Vacation #2; Part 1

The first week in August we took a 5 night camping trip to a campground near Wisconsin Dells.  However, we never actually made it into the dells area because there was so much to do at the campground!

We went with our friends, the Z's, as well as Erik's sister Jenna and her family.  The weather was great, the company was great and the kids had a blast!  The parents did too but, whew, it's exhausting keeping up with these little people!!

The campground had inflatables galore!

On land...

And sea!

There's always a million pictures of the kids and dads but only 1 of the mom's.  

That we have to take ourselves or else you'd never know we were even there.

The campground gave firetruck rides!  

They filled up cans of water and let the kids go nuts spraying people.

Mason was in hog heaven.

We rented a pontoon for a day.

The campground also gave out free wristbands to a nearby waterpark.  It was perfect!  When the kids needed a change of scenery we just drove 5 minutes down the road and were able to utilize an indoor and outdoor waterpark!!

We also rented jet skis for an hour.

I took one for the team and stayed on land to snuggle this little sleeping beauty.

Kade and Charlie discovering the joys of beef jerky in the form of chewing tobacco.  

Keeping it real classy around here.

Sno cones for Mason and Isaac.  That's more like it!!

Another great camping trip in the books!!  Love the memories we are making with these cutie pies!!

Summer Picture Catch Up

Summer is quickly slipping away from me and I have so many pictures to post!  We're already back from Vacation #2 and leaving shortly for Vacation #3 but we've been so busy in between that one post a week just isn't enough!  

I'm not complaining though because soon enough we'll be stuck indoors, bored out of our gourds, while the snow flies and I'll be struggling to come up with pictures/post topics.  

In the meantime, too many pictures/too little time is a lovely "problem" to have!

A few Wednesday's ago we got together with 3 of my best girlfriends from high school (I should just say "Kindergarten" because that's how long we've been friends!).  

Thankfully the kids are all still young enough that they can play really well without having the shy/self consciousness that comes with age.  We don't get together enough for all of the kids to be super close but they still had a blast!

13 kids!!

4 old ladies.

1 giant slip n' slide!!

And I just now realized it says, "Get buck naked" with a pair of underwear on it.  

Ha!  Keepin' it classy!

My youngest (Jack) and oldest (Jaxon) God son's.  

Kade and Lillian spent the day at Grandpa and Grandma H's.

The oldest and youngest grandkids on Erik's side.

Kade does so well with his baby cousins.

He had a birthday party with his baseball buddies, Owen and Kelton.

They went to a Honkers game.  Kade's first ever "professional" baseball game.

He learned so much from watching the pros!

Running the bases after the game.

His first trail ride on Zee!

Mason stayed home and helped Dad do jobs.

Big boy getting to use the drill all by himself!!

A gator ride almost always guarantees a nap for Mason.  

This ride didn't disappoint!

Harper and Mason at daycare.

Could these two be any cuter?!

I got this note from Amanda the other day:

Mason and Harper are playing restaurant with the big kids.  

Harper ordered a milk and a water to drink.  

Mason said, "I'll take a beer!".

Oh Mase.

Baseball season has ended and I can't believe how good this little group of 8 and under boys are!!  They had 3 tournaments this year and they took 2nd, 1st, and 1st.  It's so fun to watch their excitement and intensity, even at such a young age!  

Something else that's fun to watch....Mason.  Oh boy did he entertain the fans on the sidelines at every game.  I think it's safe to say he captured the hearts of quite a few baseball fans this summer!  

I wasn't able to watch this "award ceremony" because as it started I realized Mason was nowhere to be found.  My dad and I took off in opposite directions immediately to search.  Luckily he showed up quickly because that's not a feeling anyone enjoys.  

On the way home, with Mason tucked safely into his carseat, I asked another mom to send me her pictures explaining why I wasn't able to take any.

Her respsonse:

"Found him!!"

I couldn't stop laughing!!  

Look at that little man trucking along just as fast as he can to get in the picture!!

I had told him that he could go out onto the field, thinking he was going to take the easy way.  Nope, not Mason.  You see that opening to the field behind him?  Through thick weeds and brush?  Yeah, that's the way he took.  And that's why we couldn't find him.  Oh Mase.

And here he is, stealing the show yet again!

Kade and Tyeson, holding their "real gold" (according to Tyeson) first place medals.

The 3rd and final tournament.

Passing time in between games:

Plank challenge.

Porter kicked Kade's "abs".

Boys.

Toys.

Giant pile of dirt.

Coach Erik giving his last pep talk of the summer.

Love this picture.

There was a 3 way tie for 1st place.  So the tie breaker criteria was adding up runs allowed.

This group of boys only allowed 8 runs all day!  

The other 2 teams allowed 14 and 28 runs.

The clear winners:

Of course no pictures are complete without Mason, right?

As all the parents are lined up to take pictures of their boys, Mason walked right in front of everyone, just as slowly as his feet could carry him.

One mom sent me this picture.  Oh Mase.

We stopped at a bar and grill on the way home.

Mason and the ladies!

My handsome baseball players.