Memorial Day Weekend and Our First Camping Trip in 6 Years!

Nixon has rediscovered the joy of the tag along bike. The whole time he says stuff like "this is so fun"

Mason loves swinging on everything at the park

 Movie night with popcorn sundaes (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Bullock for the yummy idea)

 On Memorial day we took the kids to a few new parks in Coeur d'Alene for the morning. This was the first time we tried one of these two person swings. It was a lot of fun

The captain of our ship 

 This park is first responder themed. The main structure is shaped like a fire fighter's helmet.

 The kids loved the sound it made when they jumped in here

 Our handsome Nixon

 Lyza and her getaway driver

 Slow down Lyza! 

 We brought the kids' bikes because this park also has a bike course. It was a little more intense than we thought it might be. Lyza was too afraid to try the course. Nixon did it. Kim and I were both terrified. I had to chase him the whole way to help him. He only fell once and had a blast. Although he didn't want to do it a second time because it was too scary.

That afternoon and evening we went to the beach

 Mason had the messiest face. He was loving chicken wings

 And this rootbeer he found unattended

 Lyza and her friends found a frog and made it a habitat to live in

 The sandbox has been a popular spot this year. Although no one has found any gold yet. But they will keep on screening the sand looking for treasure.

 I am not sure what he was doing. Although we have heard report that he did a BACK FLIP on a trampoline at a friend's house!

 Nixon shucking corn

 Spider Man in training. So cute!

 Mason loves to put things on the counter. Even if he finds them in the pantry where they belong

 I put Mason to work fertilizing the lawn

 Time for a good book or two

 We made individual pizzas for dinner and grilled them on the bbq. The kids loved making their own pizzas.

 Lyza has been really enjoying this book/activity book about her and her dad

 Lyza, Mason and Kim all got hair cuts this week

 Mason held so still. It was a miracle!

 Then they went to this park with huge slides

 And then this happened...Mason fell into something (Kim didn't see it happen). So he has a cut on his face and a wicked shiner around his eye

 But he got to wear a band aid. Lyza was so proud

Lyza - September 2016

A bridge troll 

 Looks like Mason was here

 Nixon had a really good scooter ride this week. He learned how to use the brake and got a lot more confident on it. He is already trying "tricks"

 Our little girl graduated from kindergarten this week! There was no official "graduation" but they did have a fun day and Kim got to go help out with some of the activities

 They played some outdoor games

 Lyza with her best fried Gunnar

 With her teacher Mr. Hirsch

 They had a relay race filling up buckets with sponges

 And you can't have an outdoor activity in Idaho without potato sack races ;)

 Hard to believe she is done kindergarten

Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the flowers

 Mason learned to do this from his big sister and brother

 Lyza had a notebook at school that she drew and wrote in everyday of the school year. She got to bring it home.

 It is really fun seeing what she thought was important enough to include

 On Lyza's last day of school she got to go to Sonic with Nixon and Kim for a treat

 Nixon wasn't smiling after insisting on eating a lime wedge

We went camping as a family Friday night. The last time we went camping Lyza was still a baby (I think she was about 8 months old)

We went to Priest Lake (2 hours north)

Mason liked this porch swing in front of our "cabin" (I am using quotes because it was tiny)  

 He also had to show off his swinging abilities (the Spider Man shirt makes it look even more legit)

 We had a perfect spot right next to lots of forest and the kids loved exploring. There was also a friendly tree right next to our cabin

 The kids using some team work to get the beach toys to the lake

 Me and my best friend

 The beach was really nice. The kids loved playing in the sand

 The lake was huge and surprisingly warm for early June

 Nixon was like a fish in water

 Mason was really busy

 Pretty Lyza

 Kim wasn't brave enough to go all the way in ;) 

 Getting ready for dinner

 Whenever we have to feed Mason without strapping him into a high chair we regret it

 The kids loved playing in the forest

 Cooking some marshmallows

 S'mores

 Campfire cuddles

 Campfire selfies

 We had CRAZY thunderstorms during the night. The three of us still slept pretty well in the tent. We kept dry too.

 It rained the whole morning (even when we had to pack the camp up)

 Mason slept well in the cabin

 We had tight quarters for breakfast but it was nice to be able to use an electric griddle and get out of the rain

 Mason did a little coloring in his pack and play while we packed up

 The drive home

 We turned Mason's car seat around for the first time. He loved looking forward and looking out the window (and of course at the screen)

Take care