Kanarraville Falls

Yesterday we went hiking to Kanarraville Falls. We had lots of fun. If you have never been before I would definitely recommend going. It was great-the water was a little cold but other than that-great fun. The kids had a blast climbing and hiking through the water. I had so many pictures I decided it would be easier to just put them in a short video, so here it is....

Thanks for coming and going with us Taryn and Jeremy and kids. It was fun getting to see you guys.

Fun Day at the Park

On Friday my sister Mandy was in town. We went to the park with her and her kids and Tiffanie my other sister and her daughter, Taelor. We went to a park we had never been to before-the kids loved it! Tanner called it the "dizzy park" because most everything there spins. It is one of those new age parks. There is a really cool rock wall and rope bridge, along with a giant slide, and tons of spinning and moving toys.

Skim-Boarding

Today we went skim-boarding for the first time. A few weeks ago my Grandma picked Tanner up a skimboard at a yard sale for $5, so he was pretty excited to get to try it out for the first time. We went with my Grandma and the boys (Tyler and Sam).
The kids had so much fun! Tyler and Sam are pretty good at skim-boarding, they both have been several times. Tanner had a rough time at first but towards the end was catching on. Even little Chloe got in on the action she kept trying and trying and she was kind of able to do it a little bit. She asked me if we could get her a skim-board for next time. LOL.They also had fun playing in the water falls and mud. HaHa. They are boys after all what do you expect. By the time we came home Chloe was so worn out that she fell asleep and had a 2 hour nap! nice

Father's Day

Well what can I say the kids love their Dad...and why wouldn't they he is a wonderful Dad. He spends hours every week playing baseball with Tanner, he takes Chloe to get sno-cones, and he can build them anything they want (he just built Tanner a portable pitching mound and Chloe a balance beam). Every night at dinner the first thing I hear is "I get to sit by DAD!"

Trying My Hand at Some New Techniques

My sister-in-law is part of the Jessica Sprague creative team and kept posting about these great deals they have on Wed. they are called one buck Wednesday deals. Usually every Wed. they have one of their photoshop Friday classes for $1 so I decided to get brave and try one out and teach myself something new. I was very pleased for $1 I got the template, 4 papers, and a step by step tutorial for this new technique. So here is what I did... (we were working on being more creative with the journaling. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.)

Fancy Nancy Birthday Party

Yesterday Chloe had her Fancy Nancy Birthday Party-she had been waiting all week for this day.

Here she is ready to go

Birthday Girl

Decorations
For decorations we used fancy scarfs, necklaces, and high heels. Very cute and FREE!
Entertainment

We played a couple of games-musical high heels and we also had a race in high heels-so cute and fun also super easy and FREE!

We also had a butterfly pinata. It was funny watching the little girls in their fancy dresses whack that thing as hard as they could.

For another activity each of the girls made a necklace or bracelet. They had so much fun making their very own creation. (I found an awesome children's mix of beads at Michael's for this it was only $4.99 or $2.50 with a 50% off coupon)
We also did pedicures and manicures each girl got to choose which one they wanted. They also got to pick the color of nail polish and embellishments. We even had water for them to soak their feet in just like a real spa. Thanks to my 3 great sisters for doing these for all the little girlies.Once again another cheap activity-the only thing I really had to buy were the little jewels/flowers to go on their toes.
Food
We had a tea party of course. Homemade bread colored blue and pink and cut into flowers and stars was used to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Pieces of fruit were stuck onto fancy toothpicks and we had fancy party punch in real teapots.

and don't forget

the cake

The Guests

What would the party have been without all the guests in their fancy attire.

Chloe and her cousins

Chloe and Grandma Wendy in their feather boas
(I'm missing the picture of Aunt Sandi in her kimono.)

Chloe and a few of her fancy friends.

(I'm missing a few picts since I was a little busy during the party so if any of you have any cute ones you think I need make sure you send them to me.)

Happy Birthday Chloe

Today is Chloe's 6th Birthday. I can't believe my baby-girl is already that old. Where has the time gone. She is cute and full of energy. She was so excited about the new outfit she got for her birthday. She also got a baby doll and her daddy made her a practice balance beam. She was thrilled!
Landon got off work early and we all went swimming. We had fun. (side note on the swimming-like everything else athletic Chloe does she just naturally does it without to much help in the past 2 weeks since she has been out of school she has taught herself to swim)
Then it was out to Coldstone for some birthday ice-cream. No cake today we'll do that on Saturday for her party.

Happy Birthday Chloe!

New Summer Toy

This is our new summer entertainment.....2500 gallons of water for the kids to splash around in. My grandma and I bought this at a yard sale for $50. It had only been set up and used once.

The first day we set it up the kids couldn't resist taking a dive (with the help of Mom throwing them in). Despite the freezing cold water they still swam for like 30 minutes.They have been swimming it in as much as possible ever since. I think it will be well worth the money.

Lovin Chloe's hair in this picture!

End of Season Baseball Party

Yesterday we had an end of season baseball party for Landon's team.

It was lots of fun. Most of the boys and their families showed up. We had a BBQ with lots of yummy food. The boys had fun playing monkey in the middle and baseball without a bat (the batter would throw the ball instead of hitting it). Afterwards we gave each boy a medal and a certificate.

Tanner got the "Strikeout Pitcher Award" for throwing the most strikeouts on the team this year. He really was the best pitcher on the team and no that is not favoring him because he was the coaches son he really was. We are both very proud of him.

We had a fun time with everyone.

One boy on the team got the "Blockwall Award" because he literally was. He was an awesome catcher and not much got by him. Afterwards he told his dad "not many people get that award it's just not easy to get". It was so cute how he said it he was totally serious. You got to love kids.

Camping

We went camping with my family over the weekend to Otter Creek. For the most part we had a fun time. Friday was the only day that was really bad weather and it's just because it was so dang windy. Tanner and I rode up in the Motor Home with my dad and let me tell you a few times I seriously thought we were going off the road due to the wind. We were all so happy to finally be safely at the campground. In the wind the motor home lives up to it's name-"The WHITE KNUCKLE EXPRESS".

We did lots of fishing and mostly had good luck.

On Saturday I thought I was doing good when I reeled in the first fish of the day a giant 2 pounder.

But then Landon caught this 3 pounder.
Ad my Dad caught a nice 4 pounder. They put my little 2 pound fish to shame.
Landon the kids and I went on a 4 wheeler ride on Saturday which was pretty fun. We were able to see these Pelican's up close.

The kids didn't really get into the fishing but they had tons of fun running around the beach and campground with their cousins sword fighting and collecting rocks and other treasures in their buckets. When Chloe got home and emptied her bucket I found among other things a pair of toenail clippers, a pair of broken sunglasses, a huge screw, a much much more.

It was nice spending time with all the family!