Our old standby!

There I was, sitting on the couch watching kids' TV (PBS) when an ad for OAKS PARK comes on! I sat and thought a moment about what day it was, and when I realized it was Toddler Time Wednesday, I shot off the couch and sent the kids to wake up their Dad! We were goin' to OAKS Park! Sadly, we didn't get there as it opened, so we had to wait in that loooooooooooong line for awhile, but then we hit the first ride we saw...the Tilt-a-whirl! With Brian on one side and me on the other, we really did have that thing whirling around and around and around...

Here's proof! The kids are holding on for dear life while Brian and I are trying to keep it whirling!

Next, Cait-o and Cody hit the "big slide" with Brian.

Get ready...

Go! (I'm not sure but it doesn't look like Brian and Cody are all the way on the rug like they're supposed to be???)

Caitlin is now brave enough to go on that mini roller coaster. I think it is quite bumpy and jarring, but I'm always willing to have a ride on a roller coaster.

Here's Cody ready to roll on the roller coaster with arms raised. (It took Caitlin until almost age 5 to finally get up the nerve to ride this again, but Codes seems born for adventure.)

Caitlin has always loved this frog hopper. Look how big she seems sitting in the middle seat! Cody is over on the far (stage) left.

Up, up and away!

The lines were rather long when we were there, so we hit this airplane ride since it had a shorter line. Caitlin kept aiming at me.

Doesn't she look like she belongs in some tough girl movie?

Me and Codes - hanging out.

The second time around on the roller coaster, Caitlin wanted to ride with her Dad in the "pink" car. Cody and I were right behind in our favorite color "blue" car.

The final picture...good ole' Chipper, the chipmunk. The kids thought he/she looked awfully cuddly, but weren't sure how to go about getting a hug. They settled for a paw rub instead.

CAMPING TRIP!!!!

This was our first (of many) camping trip! We got to go with our family of campers - John & Brenda, Josiah, Sam, Caleb, Lee & Claudia (John's parents), Uncle Deacon & Aunt Hilary with Mackenzie. It was loads of fun! This is John cooking some kielbasa on night #1. Don't you love his new grill?

Here's Codes taking a brief moment to get off his bike and play with the toy cars we brought for him. That kid acted like the bike was just an extension of him.

Here he asked Uncle Deacon to "ride with me." He scooted up on his bike and told Deacon to get on with him. It was very cute.

Cait-o couldn't get enough of her bike either. Here she is taking a bike ride with Caleb. Caleb, by the way, was a star and was always up for taking his cousins for a bike ride. (So were Josiah and Sam! Thanks you guys!)

Here's Cody - tearing it up on the road. Next time we will probably try to find a camp site in the back part of the park. We were right near the exit so every few moments someone was driving out of the park. It was a little scary with our two munchkins.

Here's the gang hanging out. We finally had to put Abby in the camper. If you know Abby, you know that she barks at EVERY LITTLE THING. We even got a complaint about her. Doggone dog.

Here's Cody on our bed. We found out on this trip, that what we thought were queen sized pop-outs were actually KING SIZED. It was a wonderful discovery (except that the fitted sheets I brought were only queen sized). I had to go buy some king sized ones because our mattress pad covers are not exactly soft and comfy.

Here's Caitlin getting comfortable with her pets. She had a really great time and did NOT want to leave. (Of course she always wants to stay "one more night" regardless of where we go. She's probably going to have wanderlust like her Mom did - and still does.)

Here's me roasting a twinkie. This wasn't the amazing treat I had hoped, but I think once you pass the age of 20, you might not like twinkies in the same way you once did. I am a s'mores girl down to my core!

Here's the back side of the camping trailer. It was SO much nicer than having a tent. We also got to bike ride around a bit and walk down to the lake. All in all it was a fabulous trip and we are eager to go camping again!

Rare indeed!

With Brian mainly working swing shift, and me mainly working days, we don't get too many of the family dinner nights. When we do, it is a rare treat for us! Even though the weather has not been cooperating as of late, we still managed to eat outside (a bit chilly, but warm enough for us to last the 20 minutes it took to eat everything). Here's Cody eating his new found favorite "bone chicken." He really enjoys the chicken with my parents old sauce standby...

I LOVE this stuff. Store brand barbeque sauce just doesn't seem the same. This is simply Hunts tomato sauce, some olive oil, some balsamic and a little bit of Lawry's season salt.

Here's my little Caitlin, who is not fond of anything tomato based (don't ask me why...makes me wonder if she's mine). She does love these new tortellini pasta we found at Costco. It is quite tasty. Brian has to bribe her to eat the chicken. Seems she thinks the only kind of "good=delicious" chicken is the rotisserie kind. (She would have loved Boston Market.)