Our trip to New York

We travelled to NY to visit my grandma. She had only ever met Tristan as it has been several years since I travelled home. It was so good to see her again and for the kids to get a chance to meet their great grandma. We stopped half way on the trip and visited a farm in Pennsylvania. The kids really enjoyed their fun at the farm.



A baby donkey had just been born a day or two before we arrived. It was so cute!


The goats roamed freely around the farm. The boys tried to round them up of course

They had lots of kitties too who were not lacking from attention from the boys :)

This huge sheep greeted us when we walked out the cabin door. He was very vocal and loved being fed grass by the boys


The boys each had a turn at riding a horse around a ring. They thought they were big stuff!


We also visited the chocolate factory at Hershey. My fellow chocolate lovers really enjoyed taking the tour and buying lots of chocolate. We didn't buy this huge candy bar, but they loved holding it!

Throughout the factory tour you would see these talking cows. Nathan and Dalton thought they were cool of course


We stayed with my best friend from high school. It was so good to get together again. Our kids had fun playing together. Nathan decided her daughter Riley was his "girlfriend". They would walk across the yard holding hands and spent a lot of time together. They were so cute!

We had lots of fun visiting with Grandma too. I will post more pictures of the boys with Grandma later. For now, here we all are enjoying ice cream. I do miss NY's ice cream. Dairy farms were everywhere when I was growing up and there are ice cream shops all around.

More Summer Memories and the Birthday Boys

Since the twins never had an "official" birthday party, we decided to do a special one this year for their 4th birthday. They chose Chuck E Cheese. Everyone had a blast as you can see:

This was one of their favorite things, the ticket blaster


Following in his grandpa's footsteps with his racing? Hope not!



Dalton in his cowboy outfit. He didn't want to take it off once he put it on!




All tuckered out


Daddy's present to the boys. Keeping the batteries charged is our biggest challenge!



Time with Cousins
We had a great trip to Cousin's house for the fourth of July. We went to a parade. Just look at these patriotic cuties :) Auntie had them create their cool flag shirts:

The kids (and adults) enjoyed the parade. Here are some photo highlights:




While we were visiting, Carolyn and I and the older boys took a hike at one of the parks on the Blue Ridge parkway. The views were breathtaking:







At the end of the hike we climbed a tower which was high above the tree tops. The boys loved it. Auntie who is afraid of heights.... not so much so. She braved it and climbed up, however. After such a long hike, you had to enjoy the reward at the end!

Gotta Love Summer

Do you remember how much you loved summer as a kid? I still love summer and wanted to give the kids a summer to remember. Collin starts school this fall and the school year doesn't leave a lot of room for family vacations or trips. We surprised the kids by taking them to a different part of the NC mountains. We stayed in a cute cabin in Bryson city. We spent time playing in the river, enjoying the hot tub at the cabin, and even surprised the boys with a ride on Thomas the Train. We also visited a great small "zoo" in Cherokee before we headed home. We had a great time. No one wanted to go back home. Dalton even said on the way home, "Let's pick up kitty and go back to the cabin" :). Here are some photos of our adventures:

The small zoo:







4 cute boys in a hot tub


Catching various creatures in the river




The day with Thomas







At the end of June we traveled with a group of friends to the Lazy 5 Ranch. We had not been in a while. The temperature was blazing, but the kids enjoyed it just the same:

Baby Ostrich

We were a little worried when this big fellow stuck his head in our van, those horns could do some damage!









The boys rode with some of our friends from church and absolutely loved being in the back of their truck with their kids:


There have been so many adventures and many more pictures. Will try not to wait another month to post, but no promises, time just flies way too quickly!