Tuesday, September 16, 2008

With Kindergarten comes.....

Fund raising. :-(

If you would like to look at this link feel free. Shane goes to a private Kindergarten so they are not funded by the government just by us. So any help that they can get would be great. Last year he went to preschool there and with the fund raising profits they paid for a brand new play structure for the kids. This year they are putting in new swings for the kids. The nice thing is that all the money they earn goes to the kids.

http://www.nicholsonfundraising.com/index.asp?PID=28370

Thanks! Shane

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Labor Day Weekend Camping Trip

It was the Sunday before Labor Day and Shane asked me "mom, when are we going camping this summer? All we ever do is go on the boat". I remembered at that point how much Shane loves to go camping and I didn't organize a camping trip. I felt really bad and checked on Honeyman's website and everything was full for Labor Day Weekend. I knew that it would be but I had to check. I was able to find Sunday and Monday night. So I called Eric at work and said can you take Tuesday and Wednesday off to go camping. I told him about the conversation that Shane and I had and he said OK!! So we went camping on Sunday night- Tuesday morning. We had a blast. We did a lot of fun things!!

Shane and Eric have always wanted to go on a dune buggy ride. So we decided that they could do that and Madison and I would go shopping in Old Town (Florence)

Shane and Eric before they got on the dune buggy. They were both like little boys in a candy store. So Excited!!
Shane and Eric on the car with their safety goggles on. Shane was so excited that he gave me a thumbs up!
My baby boy was so excited!
Here we go!!
Here are the boys after they came back. It went very fast and Shane cried most of the time. I asked him if he ever wanted to do that again. He said "NO MOMMY, NEVER!!". At least her tried it. Eric would do it again he loved it!!

Madison and I went shopping and we got an art project for them to do at the campsite while I was cooking lunch. I always have to keep them busy camping or else they can drive me nuts ;-)

Shane and Madison working on the art project. Madison painted a piggy bank an Shane painted a treasure chest.
Shane concentrating on his treasure chest
Madison focusing on her piggy bank. Unfortunately the piggy bank dropped of the car on the way home and it broke into hundreds of pieces.

After lunch we decided to go to the lake right in the campground. The kids love the water. It was freezing cold with the wind, but they had a blast.
Shane playing in the sand.
Eric and Shane running down the sand dune and jumping and falling in the water.

Here is Madison joining in with them.
They kept running down, jumping in and walking back up the sand dune. They kept doing that over and over again.
Here is Shane falling in the water. Isn't that a big splash, he said.
Here they are ready to go. They were so tired and cold. Madison didn't want to get up. She said that she had to be carried.
So of course being the daddy's girl that she is, her daddy carried her.

Eric and Shane needed to stop to wash their feet off. What happened to the "goddess"?
She waited on the picnic table for Daddy to get done.
Then daddy came and got her when he was done. She looks really tired. ;-)
When we got back to the motorhome I was outside getting food ready for dinner. When I went inside I caught them both eating a cinnamon roll from breakfast. Camping is so fun, you can get away with anything.
What is camping with out being able to watch a movie on the portable DVD player by the campfire. They never had anything like that when I was little...

So then we had dinner and then it was time for the campfire and making smores. I always buy stuff for smores and then when we start roasting the marshmallows that no one likes them. Even though we don't like them I still have to make them. I had a couple of bites, but I was the only one.

This is how Shane makes a Smore'. 2 Pieces of chocolate with un-roasted marshmallows.

Eric, Shane and Madison cuddling by the campfire.

Madison and I in front of the campfire. I try to not look like this when I'm not camping.

What is camping in Florence without miniature golf. Shane grew to love miniature golf at camp Harlow so when we saw this place we had to stop and let him play a round.

Look at that stroke.

Madison trys but most of the time ends up putting the ball right next to the hole and tapping it in.


Our camping trips are always full of fun and you can tell I like to take pictures. Eric told me to tell everyone that when we were on the dunes I dropped the camera in the sand so in order to keep taking pictures we probably need a new camera.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Boating Fun!!

We went on one of our friend's boat at the beginning of the summer. The next weekend we had our own boat. We absolutely love it and it is a great way to spend quality time together as a family. We are out on the water every weekend. The kids love to be in the water. They have both been on the tube and are pretty scared unless they are on it with us. We listened to the last duck game on the boat. :-) Enjoy the pictures!!




Shane being a big helper getting the boat ready to go
The "boys" getting the boat ready to leave.
Shane and Madison on the boat
Madison "posing" on the boat. She loves to get her picture taken.
Shane and Eric tubing
Madison and Eric tubing
Shane and Madison's favorite thing to do in the lake is to have Eric take the boat in the middle of the lake and turn off the motor. They both go to the diving platform on the back of the boat and they jump in and go swimming. Here is Shane swimming in the middle of the lake and Madison playing on the tube.
Shane and Madison playing on the tube
Madison decided that she wanted to go by herself. She was very brave. Unfortunately she didn't have enough weight and when Eric took off and she went straight into the water and fell off the tube. We had to turn around and go get her. She had fun despite that. Last weekend I found an inter tube that is a car, so next time we go out we will need to try that one. I think that the kids will like that much better.

As you can see we have a lot of fun on the boat. Much more boating to come for our family!!

Family Pictures

Here are some of the pictures that were taken of our family. We had a lot of fun. We took them in Henrick's park. My nephews girlfriend (Ashlyn) took them. She does a great job. She moved to California this weekend. We will miss her. Thanks Ashlyn!!











Shane's First Day of Kindergarten

It was Shane's first day of Kindergarten today so we took some pics. His sister wanted to join along so she got dressed up in "school" clothes for Lori's. Shane is going to Springfield Christian Kindergarten again this year and has Ms. Fisher. It's great because he has only 12 kids so they get a lot of 1 on 1 attention. Can't wait to see what this year brings and how much he grows.


Shane looking Grown Up!


Shane Striking a Pose (this is for you Denise)


Madison's "first day of school".


Madison Striking a Pose! (Denise she does it better than you. :-)


Shane said "Let's pose together". Sure looks like it is hurting him though.