How we spent our summer vacation.....

We kicked off the summer with a super fun camping trip! We went to Cove Creek, a campground right on Detroit Lake with Liz's brother & his family. It was a nice place to stay...not too many other campers there which made it pretty peaceful. 

(Although we did have a "dog attack" incident while we were there... 

a fellow campers dog was on the loose when we walked by & it felt the need to run full speed ahead barking like crazy right towards Madi....Using her cat-like reflexes Liz was able to shield Madi from the incoming dog just in time... It bounced off her hip & by then the owners were there to grab him before any harm could be done. Madi & Halen reacted to this by screaming a bit, Isabella didn't quite realize what was happening until it was over... and Payton.... well... Payton saw danger approaching and took the "Every man for himself!" kind of approach...and made a jump for some nearby bushes!! Haha!!)

It was really nice to be able to walk just a short distance over to the edge of the water & toss rocks, find cool sticks, get our feet wet, ect in the nice calm lake. I think next time we will be sure to bring along our raft so we can venture out a bit further than the waters edge. We didn't take a ton of pictures while we were on this trip... but here's a snapshot of the kiddos... snacking around the nice warm fire (oh, and yes... Madi is wearing Halen's sweatshirt... because Liz somehow managed to leave hers at home! Luckily there isn't too much size difference between the two of them anymore! haha!!) 

Then....

We got outside to play some ball.....

(Grandma Pat sent the kiddos cool new jerseys!)

And... share some hugs...

And of course we made our way over to the coast...

Brendan's cousin Elizabeth was here visiting again this summer (YAY!) & the kids had a blast showing her the sand!

(Ps : Madi LOVES that Leeb has Pink and Purple hair!! lol! ) 

We headed over to Great Aunt Lillian's house in August to do some apple picking (We LOVE apples!) 

As well as to have a chance to visit Liz's cousins who were visiting from Canada. It was a great opportunity to meet their new little guy, Leo! 

She's trying SO hard to reach the yummy apples!

Getting a little help from Isa-Boo!

Halen's favorite part was throwing the apples for the dog to chase after!

Halen & his Great-Great Aunt Lillian having a chat

My kids LOVE Babies! They were SO excited to meet their Cousin Leo!

After the apples were picked and we visited over some lunch, it was time for a walk!

Stay tuned for some more exciting End-of-summer activities....!! 

Sometimes you just gotta PLAY!!!

“If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good” Dr Seuss

We do an awful lot of playing around here... wrestling...or hugging... (Sometimes with Madi & Halen it looks like the same thing!)...dancing...lots of dancing.....  Playing with Daddy, rocking out on the guitar, dressing up... the list goes on and on... the kids have a blast, make a huge mess, SMILE bigger & LAUGH harder than ever, it's priceless... Here are a few pictures of them in action...enjoy!  

 We also have our very own in-house hairstylist!

“From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere.” Dr Seuss

And finally, what day would be complete with out a little karaoke from Miss Madi?.....  

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells.” Dr Seuss

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Madi and Halen's birthdays are only 4 days apart...this causes quite the birthday party dilemma..at least it does for Liz. She would like to have each child have their very own party, their own special celebration just for them..to be completely spoiled rotten. But, having a big giant birthday party for each kid 4 days apart from each other is just CRAZY (yes, Liz would like to do it anyways...but for everyone else's sanity she has reluctantly held back...lol) So.... we decided to have one big, giant, HUGE, not to mention FABULOUS Birthday party for them together...this years theme?

 MICKEY & MINNIE MOUSE!!

Of course, both kiddos were dressed in their "mousekattire"...

Miss Madi Cakes

Turned 3 years old!!! 

Mr Halen

ONE year old already!!!

Here's a peek at their big day!

Here are the guests of honor doing a little wrestling/hugging before the festivities got going

I love that they love each other SO much!!!

The table! All birthday partied up!!

Super Duper Awesome, not to mention YUMMY Cake

Made with Love by Grandma Mary!

(She found the perfect Mickey & Minnie ornaments for the cake top! 

Perfect on the cake PLUS a great keepsake for them!)

The "Mickey" side of the table

Yummy veggie cups (with ranch dip in the bottom)

"Minnie" fruit kabobs!

These were a great hit! The kids gobbled them up in no time!

Who doesn't love a chocolate covered pretzel?! 

I think we could have made double the amount of these & they still would have been gone in a snap! Yum!

Mickey Mouse shaped cheese!

Chocolate dipped Mickey Mouse shaped Oreos!

Turkey and Ham w/cheese roll ups

One of my faves... Minnie's Bow Tie Pasta Salad!

What Mickey/Minnie Mouse party would be complete without Hot Dogs? 

( In this case it was mini corn dogs! Another fave of the kids!)

I can't believe the HUGE turn out!!! I am so happy so many of our close friends & family made time to come join in the celebration! 

(Although our poor house gets very small very quickly with that many people!!lol)

The birthday girl getting ready to decorate some cookies!!

The kids took turns decorating Mickey Mouse cookies! 

(Thanks to Grandma Mary for baking LOTS & LOTS of homemade sugar 

cookies and homemade frosting for the kids to use!!)

We did the cookie decorating thing at Madi's 2nd birthday party and she loved it so much that we just HAD to do it again!!

This is her favorite part.... she will frost the cookie, add sprinkles...LICK it all off then start all over again! She must have done this at least 5 times...with the same cookie! Silly girl!! 

The Birthday Boy! ( & His Mama!) 

This is what a million sprinkles will do to your lips! 

Halen, getting ready for his birthday cake!

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday to You!!

(Madi did the blowing out of the candles for them both... Halen was not really sure why everyone was looking at them singing & got a bit of stage fright! I'm sure next year he'll be right up there with her!) 

Halen wasn't really sure about his smash cake...he just recently got aboard the "I eat foods with texture" boat....so this was still very new to him.

But really, who doesn't love a little bit of frosting? 

A few bites in ( plus an overdue nap) & Halen was done! 

Onto..PRESENT TIME!

Madi got some assistance from her girls

Halen was a bit sleepy but ended up totally getting into the whole ripping open the wrapping paper thing!

He did want to stop and play with each new thing he opened though, so we had to keep getting him back on track!

Sometime after the first gift or two I gave up my OCD control issues and stopped trying to make sure each of them opened their own gifts... Madi ended up opening Halen's & Halen opened Madi's...We all survived the chaos! 

Happy Birthday Halen & Madi!!