Boots and a Diaper

Notice his boots are on the wrong feet, and his tongue is sticking out, just like Camden always does. This seems to be a trademark from Pop (my dad), but I swear the boys do it way more than I saw him do it.

Sand and Water Table Fun

Easter 2011

Cohen cutting grass with Daddy the day before Easter. Just like his big sister and brother, he loves to ride and also falls asleep on the lawn tractor.

Dyeing Easter eggs - This is the face Cohen likes to give when I ask him to look at me for a picture.

"Mama, Mama, MAMA" (points to his egg he's so proud of)

Kenzi wanted to pose with her eggs.

Camden does whatever she does.

Cohen just wanted to pretend to drive the tractor.

Easter morning

It was tough to get Cohen to sit with his basket because the Easter Bunny left a bowl full of jelly beans on the dining table, and that's all Cohen wanted to do, eat jelly beans (for breakfast).

Mykenzi and Camden saw the new colored bubbles commercial a few weeks before Easter and kept telling me how much they wanted them. I saw where someone said they're ridiculously messy, and I told them no way because of the mess. Camden, who hates to be messy, told me the commercial says it washes right out. Since I said no, it makes sense the Easter Bunny would bring them.

They are very messy, had to wash Camden's pajamas twice to get it completely out, it stained his feet blue for about a day or so (even though he was stripped on the porch and taken straight to the bathtub, a tub of water he turned blue), and even stained the grass.

They had a lot of fun though, and that's what being a kid is all about!

Easter egg hunting at the grandparents.

Giving Cohen a chance to find some.

Yard Work

Playing inside before going outside. Mykenzi loaded up a bookbag of goodies for Cohen to carry around.

Cohen and Corn

The babies always love corn on the cob!

Kings Dominion With the Cousins

Our neice and nephews all have summer birthdays, so we decided to treat them to a day at KD with us. They were all so well behaved and entertaining the whole day. I worried about what we might have gotten ourselves into spending a day at an amusement park with our little ones plus two pre-teens and a teenager, but it turned out to be a great (though hot) day. We even had someone to ride the roller coasters with that Kenzi's not yet tall enough for, so we had fun rediscovering some of our old favorite rides, plus trying out new ones.

Waiting while the others enjoy a ride he's too short for.

The Ricochet has hairpin turns that give me nausea and a headache, so Jonmark always takes Kenzi on this one! There they are in the front seat going down the little 50-foot drop.


Nap time

Kenzi's checking out the newest roller coaster, the Intimidator 305, the tallest and fastest roller coaster on the East Coast. I wouldn't try it (on this day) because of the first hill and because of claims that many riders were suffering black outs due to the speed (supposedly over 90 mph), so Jonmark took our neice and nephews on it. He'd been dying to ride it all summer, but it was always so crowded at the entrance and there was hardly any wait this time.

There's the first hill at 305 feet tall. The view from up there is amazing! I know because our next trip to Kings Dominion a week or two later, I rode it for the first time, and they were all right, it's an awesome ride. No crazy side effects for any of us either.

Giving the new Snoopy a hug. This was the first year for the Peanuts gang at KD.

Junior Turnpike, where the kids drive these cars around a little town, complete with stoplights and gas stations.

Catching a ride on the oldest cousin's shoulders.

Camping

This was our first camping trip as a family, and since tent camping with 3 kids worried me a little, we decided to rent a camper (travel trailer). With a lot of excitement from the kids, we drove up to Northern VA on a Thursday evening to pick it up, and left Friday to meet several college friends and their families for a weekend of fun at Douthat State Park (what a beautiful place!).

After hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, the sun was setting and it was time for our first Smores experience. Mykenzi really enjoyed roasting the marshmallows.

Cohen enjoyed plain graham crackers.

Camden ended up with an unexplained fever that night, so I took him back to the camper to rest that night, hoping he'd be good to go in the morning. He was fine the next morning.

Cereal at the picnic table ended with the kids sliding down this pole.

He was pretty proud and excited that he did it!

We spent the morning on a beach playing in the sand and the lake. A rainstorm shortly after we arrived delayed those plans a little bit, and we left to get ice cream, then came back for a few hours of playing.

The kids loved this playground in the middle of the beach just as much as they loved playing in the sand and swimming.

Back at the camp site to ride bikes and run and play while waiting for dinner.

I have no idea what he was looking at or what caused this expression.

On the way home, we stopped along I-64 to stretch our legs and enjoy the view.

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We all enjoyed our first camping experience, and we'll be doing it again!