some trees, & more. we wandered over to the animal barns to finish out our day. cows, goats, sheep, pigs (& piglets), and rachel's favorite--horses! it was time to catch the 8:00 train home.
no super junky fair food, but a fun tiring day nonetheless.
about the quickest the little people have gone to sleep all summer. good family day!
the fair won out! we picked up our free fair train--a benefit of matt working for the town of fishers and headed out on the 2:45 train south.
our first stop was to check out the elephant rides. rachel quickly decided that one loop around a small yard wasn't worth her $6.00(she brought her own money to do something fun). luke decided he did want to spend $4.00 he brought to be a rider on the stock car track. daddy didn't seem to mind spending his money to be the driver. they did great & were one of the better cars on the track. they passed a bunch of other drivers. luke lost his hat and daddy swooped it up a couple of laps later--rachel says only one car ran over it.
we headed on to the little hands on the farm exhibit. basically it seems designed to help city kids understand their food comes from a farm, not the grocery. the kiddos donned aprons & grabbed a bucket.
they collected an egg from the hen house, picked an apple, gathered wool, planted & harvested a vegetable, drove a tractor (pedal powered), milked a cow & took their goods to the market. they earned a dollar to buy something at the 'store'. luke picked a box of frosted flakes & rachel a granola bar. they got a free pioneer seed hat & a college choice backpack. and it was fun.
we checked out some tigers! it was cool. a little scarey to think they were behind just 2 fences, but there were 2 guys in there with them. they would have been an easier meal. good, unexpected show.
we perused the pioneer area, looked at some tractors & visited some friends at the new mac reynolds barn. the barn was just dedicated last week...great place named in honor of a great guy. we caught dan eating ice cream & toney sitting around. mike was working. rachel got a $5 tee shirt!
off to find some dinner with stops at the ffa building for putt putt & a couple other stops. rachel ate a gigantic 'small' corndog, luke a hotdog & burgers for the grownups. we shared some fries & cooled off in the shade. we headed out for more fun at the fair. we saw some 4H projects, milt by some trees, & more. we wandered over to the animal barns to finish out our day. cows, goats, sheep, pigs (& piglets), and rachel's favorite--horses! it was time to catch the 8:00 train home.
no super junky fair food, but a fun tiring day nonetheless.
about the quickest the little people have gone to sleep all summer. good family day!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
day 10
playing in hershey, pennsylvania.
we'd heard that the town smells like chocolate due to some waste product being used for mulch. we didn't smell it.
had a blast at the park. took advantage of the free shuttle & 1 hour early bird pass from the campground.
kiddos hit some fun rides before the entire park opened. the carosel goes 13 miles an hour. sit seemed fast to me! good times. hopefully we get pictures up soon.
luke & rachel rode a BIG roller coaster. they said they wanted to ride it because it was 2 coasters racing each other--thunder & lightening. we rode lightening which won every time! they were scared & screamed from the crest of the first hill. oops! their faces on the picture they take was great, but we opted to not pay ten dollars for it. after about a half hour, rachel decided she would ride another coaster. luke says never again in his life.
we played at the boardwalk--the water park. it has a fun play place with body slides. matt & rachel rode a big slide on a double innertube. there is a kid wave pool that only is about 3 feet deep, but had some good waves. matt, rachel & luke also did the wave runner. it's a simulation wave ride--almost like a halfpipe with water rushing up. you dive in on a boogie board & ride the wave. rachel & luke went at the same time which made it hard to watch & take pictures. rachel rode the wave off the side & had to restart. for some reason, she climbed on the board backwards & rode the rest of the time facing up rather than down--we didn't see anyone else ride this way. luke had a momentary look of fear & then huge smiles the whole time. you're supposed to ride for 45 seconds. at the end of their time the guards & ride operator are all blowing their whistles for them to go off to the side, but they couldn't figure out how to get there & they weren't wiping out. they finally turned the water off--something else we never saw happen. they were embarrassed, but did GREAT! very fun.
we trekked back to camp for dinner. a quick meal & rest then back to the park.
matt & luke went to the 'really big 3d movie'. rachel & mama rode the comet, a smaller coaster. then we rode a couple of rides we liked earlier in the day as well as the monorail that takes you around the park & out to see the hershey factory.
home & to sleep rather quickly!
tomorrow is our long drive home.
blessings,
liz
we'd heard that the town smells like chocolate due to some waste product being used for mulch. we didn't smell it.
had a blast at the park. took advantage of the free shuttle & 1 hour early bird pass from the campground.
kiddos hit some fun rides before the entire park opened. the carosel goes 13 miles an hour. sit seemed fast to me! good times. hopefully we get pictures up soon.
luke & rachel rode a BIG roller coaster. they said they wanted to ride it because it was 2 coasters racing each other--thunder & lightening. we rode lightening which won every time! they were scared & screamed from the crest of the first hill. oops! their faces on the picture they take was great, but we opted to not pay ten dollars for it. after about a half hour, rachel decided she would ride another coaster. luke says never again in his life.
we played at the boardwalk--the water park. it has a fun play place with body slides. matt & rachel rode a big slide on a double innertube. there is a kid wave pool that only is about 3 feet deep, but had some good waves. matt, rachel & luke also did the wave runner. it's a simulation wave ride--almost like a halfpipe with water rushing up. you dive in on a boogie board & ride the wave. rachel & luke went at the same time which made it hard to watch & take pictures. rachel rode the wave off the side & had to restart. for some reason, she climbed on the board backwards & rode the rest of the time facing up rather than down--we didn't see anyone else ride this way. luke had a momentary look of fear & then huge smiles the whole time. you're supposed to ride for 45 seconds. at the end of their time the guards & ride operator are all blowing their whistles for them to go off to the side, but they couldn't figure out how to get there & they weren't wiping out. they finally turned the water off--something else we never saw happen. they were embarrassed, but did GREAT! very fun.
we trekked back to camp for dinner. a quick meal & rest then back to the park.
matt & luke went to the 'really big 3d movie'. rachel & mama rode the comet, a smaller coaster. then we rode a couple of rides we liked earlier in the day as well as the monorail that takes you around the park & out to see the hershey factory.
home & to sleep rather quickly!
tomorrow is our long drive home.
blessings,
liz
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Day 9 CT to PA
The theory is that Hilary is OK...we believe that the service engine light yesterday was due to the gas cap being not tight enough. Go figure!
Today's trip smooth. We picked up a CT and a NJ geocache along the way--both WalMart parking lot park & grabs.
We arrived at Hershey Meadow campground at 6:01pm. Time for dinner and a swim. We had a fire & naturally that included s'mores. We visited with a nice family from Greencastle, PA. Rachel is hoping to be penpals with their daughter.
Tomorrow we are headed to HersheyPark for some amusement. The boy is greatly anticipating the tour of how chocolate is made & the sample that comes at the end. The girl is wild about spending time at the waterpark and says she'll try a roller coaster with mama and the ferris wheel with daddy(cause mama won't do the wheel!)
blessings,
the simmonds family
Today's trip smooth. We picked up a CT and a NJ geocache along the way--both WalMart parking lot park & grabs.
We arrived at Hershey Meadow campground at 6:01pm. Time for dinner and a swim. We had a fire & naturally that included s'mores. We visited with a nice family from Greencastle, PA. Rachel is hoping to be penpals with their daughter.
Tomorrow we are headed to HersheyPark for some amusement. The boy is greatly anticipating the tour of how chocolate is made & the sample that comes at the end. The girl is wild about spending time at the waterpark and says she'll try a roller coaster with mama and the ferris wheel with daddy(cause mama won't do the wheel!)
blessings,
the simmonds family
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