4th Of July

The next part of our vacation trek was spent in Rochester, NY with Rob's mom's family.  We headed down there on the 4th of July, and made it in time to have some yummy food and watch the fireworks.

 

Genni's 1st 4th of July!!  What a cutie!!

A photo from the day we left...wanted to squeeze this cute photo in somewhere cause I love pictures of my kiddos snuggling with their Daddy.  

 

Hanging out on the blanket while we waited for the fireworks.  They were helping put together the glow stick bracelets we had.

Georgia hanging out in our double stroller with the big inflatable hammer Grandma bought her.  She really didn't get out of the stroller much the whole night.

Rob and Genni just hanging out-she was a bit grumpy.

Genni loved the glowsticks we had though!!

Grandma bought Gwen an inflatable sword-she was thrilled!!

She and the little boy sitting behind us had an epic inflatable sword battle!!

My pretty girl resting with Mommy while waiting for the fireworks...can't believe she's almost 8 years old!!

Gracie resting on Mommy's legs (you can see her inflatable ducky that Grandma bought her in the background-everyone except Genni got some big inflatable toy!).  I love my Gracie!!

The fireworks were about to begin, so Georgia switched seats in the stroller so she could see better.  Can't say I blame her.

 

The girls had a blast at the fireworks, and Genni loved them!!  It was fun to sit and watch them with Rob's mom Marj and Rob's Aunt Carol.  It was so great to spend the 4th of July with family again (like we did last year) and celebrate our freedom and remember those who have fought, sacrificed, and died for that freedom (love you Jake-you are an awesome and amazing man and I am and always will be so proud of you!!).  This holiday always makes me emotional and fills me with gratitude for all the many blessings the Lord has given me and my family-mostly, that I was born to a family in a free country with so many options and opportunities open for me that makes life easier than people in other countries, and that I can now give those same opportunities to my own children.  We can't wait to see where we'll be for the 4th of July next year!!



Grandma And Grandpa Congdon's

We spent the second part of our vacation with Rob's parents in Shrewsbury, Vermont.  We had a ton of fun while we were there, and did a lot of different things, and got to see a lot of old friends.  We love visiting there (and we love love love the farmer's market they have-Afghani/Pakistani food-sooooo good!!).  We also got to visit a lot of family that we hadn't seen in a very long time...lots of Robbie's aunts and uncles and cousins.  It's so much fun being around family!!

 

 Gwen taking a selfie after church at Rob's Nana's house.

 

Rob's parents and our family at Rob's Nana's house.

The girls with Robbie's Nana.  It was so good to see her again!!  The girls love visiting her house and seeing her and Pappy!

Bowling!!  One of the very fun things we do every time we visit Grandma and Grandpa!! Georgia needed a bit of help.

Grace did fantastic at bowling!

Gwen has fun with any sport!

Grandma had a new surprise when we got there...she got a puppy!!  Grandpa named him Coco, and Georgia was the only one brave enough to even walk past the puppy in the house, let alone let him lick her or hold him.

This is Spring Lake.  Robbie has been going here every summer (and sometimes even in October and November-wayyyy too cold for me at that point!) to go swimming since he was little.  It's a secluded little lake surrounded by forest.  It's so beautiful and peaceful there.  We love Vermont so much-it's such a gorgeous place and we are so glad we can go back there at least once a year to marvel and enjoy it's beauty!

 

We got such a kick out of Genni in the lake.  She loved the water (obviously!!).  We can't wait to go back again...we sure miss it!!



Time At Papa And Nana's

We love spending time with family, and were really glad that we got to see two of my sisters, one of my brothers, and their families while we were visiting my parents this summer.  We spent a lot of time with my sister Melissa, got to see my brother Jake and his wife Amanda (and spend time with them at their home), and spent a good deal of time with my sister Traci, her husband Gene, and their three kids.  The girls even got to have a sleep over (supervised by Nana-thanks Nana!) at my parents with their cousins Aidan and Mae.  We had a ton of fun!!

 

Gwen liked hanging out with Aunt Mimi (my sister Melissa).  They took this picture together, and Gwen captioned it as "My niece Gwen is awesome!"

My sister Traci with Genesis.  Genni loved it when Aunt Traci fed her oreo's!

Georgia and Aunt Traci

Gwen and my sister Traci's son Aidan having a lightsaber battle!  Go Gwen go!!

Uncle Gene making silly faces with Gwen and Grace.

Mmmm...loved the barbeque and ketchup so much!!

Georgia loved playing on this little guitar.

My brother Jake and his awesome wife Amanda with all our girls.

I hate that we only get to see family twice a year (if we're lucky), but it does make these times all the more special to us.  We can't wait to see everyone again!!

Boating Fun At Papa And Nana Sessions

We spent the first part of our summer vacation with my parents at their house in North Hero, Vermont.  A couple years ago, right before we moved to Oklahoma, they bought a small house right on Lake Champlain and hired my brother in law (and briefly Robbie as well) to add some space onto it and renovate the existing house.  It's a beautiful place, and we love that their backyard is the lake, so we were pretty sad when they announced they were moving to Idaho for a new job and were selling their old house.

 

We wanted to take every opportunity we could to get out on their boat and have some fun while there.  It rained a lot during our entire vacation, but we did manage to get out on the boat a few times.

 

Rob had a lot of fun tubing and the girls had a blast watching Papa try to make him fall off.

Genesis was not happy about having a life jacket on AT ALL.

 

Gwen went out on the raft first with Rob.  She had a blast on it last year, so we thought she would again this year.  After a few bumps, and almost falling off while Rob was readjusting his grip, Gwen had enough and got off, and no amount of asking and begging would get her back on.  So she enjoyed watching others do it instead.

Grace went on the raft next with Rob.  She enjoyed it last year as well, and was super excited to do it again this year.

She had a blast!!  Even when she and Rob fell off, she got back on and did it over and over again.  It was all she could talk about....that and how she kept wanting to go faster and faster.  This girl is so daring and has no fear!!

Georgia was too small to go out on the raft last year, which made her so mad, so we thought for sure she would want to do it this year.  Nope.  Not at all.  She had no desire to even sit on the raft.  All she wanted to do was swim in the lake.  So while we were on the boat, she watched everyone take a turn, and helped pull them in when they were done or needed a break.

 Genni finally gave in to the rocking of the boat and took a nap.  She slept the entire time we were out there. 

We got to go out once or twice more, and we had tons of fun.  We're sad that it was probably our last time to do this with my parents, but we're blessed that we had the opportunity to take our kids boating so much over the past few years and give them this experience, and grateful that my parents were able to provide that opportunity for us.  We will miss it!!

Time With Family

On our drive back to Vermont for our summer vacation this year, we decided the first part of our vacation would be to drive through Virginia and see some family. 

 

We were able to stop for a little while and see Robbie's cousin Erin and her cute family.  The girls were so happy to get out of the car for a bit, and even more pleased that they had someone to play with.  Rob and I really enjoyed the opportunity to sit with Erin and her husband Shea and visit and catch up on things.  We haven't seen them in years, so to have the opportunity to be there with them again, even though it was only for a short time, was fantastic.  I wish I had a picture from our visit there, but my camera was dead.  Hopefully we will be able to see them more often once we move again in December.

 

After visiting with Erin and her family, we drove on to stay the night with Rob's brother Ryan, his wife Hillary, and their adorable girls.  We don't get to see them often either...about every 2 years.  So it was wonderful to get to spend some time with them, and for the girls to play with their cousins again.  We enjoyed having dinner with them, the girls were thrilled to have a sleep over with their cousin Zoie, and it was so nice to just sit and visit with Ryan and Hillary and my mother in law Marj.  Even though our visit was short, it was really nice, and we hope we will be able to visit with them more often once we move.  I love being able to visit with family on our vacations!!

 

The Congdon Cousins

Splash Pad Fun!!

Another thing we did with my mother in law Marj before we went on vacation was a trip to our local splash pad.  The city built it recently, and we hadn't had a chance to go yet.  So we took the opportunity to keep the kids occupied (and keep my house clean before we left on vacation) and spent a couple hours there.

 

The kids were so excited...until the water shut off for half an hour after we had only been there for 10 minutes.  They found ways to keep themselves occupied though, like eating a snack, and playing tag with some of the other kids there.

 

Sweet little Genesis slept for the first 45 minutes we were there.  I ended up draping my beach towel over the handle of her carseat to protect her from the sun while she slept.

 

Finally someone came and checked the pipes and turned the water back on.  The kids went back to running around and playing and just having a blast.  You can see all three older girls in this photo-Grace off to the left in the pink bathing suit, Gwen in the middle in the purple suit, and Georgia off to the right in the blue and green bathing suit.

 

There were lots of jets of water shooting out of the ground, things to run under to get wet, and even a dump bucket in the middle.  The girls really loved the dolphin water guns.

 

Genesis finally woke up, so I took her around to a bunch of the jets.  She had a lot of fun playing in the water, and didn't really seem to mind getting wet.

 

In fact she seemed to have a ton of fun with it!  Sweet girls curly hair really puffed up after it dried too!!

 

As hot as it gets here, I'm glad we have places like these to keep the kids cool and let them have fun during the summer, and I'm glad we got to do it with my mother in law-the girls really had a blast with her!

Chuck E Cheese!!

We are lucky enough (or are we?) to live about 5 minutes from a Chuck E Cheese.  We had Gracie's birthday party there last year, and have gone back on occasion for FHE or school fundraisers. 

 

The girls love Chuck E Cheese.  So when Rob's mom flew out here a few days before we all (Marj included) climbed into our van to drive from Texas to Vermont for our summer vacation, the girls convinced me that we HAD to take Grandma to Chuck E Cheese.  My mother in law was so awesome to remember her camera and to take some pictures of my little g squad having fun!!

 

Georgia in the train part of the jungle gym...she would rather play in there than play games for tickets!

Genni on the carousel.  She really did like it, even though she looks less than thrilled here.

 

Gwen playing games...this girl loves to earn tickets for prizes (and loves to play the racing games too!!).

 

Gracie and her new friend coming down the slide.

The girls had a lot of fun playing at Chuck E Cheese with Grandma, and spending time with her at home afterwards!

Gwen Overcomes Her Fear Of Horses

On the last day of school back in May, Gwen was invited to a birthday party for one of the girls in her class.  She was so excited, because it was horse themed, and she has really gained a love for horses in the last year. 

 

She talked about it all week long, barely able to contain her excitement each time she mentioned it.  She was almost dancing on the day of the party because she was so excited...and then we got to the party.  It was held at a ranch on the outskirts of town that does birthday parties.  And part of the party was getting to ride one of their horses.

 

Gwen does not like animals.  At all.  She has a big fear of any and all animals, which amplifies considerably when she is in close range of them.  So, she wasn't too thrilled with the idea of riding the horse.  The man and wife who own the ranch talked to her about it, and explained everything to her, and promised that they would walk next to her while she rode the horse.  Gwen finally relented and got on the horse.

 

And had a BLAST!!  She got back in line over and over again to ride the horse.  She loved it so much that I have promised her we will look into horseback riding lessons.  Her grin was ear to ear each time she got to ride the horse.

After everyone had multiple chances to ride the horse, they had a train ride for the kids.  They hooked up these buckets that they had cut open to their lawn mower, and they took the kids on two rides around the ranch.  Gwen sat with one of her friends from her class both times, and she had a blast.

Between the two train rides they took the kids on, they also took all of us (parents and kids) on a hay ride up and down the road.  The kids all seemed to enjoy it, and we were able to take a picture of them before they took their second train ride.  They also let the kids paint their hands, then put their handprints on one of their other horses.  Gwen of course chose blue (her new favorite color).

Gwen had such a blast at the party.  She really wants to have her next birthday party there, but because it's the middle of winter, I don't think it will happen, but horseback riding lessons are definitely something we will look into in the future.  Yay for horses!!



Tape Town

 

I decided this year that I was going to try and be proactive about the girls being bored through the summer.  I found a bunch of different ideas, and planned one for every day of the week (except Saturday and Sunday).  I tried really hard to do something with them every day, and while that didn't always work out, we did a lot of fun things together.

 

One of the things we did was to make a tape and box town.  The first day I had the girls help me gather up a bunch of small boxes from around the house and garage, and then they decorated them to make them look like different community buildings.  The following day I laid out roads and parking lots for their buildings, and we got out all our toy cars (and the girls decided they had to get out their mini La La Loopsy and Disney Princess dolls to play with as well), and they just played and played.

They made a store, a mall, a school, a police station, a fire station, a post office, a hotel, and a couple of houses (I think there were a couple others, but I can't remember what they were).

 

 We kept the tape town and boxes out for almost a month, so during the times where we weren't doing something (or I failed to do the planned activity for that day with them), they could get their cars and dolls back out and have a blast!!



We will definitely try to do things like this again next summer!!