4th of July

Around the 4th of July we went to the Airshow that came to town.

Brad loves planes. He loves helicopters. He loves jets. Pretty much there is nothing about an airshow that does not make him giddy. He is usually a very quiet man, keeps to himself, except when you get him around, planes, jets, and helicopters. 

It's actually quite endearing to see him act like he does around them.

Of course, we are attracted to all things dogs, so we loved to watch the demonstration of how the Air Force trains dogs.

 And the show begins....

 

Our kids are great sports. 

And the Thunderbirds... one word: 

AWESOME.

 On the actual holiday, I had this great idea that we should go for a hike.

On a trail I had never been on. On a very hot day. That was 4 miles. With only one child carrier. I thought B could at least do 2 miles, I was wrong. 1 mile is all she could do. Brad carried her the other 3.

 It was beautiful.

Needless, to say we were dead tired by the time we got back to the car. And pooped the rest of the holiday.

However, after long naps and cold showers. By the evening we were ready for some playtime. We had an impromptu block party with our cul-de-sac. We ate candy and played with sparklers, watched fireworks together then lit our own. It was a fun night enjoyed by all. It was nights like that, that makes me hope no one moves from our circle. Nights like that I will hold onto forever. It wasn't fancy. It wasn't even planned, and yet it was a perfect summer night.

Girls Camp

 Right after our trip to Browne Lake, Brad and I did an overnight backpacking trip with the youth in our church. Seriously, though I mean right after. We got home from Browne Lake on Sunday to head up to this overnighter on Monday the next day.

 Every year the girls attend a week of camping in the mountains, we call this "Girls Camp". I attended girls camp as a teenager and I loved it, I love it as a leader even more. While at camp the girls must pass certain requirements. For the 14 year olds they must do an overnight backpacking hike that Brad and I were over. Thanks to wonderful neighbors our girls went and played for two days while we roughed it.

Here is a slideshow I made for the girls to watch, so you can peek into a week of Girls Camp.

For some reason the video will not pull up in blogger from youtube so I just have to link it:

Girls Camp Video

Browne Lake

 It is catch up time. 

We've had a wonderful summer that lasted well into the fall. 

This year we made our yearly family camping trip to Brown Lake. It seems because we have babies we only make it every other year. 

This just so happened to be the best weather I have ever seen here. AND it wasn't busy. As of recent years the Lake has become more and more popular. However, this year we owned the Lake except for just a few people. It was amazing. 

 My girls favorite thing... was the dirt. They loved to play in the dirt. 

Major  clothes soaking took place after this trip and the water was  black.

 Broccoli loved all the little people she got to play with from sun up until sun down.  A social butterfly's dream.

 Dogs and dirt bikes.

This dog and the sun.

 The view from camp.

 First fish (her cousin did most of the work)

We started out every morning fishing with Uncle Mike.

B was her shadow. 

One of the cutest little girls you will ever meet, and she is everyone's friend instantly.

Lots of naps.

We brought a ton of glow sticks and they were a hit on our last night. We did a big bon fire, stuffed ourselves full of s'mores, listened to stories, acted silly and enjoyed the moment. 

Summer Twenty-Fourteen

We've been busy making memories this summer, so blogging was neglected. We kicked off summer with a trip to soak in the green and witness the magic that is called Lightning bugs, we headed back east a.k.a home.

We caught up with cousins, stuffed our faces full of food, partied hard, and got spoiled rotten by grandparents.