Our days have been slow around here so I thought I would catch you up on some summer pics! Okay, the days aren't "slow" by any stretch of the imagination just eventful at the moment. School has been keeping us quite busy and some days are CRAZY but we are getting into a rhythm finally and the kids are adjusting quite well to the new school year. This week we have an assignment to create our own volcano and we will be heading to the planetarium in the next couple of weeks.
We went to Camp of the Woods again this past August and had a blast...once again!
We stayed lakeside this time around and had a beautiful view day and night. It was so quiet and peaceful. I enjoyed sitting on the back deck reading when I could.
Love, love, love...
This picture just cracked me up with Caleb in this little canoe. The kids LOVE spending time at the lake. And though the rest of the week was cold and sometimes rainy, our beach day was beautiful!
"CHEESE!" Jonas just loved the water this summer.
Two more happy campers. Dave and I have made a COTW tradition. One night after the kids go to bed, I run to the teepee to grab ice cream for us and have a date night. This year was a little trickier b/c we were a little further from the teepee so I drove the van down so the ice cream wouldn't melt!!!
Daddy and Jonas setting out on our hike.
We found some beautiful (and dangerous!) waterfalls. We went with another family and had 8 kids between us and had to corral them so they wouldn't head down to far and fall. Beautiful day for a hike.
On carnival night, she heads straight for the facepainting table!
And there was no question what this little guy would get painted on his face. This boy is in love with the Monsters University movie and wouldn't have it any other way than to
have Mike Wazowski (sp?) painted on his face!
As in past years, I took each of the kids on a date and Hannah was finally old enough this year to do the rock climbing so off we went. She did great and I did alright...my hands hurt the most but it was a fun date!
I once again ran the 5K. This time I ran with my friend Liz. We ran a few mornings together before the race and those mornings were some of the highlights of my week. Liz was a runner so she had a lot of tips for me and kept me going during the race. I even beat my 5K time by a whole minute! She pushed in an encouraging and positive way. It was so fun!
Caleb chose for his date a 1 mile run with mommy. Granted I had just run the 5K that morning but it was worth pushing a little further to hang out with my buddy. And he did awesome! Maybe we'll run the 5K next year together!
Each year they have a carnival on the beach. However, this year the weather really didn't cooperate and they had to cancel it. But Caleb had been practicing his Noah's Ark sand castle all summer so he could enter the contest at COTW. There was no contest but daddy took him to the beach anyway and they built it together (even though it drizzled for some of the time...what a good daddy!).
One of the reasons we chose the lake to stay on is for the firepit. This was our last night there and it was so fun to just sit together by the fire as a family and talk about what a great week we had.
Two peas in a pod. Josiah and Zack hung out all week together and have very similar interests so they got along so well with one another. In case you are wondering why there is no date picture with Josiah, we were supposed to go to the art center together but it had already closed. So instead we went to the bookstore to pick out some gifts and he got some fudge...all to himself. I can't post that for the other kids to see! ;-)
Love this picture of these 2 discovering. This is how they were all week. It was great to watch.
The traditional "family tree" picture. It's only our 3rd year at COTW but my, how they have grown already!
And here goes...my COTW plug. If you have never been, you should seriously consider getting your family there. It is a blessed time of relaxing and being fed spiritually. There are so many activities to keep you active physically and kids are never bored! Plus, not having to cook or clean for a week....that's vacation right there for the mamas...BONUS!
Check out the link for COTW. They are taking reservations starting TODAY and it's good to get in early b/c it gets booked. There, I digress. I promise, COTW is not paying me for this plug!
