JaSoN's B-dAy!

We surprised Jason today by going on a fun overnight camping trip up to North Fork to celebrate his birthday, our first time taking the trailer out this year. Our plan was simple but fun. Jason was a good sport and did most of the work as usual even though it was his b-day. Korbin found a new job on this trip...

he has the skinniest arms ever.

An unexpected highlight of the day was a hike up to a waterfall.

A short hike but definitely steep. We're troopers so we made it.

After our hike we ate yummy plain Oscar Meyer cheese dogs with chips and drinks for dinner. Way low key food for this trip. For our next trip I want to up scale to hobo dinners. Even though I want simple camping trips I need to maybe plan things out a little bit better so we don't forget little things like can openers, condiments and pocket knifes. I can't complain to much Korbin's camp Kielsel pocket knife he had on him saved the day.

For dessert we tried to make one of Dena's dutch oven cakes. It was ok but it just didn't taste as good as hers. The kids tried to let me down easy by letting me know Aunt Dena has more practice.

Jason seems to be enjoying his b-day cake and having fun so all in all it was a great day for all of us. Happy Birthday Dad! We love you!

Fort Buenaventura

Last weekend we took the kids to Fort Buenaventura. I've wanted to go canoeing there for a long time and we finally did it. We asked Grandma E if she wanted to come along, she was thrilled to be invited and was able to bring most of the cousins along. We missed Colton by a little bit(he's an uncle to our kids but a cousin to the other kids). Have I mentioned Jason is getting a new baby brother or sister! The kids had fun playing and rowing with their cousin and exploring a new place. Afterwards Grandma E invited all the grandkids for pizza at a yummy new restaurant. That place is a keeper for a future date night with Jason.

The girls in one canoe. Maddie,Emery,Kennedy and Grandma in the back.

Grandma and Kennedy.

Korbin in one of the canoes with Jason and Jake.

Jake and Korbin are about the same age and enjoy a lot of the same things.

Kenzie and Cooper. These two stick together for the most part. Madison always looks up to Kenzie. Kenzie is a wonderful cousin to Maddie. She helps Maddie do tumbling stuff.

Day Camp

Korbin attended his first day camp at Camp Kiesel today. I'm happy that I was able to go with him on his first year. He did a great job with all of the different activities he had to do. He passed off so much while having a lot of fun with his buddies.

The first stop was the trading post. Like we really don't have enough stuff to clean up and keep track of already. Now we have added a pocket knife to our 'enough stuff already pile'. The pleasures of being a parent. Afterwards we headed to the obstacle course.

Once I got Korbin the right size of safety glasses he was able to use his slingshot right and was able to hit some targets.

The B.B. Guns were a lot for all of us. The kids loved it and even the leaders had a go at it. The camp leader over the B.B. guns was great. He knew his stuff and fit the part perfectly. Korbin hit a few targets and so did I.

Next we headed to the Archery range. Korbin struggled a bit by himself at first, stretching that bow is hard work, so after a little bit one of the leaders helped him out. He hit the target right in the middle.

After the Archery range we were ready to have some lunch.

Korbin and Conner. Each one of the scouts made a unique arrowhead necklace.

After a nature walk among different plants (some poisonous, I heard about them but I didn't actually see any of them,I was towards the back of our group)our last stop of the day was the Canoes. I got stuck doing a lot of rowing because I sat on the back and also got drench.

After we finished our last activity, some of the boys got thrown into the lake. Surprisingly Korbin volunteered himself as well. I was very happy he did it. He's coming out of his quiet shy shell.

I really like the picture below even though I didn't get Korbin centered and it's blurry but I still see a great smile so it's a keeper.

Cousins weekend

Early Friday morning the weekend ahead looked not a very exiting weekend with just a few things to do but by Sunday night I couldn't believe all the fun things we had done and how busy we stayed the whole time. Friday morning we found out Cooper was in town and also that all the cousins wanted to go to the pool. Grandma E got all the grandkids pool passes to their country club again this year so we all meet there and played in the pool. It's nice not having a handful of rules to follow at a pool.

After the pool we had to race home. Jason took Korbin golfing for the first time. He's finally old enough to go. He had a great time hanging out with his dad. Maddie and I had a girls night out too. I shared one of my birthday gifts with her that I've been saving for a special treat. We both had pedicures done.

Saturday Morning we woke up extra early to go on a hike. We went to a waterfall. The Eckardt kids are real troopers. We didn't hear one complain the whole time.

The kids found some gold on some rocks in the creek. They we're so exited, most of the way back down the mountain I could hear Jake and Korbin talking about all the things they wanted to buy with their new found treasure. I was impressed by how many rocks they carried back down with them.

Madison,Jake,Korbin, Kenzie and Cooper

After our hike we had lunch at Grandma's E and let the kids play for a few hours together. Grandma E is a wonderful cook.

4th of July

We had a fun fourth of July hanging out and relaxing around our neighborhood. We started our day by going to the Cherry Days parade. The kids loaded up with candy again.

Korbin was thrown an extra bonus this year. A stuffed dog. It made his day.

After the parade we went to a local park to watch a baseball game, jump on some inflatables toys and shop some local booths.

After a a quick afternoon BBQ a few games of Bocce ball and Croquet it was finally dark enough for us to walk over to see the fireworks!

Pies

I'm hitting a blogging slump. My new goal is to set aside time for at least one post per week. Life just keeps getting crazier and crazier and busier and busier. Blogging has been an absolutely fabulous way of keeping a family journal so I want to keep it up. If you see me slaking please e-mail and complain. I might need the peer pressure.

pies...pies...pies.....

For a long time now Jason has wanted a Strawberry Rubard pie. His great grandma made it once and he fell in love with rubard years and years ago, before 1998. To make a long story short I finally made my first Rubard Strawberry pie last week. I made it and Jason loved it. He was eating it straight from the pie tin after his first slice. The kids and I have learned we're not rubard fans. Maybe it will grow on us after trying it a dozen times.

After the rubbard pie I needed some peach in me. The plan for today was to make 2 peach pies. Fast and easy and have them ready by 3. A pie for us and one for the Lucena's (they just had baby#4). The pies weren't ready until 5:30 and I didn't make them. Maddie and Marina both made a peach pie each. I only helped the girls by giving them the right measuring cups/spoons and letting them know what ingredients to use, chopping up the peaches, and adding water to the dough. It was hard to just let them go. They added two extra ingredients(that I noticed). A half bottle of cinnamon (Maddie) and sneezing into the filling (Marina). I couldn't help but laugh, I'm sure the laughter was a side effect of me not trying to be a little grossed out. They we're so happy and exited it was worth the extra germs and cinnamon taste. It was a great self esteem buster for the girls. Maddie had a few slices for dessert, she didn't stop until her tummy hurt. It was great!