Camping at Pymatuning State Park

This past weekend we went camping with three other families in our ward at Pymatuning State Park. We were all so excited to go as we planned meals and packed our gear only to find out the forecast had changed to a high percentage of rain the entire weekend we were expected to be there :( Nonetheless, we thought we'll grin and bare it and we did and it actually ended up being a lot of fun! And that statement is coming from an almost-six-months-pregnant-camper-who-slept-in-a-tent-for-two-nights-in-the-rain-and-chilly-weather too so that says a lot!

The kids were such troopers too. By the end of the weekend a couple of them had blisters on their feet from walking around in soaking wet shoes all weekend which couldn't be helped since the rain was continuous! Us mom's dried the kids shoes numerous times under the hand blower at the shower house just to give them a couple minutes of dried shoes. If that's not roughing it, I don't know what is!

The first night we arrived, the weather was beautiful and dry so we started a campfire and made s'mores and talked till midnight.

Daddy took the Godfrey's little girl, Anna and Syd on a walk to the lake to keep them happy and occupied.
The kids loved exploring and playing together. Here's Hallie with her friend Karen.

Then at 2am, the rain started and didn't stop until 48 hours later. Luckily it was spurts of light rain here and there, but soon after the rain started, one of the Dad's realized we better make a covering with tarps so we can eat and play without getting soaked. So up went our "Tent City" which is what the Dad's called it and they're so proud of their little city they made. And every couple hours they added another tarp to make our tent city a little bigger.

Luckily everyone brought extra tarps to make our tent city possible. We put three picnic tables under it for cooking and eating and then we set up an extra tent for the kids to sit in and watch movies or play games, or paint nails. Rebecca brought nail polish that entertained the girls (and even some of the boys!) for a little while.

Then the kids got ancy and just went for the mud and puddles!? It was inevitable.

The rain made the adults a little crazy too. After a faithful effort in trying to find the missing part to Anna's carseat, Tiffany gave up and threw it out... we all thought it was a pretty funny moment and don't worry, she had a backup carseat for the way home.

Before heading home on our last day of camping, we drove to Pennsylvania to see the Spillway which is known for ducks literally walking on water because there are so many carpe fish in the water.
I didn't believe it till I saw it! There are so many fish in the water that some of the fish just lay on top of the others until there's room for the fish to slide back down in the water. It was unbelievable!
We bought some loaves of bread so the kids could feed these ugly fish and ducks and they thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Here's all the families we went camping with at the spillway: The Green's, the Godfrey's, us and the Thornton's.
Before heading home, we treated ourselves to a warm meal at a local pizza place yum:) Then we got home and we all crashed from pure exhaustion! Overall it was a fun weekend :)

Avery's Summer Party

Cam's work is so great at throwing a lot of family-centered activities or parties throughout the year for various things like holidays or just because like this one. Avery threw a BBQ party for all its employees and their families a couple weekends ago with a BBQ'd lunch, games, music, and every bounce house-type activity known to man for the kiddos to play on. It was so much fun! We met up with another family in our ward who also works at Avery, the Godfrey's, and our kids seem to get along so well. Here's Hallie with her friend, C.J.

After we ate, the kids got in line for face painting. Syd knew exactly what she wanted so it didn't phase her that a clown with bright orange hair and a painted face was about to paint her face, she just sat down and said, "I want a pink kitty." So the clown continued to show her some pictures of what she wanted and Sydnee said, "No, just a pink kitty!" Hallie on the other hand was a little more apprehensive about telling a clown what to paint but their faces turned out so cute!


Syd got her pink kitty...and Hallie got her blue butterfly...

Hallie and C.J. sport their painted faces and C.J.'s monkey-in-a-tree balloon...


They also had a kid-friendly bungy jumping activity that Syd was even tall enough to do.


Syd made Dad do most of the jumping for her, but at least she wasn't left out of the fun; although her expression says she probably wouldn't have minded being left out of this one...

It's a...

Before spilling the beans... here's my prego belly at 20 weeks but who's counting?


Okay now back to our news. It's a....


BOY! That's right, Cam finally gets his boy! We are so thrilled, I cried when I found out (happy tears!) I'm just so excited to have something different than a girl, hopefully he will be more laid back, a better sleeper and not as emotional as our girls are, but even if he is, we have lots of love to give him! Here's proof he's a boy and he has no problem of showing himself either! These pictures aren't the best since it's taken from my phone, but in the top right corner, are his legs and his little winky (to be modest). We almost didn't get to see what he was since he slept through the ultrasound, so the doctor was finally able to wake him up after shaking my tummy and he turned just in time for the doc to get the perfect shot of him.

Here's his head and his big tummy. And just like our other two, this baby loves his arm over his forehead when he sleeps... what is with that position while they're in my stomach? How funny.


We also were able to see his face profile, he didn't like showing us his face at all, so the quick picture we got was a cute one, it looks kind of chubby with a short button nose, he looked so cute! The girls are excited to have a boy too, even Hallie has been saying it'd be fun to have a boy, so off to the store to stock up on boy clothes. This is such foreign territory to me I don't even know where to begin!?

Syd turns 3!

Sydnee turned 3 a couple weeks ago and all she wanted for her birthday was "a big pink cake with pink ice cream" so that's what she got! It was such a beautiful day so Cam barbequed and we ate on our deck which we LOVE having in this new house. Sydnee got lots of birthday phone calls, which made her day. Happy Birthday baby girl!


Make a wish and blooooowwww.... After she blew out her candle, she looked at Cam and I and said, "K, where's my plate!?" She's a girl who knows what she wants. Things I love about Syd at this age: she's a big tease, loves being the center of attention, loves to give kisses and still tells me "I love you" when she leaves the room, her best friend is her big sister and I love her little "Elmo" voice as her G&G call it. She's quite the little stinker, but she's still so tiny and small weighing only 22 pounds, that I just can't stay mad at her. We love you Syd!


Hallie got her a train set which is PINK which Syd loves playing with.


Grandma Voge sent Sydnee a dress-up gown and a pretty bracelet.

G&G Drake sent Syd a play pen and sippy cup for her baby doll. The perfect thing for a little mommy in training.

Cam and I got her clothes and a tricycle... there's no picture because she literally took off riding it as soon as Cam put it together, so needless to say, she likes it.