Our family vacation this year was a camping weekend right in our own back yard. On Thursday evening, Jay & Kristen and Shawn & Melissa brought their campers and set them up in what we refer to as our "park." Over the next three days, the entire family enjoyed spending time together in a very relaxed atmosphere. Jay's camper was set up and used the entire time. Shawn & Melissa had agreed to loan their camper to friends for the weekend so they only slept in it on Thursday evening. On Friday and Saturday they did what the rest of us noncampers did and went home to their own beds to sleep.
We soon realized that the main attraction for the kids and what kept them occupied for most of the weekend was the battery operated vehicles that they could drive around. We all soon got used to the buzzing of the cars whizzing by us.
The boys never tired of them
Back and forth they went
Lydia takes a turn while Awstin runs after her wanting it back again.
Alexis takes a spin
Even Hannah drove a little.
Josh thought it looked like fun, but he was a little big and found it went better backwards for him.
Yikes! We had one accident and even though it looked pretty bad, Awstin was only shook up and Daddy and Jeremy rescued his vehicle for him. He was soon back on and driving again!
Surveying the damage
Pulling it up and out of the ditch
On Friday we went to the Plumpton Zoo.
Alexis and Lydia pose at the entrance
Off we go!
Who doesn't like to watch monkeys?!
Awstin crouches down for a better look
Mark admires the zebra
Giraffe!
The children loved feeding the goats
Lydia & Awstin pick up the spilled food.
Mark feeds the alpaca
Camel!
Admiring the bears
Love the way Mark has his hands behind his back!
The peacock shows off for us.
Mark wanted me to take his picture with the peacock :)
Three big turtles
They didn't like each other and the one flipped the other. It was helpless until a zoo employee flipped it back. Apparently, this is what turtles do to each other in the wild and the one flipped onto its back eventually dies of starvation. We felt sorry for the flipped turtle.
Saturday afternoon we went creek stomping at Josh & Julissa's. It was pretty muddy but the kids enjoyed splashing and getting cooled off.
Hannah decided she preferred to sit in the water.
Other activities of the weekend included riding four wheeler and dirt bike, bouncing in the bounce house, a scavenger hunt, food, hammock rides, campfires and much more.
Josh instructs Julissa how to drive (and stop) the four wheeler
Alexis pushes Hannah in the hammock
Sparten enjoyed spending time with us too and Alexis liked walking him around on his leash.
Actually I think a lot of the time, Sparten pulled Alexis along with him :)
We had perfect evenings for sitting around a campfire.
Mark admires the fire Grandpa built and took care of all weekend
What a fun, relaxing couple of days with those we love!
If you thought that barrel trains are only for sitting sedately in and being pulled around by a small tractor you are wrong. My grandchildren have other ideas. The other Wednesday Mark and Hannah spent part of the day at my house. Since Wednesdays are the day I keep Awstin, he was there too, so they had some great cousin time. The two boys had a lot of fun pulling the barrels up the driveway hill and then letting them go. I concentrated on keeping Hannah out of harms way, but did manage to get this one video.
Not to be outdone, Hannah grabbed her own barrel and tried to keep up with her cousin and brother. Thankfully no one got hurt.
Awstin and Hannah entertained themselves for awhile shoveling stones into trucks and a bucket.
This picture wasn't taken the same day, but I really like it so just decided to post it here. When Steve's mom stayed with us for a week, Awstin enjoyed showing off his Scrabble skills to her.
