Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Happy Birthday Jake!!!

12 years ago this was our little bitty Jake!!
 
11 years ago we were celebrating with this guy...
 
 
And today we celebrate this big 12 year old!!! So exciting to watch how you grown and change. You are turning into such a smart, caring young man. This year has some big changes in store!!! But we know you are ready for them!!!

We love you!!! Happy Birthday Jake!!!
 
 



RV Road Trip--The End....

After leaving Jellystone we took a short drive to Jackson, TN to visit the Truwe's. They have a new addition....Josiah...who is only about 3 weeks old!! So much fun to spend time with them. The kids picked up right where they had left off 4 years ago when the Truwe's moved. 8 kids makes for a loud house, but there was a lot of laughter!! We stayed for a long time and had dinner. Then Sophia stayed to spend the night. We headed to the Joy-O RV park.
 



In the morning when we picked Sophia up we took a group picture of the kids. What a cute bunch!!!
11, 9, 8, 7, 6, 4, 2, 3 weeks!!!





And then we headed to White Oak Lake State Park which was south of Hope, AR. It was a beautiful park that was almost empty!! Big tall trees and a big lake. It was hot and humid!!! Saturday we fished, rented a boat, rented a paddleboat, took a bike ride, played games and enjoyed our last day of the trip!








 
What a wild trip!!! We went about 2100 miles. Mike drove the entire trip!! The RV was awesome to ride in. We lucked out and got a super nice one that was brand new. It was truly an adventure. We were glad to be home and have a ton of memories from the trip!!!!

Monday, July 27, 2015

RV Road Trip---The Middle--COUSIN CAMP!!!

Cousin Camp 2015 was held at Jellystone Park near Mammoth Cave, KY. We had an RV spot. Mary and Brad had a cabin close by. 4 nights of fun!!! Jellystone was a perfect place...2 pools, water slide, putt putt, water balloon fights, jumping pillow, arcade and organized activities. It's a pre-done Cousin Camp!!! It was a bit rough around the edges. Some of the best people watching we have seen in a long time. However...it was all worth it to see how much fun the kids had!
 

We surprised Grant and Lucy while they were shopping at the Ranger Station when we arrived. Ice cream for everyone!
 

The arcade was a popular place. And then they would run over and trade in their tickets the Redemption Center for small candy and toys.


Official Cousin Camp shirts...and the golf cart was worth every penny!!!!






Every morning they had the pledge of allegiance at the flag pole with one of the Jellystone characters.
 

Monday we all loaded up in the RV and went to Mammoth Cave for a tour.


It was beautiful inside...and was 53 degrees which felt like heaven!!! The tour was 2 hrs long. It was hard to take many pictures, but it was so pretty.





Jellystone had scheduled activities every day. This was water dodge ball.
 


We had several rounds of water balloon wars! 





One night they had a flashlight lollipop hunt.
 



LOTS of pool time!!!
 

The kids worked so hard to get this injured bird. And then let it go again!





 
Mike and Brad drove to go on 2 whiskey tours. Mike is dipping the makers bottle in their signature red wax.



A giant slip and slide one afternoon...









We took 2 Cousin Camp pictures.
 

This is the jumping pillow. The kids loved it!!! They had a dance party on it one night.
 

Mary and Brad hosted a Cousin Camp sleepover at their cabin one night.



Grant hitting the jackpot at the arcade!


There was a big Adventure Park very close to Jellystone. We went over there and spent the morning. Horseback riding, zip line, ski lift ride, alpine slide, go karts, bumper cars...so much fun!



Lucy and I rode together.






The last night, Grant and Sophia sang karoke. I didn't get pictures because it was pretty late by the time they got to go on stage. Proud of them for getting up there!!!! Cousin Camp was so much fun this year. So much fun to go to a totally new place....and the kids had a blast. It was the perfect amount of time. And on the day went left...it rained and rained and rained. Thankful we had good (but very hot) weather while we were there!