Sunday, July 31, 2011

June- Jumping right into Summer!



We jumped right into summer by going to play groups and on family excursions. We went to the lake, pool, waterpark, mini golf course, temple, and on an ambitious overnight campout in Pennsylvania.


Pirate's Cove Waterpark w/ friends:)


Another fun day at the lake! They look exhausted:)

beach beauty! She always wears her sunglasses upside down!
Princess and Prince Tea Party with PWC's SAHM's
Bug Party @ the Cranes
Nate did pretty good for his first time mini golfing- he could hit the ball fairly straight!


Andrew and Kaitlyn at his Mormon Orchestra concert @ the Temple Visitor's Center


We went on an overnight trip to Pennsylvania and visited with the Amish. On the way, we found a beautiful relaxing park where we had a picnic. That was the most relaxing event we had the whole weekend. The first day, the kids took a buggy ride that was pulled by a small pony. We weren't going to let Kaitlyn do it, but she was pretty insistent and the 11 year old Amish boy who was driving said she would be fine. He was 11 going on 19, I had never seen a more mature 11 year old. He took care of the ponies all by himself. We stopped by an Amish bakery to try some shoe-fly pie, whoopie pies, and homemade rootbeer.

We then went to an Amish farm, saw some goats, chickens, geese, and cows. The farmer told Nate if he layed down and called for the goat Robert that he would come and jump on his back. Nate was very brave and called for Robert. Sure enough, he came and walked on Nate's back! He was very friendly and confident with the animals after that and didn't have a problem catching the chickens in the chicken coop. When we went to milk the cows, Nate thought he would visit the geese. I told him they would bite and to get away from them, but he didn't listen and sure enough one of the geese attacked him. He just got pinched but was pretty traumatized. Right after that incident a big cow came right up to him and licked him on the same leg! He burst out into tears and said he needed new shorts. There was cow drool all over him, so I don't blame him. He was a little more cautious with the animals after that. The farmer let us milk the cows, and let Nate and another boy his age give the new calf a bottle of his mother's milk. That calf was so hungry I had to help Nate hold the bottle or it would have been ripped out of his hands. Quite the experience! Another Mormon family went on the tour with us, so it was fun to meet and talk with them. We got to our campsite a little after 5 and it took us 2 hours to set up our new 10 man tent, put air in the queen and twin mattresses, put up the pack and play, and set up the fire for dinner. We had hotdogs and s'mores and tried to get the kids to sleep but they were overly tired and wired. Not a good combo!







I can't believe he actually held still while the goat was on his back:)
Kaitlyn was imitating Robert the goat!





The next morning we went to the "Day Out with Thomas" event and rode the Strasburg Railroad with the Thomas tank engine. The kids loved it! She kept saying "tains, tains." We took pics with Thomas and Sir Topham hat, rode the mini train, pump car, and let Nate play in the train tent- his dream come true! We were hot and hungry so we went to the Red Caboose for dinner. It was a restaurant inside a train car and we could actually feel when the train went by. It added to the whole experience of the day! The kids were so wiped out that they slept the whole way home. Our first family campout was a success, but Andrew and I were sure tired afterwards.

on the train

I love this pic! He looks so content:)


the push car that we waited in line forever to do!
Nate could have stayed here all day

the huge train inside the Red Caboose gift shop
Nate's "tough" face inside the Red Caboose Restaurant







No comments: