Adventure Summer Camp

The boys had a blast at Camp this week.  They did archery, canoeing, pony rides, swimming in a lake, paddle boats, sports, mud pit, water slides, crafts, etc.

I couldn't believe the long list of different things they would tell me they did each day.  It was definitely money well spent.  At the end of the week the boys asked if they could do it again next week!  I think it will be a repeat next year!

Some days, we would have a bit of time between when I had to pick up the boys from camp and Tae Kwan Do, and since they are both near each other we killed some time at the playground.

While they were at camp Leah, Logan and I spent quality time together.  I was able to take Logan to his book store story time (and Starbucks) and also to the library story time (which was actually films this week).  We also went on a couple walks.  Logan is able to ride all the way to the playground now, which is a lot of fun.  We had a great week too!

Color Run, Dennis' First 5K!

Well, he did it!  Dennis completed his first 5K!!  We were so proud of him.  It was fun to watch.  The older two boys loved getting color all over them at the end.  Logan was not happy about it.  He likes to be clean, so he spent a good while after cleaning himself, even his shoes, with wipes!

The before...

After the Color Run we headed home to get cleaned up and then we took Miranda to see the Children's Museum.  I think she enjoyed it.  It was a long day, so instead of going out for dinner we picked up some pizza's.  It was a quick trip for Meghan and Miranda, but so nice of them to come visit!  Grandpa McLaughlin was planning on leaving Sunday morning to, but ended up staying an extra day because his car broke down.

Sunday, I gave Leah a cracker for the first time.  She had a huge grin on her face when I gave it to her.

Today, Colin and Evan started their first day of Adventure Camp!  They are doing a week long camp at Conner Prairie, which is an old prairie town.  It's their first time doing a real camp.

Splash Park

This week Dennis is in New York.  Today, I took the kids to the splash park and playground...

Tonight Grandpa McLaughlin and Meghan and Miranda get into town for the weekend to watch Dennis run his first ever 5K.  He has been working hard to build up the endurance to run a 5K.  So, he isn't concerned about time, just trying to finish the race.  We can't wait to cheer him on!

Oh and on the Tuesday the 16th, Leah really started getting more mobile.  She isn't crawling yet, but she is able to roll all around the floor to get where she wants to go.

Leah is 8 Months Old!

At 8 Months Old Leah continues to be a lot of fun.  She is "chatting" a lot now, though she hasn't said any real words.  She did make the "dada" sound a couple times.  Leah is rolling all over the floor now.  She loves to grab her feet and put her toes in her mouth too.  She is enjoying her exersaucer and being stood up on her feet.  She will bounce up and down when she is propped up on her feet. 

Leah is doing great with eating now.  She often takes 2 stage 2 foods per meal.  She is eating 3 meals a day (usually about 30 mins after she nurses for the first 2 meals).  She nurses 4 times a day so she will usually nurse at 6:30, 11, 3:30 and 7:30 (approximately).  She eats her dinner around when we do or right before and then nurses right before bed.  

Leah normally takes 2 naps a day.  One about 1 hr 30 mins-2 hrs after waking up (usually around 8:30ish-11ish) and then again a couple hours later (around 1:30ish to 3:30ish), give or take.  She doesn't fall asleep in the car or in her carseat much unless we are on a long drive.  She will fall asleep still in the ergo baby carrier, if I am walking around with that when we are out.  Otherwise, she really just likes sleeping in her room with the sound machine on.

She is still a pretty easy going baby.  She will cry when she is tired or hungry and occasionally with a dirty diaper, but other than that she just talks and plays.  She loves laughing at her brothers (she thinks they are hilarious).  She also loves her Mommy and her Daddy (much to the delight of her Daddy).

Despite this picture, she really doesn't cry that much.

Leah is still pretty small.  We haven't been to the doctor but she is wearing 6 month clothes and has tiny feet.  Many of the 0-6 Month shoes are still big on her.

We just love her to pieces!

Good News For Colin...

We got great news when we returned home from the beach, that Colin has been accepted into the Challenge Class.  This is Carmel's version of gifted and talented.  He will be in a separate class full time from the other 3rd graders.

I knew he was bright, but I was blown away by his scores.  On the IQ section, he earned all 10 points possible.  He needed a 125 score and he got a 147!!!  He also did well on both the Math and the Reading sections (he has to be reading at at least 2 grade levels ahead to be in the program and he is).  He got 5 points for Math and 6 for Reading.  This is not how many questions he got right, just the "points awarded" after they figure out some sort of scoring matrix.  So, he needed 12 points total to get in the program and he got a 21!  I am very proud of him and think that the extra challenge will be good for him too.

Also today, Dennis took Evan to see the Korean national Tae Kwan Do team do a demonstration.  Evan said it was really cool.

Beach Vacation 2013!!

This year since 4th of July hit on the Thursday before we were to head to the beach, we decided to drive to Richmond on the 4th of July since Dennis was off work that day.  The drive went pretty well and only took us about a half hour longer than usual despite having a baby who needed to eat and be nursed so that was great!

We got to Richmond in time to have a nice dinner with our friends, the Gallagher's.  The kids had fun playing together and then the adults played cards after all the kids were in bed.  We had brunch the next morning and then headed to the outlets in Williamsburg.  We spent the day there doing a little bit of back to school shopping before heading to Chesapeake for the night.  We stayed at a nice hotel (got to adjoining rooms for the first time, which worked out great.  Then, Saturday morning we were able to get up early and drive just a short distance to Nags Head.

It was nice to beat the traffic, but since we were there before everyone else and before the house was ready, we went straight to the beach and then lunch.

Our week at the beach was outstanding at always.  I love that we have this tradition every year.  I grew up going to Ocean City every summer with cousins and family and it is some of my best memories.  So, I'm glad my kids get this time to have fun with their cousins and other family members and make great memories.

We of course spent most of the days at the beach...

And lots of time at the house pool too.  We even had a huge water balloon fight one day at the pool...

While we were there we celebrated Cameron's 2nd Birthday.  The kids played party games.

The adults played Catan a lot as usual and this year Colin learned how so he was able to play a couple games too!

We went to the sand dunes again this year to fly kites...

Dennis took the older two to play miniature golf one day...

For dinners each family cooked a night and then we went out to dinner twice.

There were 15 Grandchildren this year!  Next year there will be one more...David and Fanchon announced they were expecting their second in March!

15 Grandchildren and counting...

The week went by way too fast as usual!