Kevin and Alison

We took a day trip to Idlewild last Saturday.  It was kind of spur of the moment, but we had two extra helpers along, so it was pretty great :) The first ride of the day was the carousel -- one of many rides around.  All our kids love this one! We also saw the park's Princess Lilly.  They are working on her castle in Storybook forest (maybe we'll see her there next year). Pineapple girls waiting in line! We were waiting to get on a trolley to visit Daniel Tiger! This boy loved this car-ride. Worked the steering wheel the whole time :) Daddy was brave enough to do this one with the girls: Idlewild has a cute Storybook forest area and we took Peter's picture with his sign: After Storybook Forest we went to the water-park area (and left the camera in the van).  It was pretty hot, so we loved the wave pool and splash pad.  Everyone rode through the lazy river, and Peter fell asleep!! I took him back to the towels and he ...

We crossed a state off the list of "never been" two weekends ago when we went to visit some college friends.  Liz and Jeff have been so kind in letting us cancel on them (twice!) and were fantastic hosts!! Saturday morning we went on a hike through the woods, which ended at the equine program stables for the college that Liz works for.  Fencing like this can be seen everywhere in Kentucky! The swings were horses :) After our hike, we stopped in at Asbury University where Liz teaches.  They have a big theater/movie/prop collection there (sent in from students who went on to help produce these films).  Here is our Peter by King Peter from the Chronicles of Narnia. Jeff and Kevin took the big kids to a splash park/pool on Saturday afternoon.  Liz and I stayed behind with the napping boys, chatting over coffee.  Sunday morning we went to church and then had a picnic lunch before getting back on the road. Tha...

The second half of the weekend started with church, then to Michelle's for lunch.  Then, the kiddos got to ride Betsy - a miniature horse!  Thanks Uncle Tom!! :) They all loved it! :) Our attempt at a group photo with Mawna happened after naptime....I think this is the best one (we'll try again soon!) The kiddos hung out in the yard in the evening.... Peter was the last man standing ;) This kid loves the sand!! On Memorial Day, we set out early to see the parade.  Our kids were pretty excited.  This town's parade starts with about 100 motorcycles with huge American flags on the back....very cool, makes me tear up every time. On our way back, we hung out with Mimi and Poppop for lunch and then drove the rest of the way home!

After arriving past bedtime, and a good night's sleep, we started our weekend by playing with all the toys and then decided outside was a good option :)  It doesn't matter what they are doing, these cousins have so much fun together!! Once we were outside for 20 minutes, out came the water table and sprinkler....because it was about 80 degrees at 10am.   After the littles napped and the big kids zoned in front of some tv, we made our way to Tom and Michelle's for a picnic dinner!  Everyone got to hold Linlee. :) We had a little party for these two...who were turning 2.... Peter got this GIANT truck and a cool book, plus his own duffle bag! Then, things got a little crazy with the girls....hahaha.  These pictures show them being goofy, but you can't hear the laughter that was happening behind camera :)