First Camping Trip of the Summer

We headed out for our first camping trip of the summer this past weekend. We went with a group of friends to Cadillac for a long weekend. Between all of us we had 11 kids and 8 adults!!! We were talking about how our lives changed since we first started camping 10 years ago. It's a little busier now, but all the kids play so well together. The weather was great sunny everyday and the only rain we got was on Sunday while we were packing up. The kids enjoyed fishing, boating, biking, and swimming.
Here's a picture of all the kiddos. Not the best picture of all the kids, but what do you have expect with 11 kids all under the age of 7.

Ashley's first boat ride.How high can Ashley go? She loves being in the water!!!

Father's Day

We had a great Father's day with the family. We finally got to go to church as a family, everyone was healthy again! At noon we had my family over a dinner which Corey grilled steak and pork which was so good. Corey choose to spend the afternoon at the garden weeding. Not my way of spending an afternoon, but he says it's relaxing. At night we went to Corey's parents house for supper and let the kids play.

Corey with his girls!!

We attempted to do a family picture after dinner. You should have seen us trying to figure out the timers on the camera. This is the best one that I got.

One last picture of the girls :)

Princess Camp

We bought a week of Princess Camp through W.E. Dance Academy from our church action and gave it to Kenzie for her birthday. It was a week long dance camp for two hours every morning. They were able to dress up as princess everyday. I thought Kenzie would LOVE this - well she clung on to my leg every morning when I dropped her off. The teacher would have to carry her in everyday, but once she was in she was fine. I was told that she was talking and laughing by the end of the second day. After class they all got a little princess gift and they did a princess craft. We were able to watch her on Friday at their Gala that they put on. It was so cute watching her do the ballet moves and bow after she was done. During class they were asked what their favorite part was and Kenzie answered "Snacks" a typical answer of hers.

Strawberry Pickin

Yesterday afternoon we headed out to pick strawberries with all the girls and my mom. Brooke woke up with a fever and was not feeling well at all. I needed to get the strawberries this week because the rest of the month is shot with vacations. I was the mean mom and took Brooke with us even though she didn't want to go (I don't blame her). While we picked she sat under a tree in the shade and maybe picked five strawberries. I picked about 8 pints for our family. Kenzie amazed me, I thought she would pick for about five minutes and start complaining at she wanted to go. She picked a whole big bucket herself and didn't want to go. Ashley had fun taking my berries out and throwing them out. Thanks to my mom for helping me get my jam all done that afternoon yet. Our freezer is full of 20 jars of jam!!!

T-Ball

Brooke is playing T-ball again this year. She never wants to play, but when she starts for the year she loves it. She is playing a lot of girls from church. I forgot how long t-ball games go :( I could have signed her up for couch pitch this year or t-ball. I thought we would do one more year of t-ball, but I think I should have done couch pitch. Oh well she's having fun, but I think she gets a little bored with it sometimes. Only 2 more games to go so the season is almost done.

Good Bye First Grade

Brooke said good bye to 1st grade on Friday. I can't believe that we have a 2nd grader already! She had a great year and made some great new friends. We can't believe everything she has learned this year, she has come such a long ways from the beginning of school. She learned how to read really well thanks to some extra help. She started reading at a level 4 and is now reading at level 18! She also learned how to write, addition, subtraction, factions, Bible memory work, field trips and so much more. Her teacher was great this year she did a great job with the kids this year. Above is what she wrote the first day of school and the bottom one is what she wrote at the end of the school year. It's fun to see how far her writting has come.
They had a field trip on Thursday to the Children's Museum and the Zoo. I went along with the class for the day. We headed to the museum in the morning and then headed to the zoo for a picnic lunch and spent the afternoon at the zoo. The girls loved seeing all the animals and petting the sting rays. It was a joy to see Brooke enjoying herself with her friends.