Daddy -Daughter Golf

Ed, Taylor, and Jenna went with the Activity Day Girls for the annual Daddy-Daughter outing. This year they played miniature golf and went to Rita's for some yummy dessert. They had a great time and the girls ended up with the exact same score.

Jersey Shore

We spent a day at the Jersey Shore after Ben arrived and before Jenna went home. Spring Lake is a very nice beach. Over the age of 11 you have to pay for a badge, but there are lifeguards, a long board walk and plenty of space. It's only about 1 1/2 hours from our house and well worth a day trip. The kids had a great time boogie boarding and jumping in the waves. The only person who got a sunburn was Ben and unfortunately it was my fault. I used the spray sunscreen and kind of gave him a striped appearance on his back - sorry! We definitely need to have Ed take a day off and join us for a trip.

Jenna's Visit

Jenna came back with us from Indiana. She stayed for two fun-filled weeks of giggling, crafting, swimming, and roller coaster riding. Taylor loved having her around 24 hours a day and it was fun to see the sides of her personality (she has a wicked sense of humor) we don't usually get to see with so many people around at family reunions. I hope she will come back every summer and I'm sure Taylor has plans to visit in NY at some point. Here's a list of some of the fun things we did:

Dorney Park
Rice's Flea Market
Swimming
T-Shirt designs
Jean Purses
Jersey Shore
Basement Club House
Scooter riding (Viva La Vida :)
The never ending Hand Game

One of Those Days

Husband at scout camp with son.
Woke up with a cold.
Fish died.
Washing machine smoking.
Car won't start.
It's 11:30 - I'm just going to survive today.

(Maybe later I'll be in the mood to post some of the really fun stuff we did while Jenna was here:)

A Few Final Pictures From Indiana

Here are a few final pictures from Indiana. They didn't fit into the other posts, but as the designated family photographer, I wanted to share them anyway.

These three girls traded pajamas every night. They thought it was so funny!

Sammy is not exactly a fast dog, but she was a little too fast for Will and occasionally pulled him over as he tried to hold the leash.

Just look at that face!

Always a full car wherever we went.

Haley and her phone... a true love story ;)

Boys Just Love Rockets

Dallin persuaded me to buy him a small $10 rocket at Michaels. It only seemed fair as we were buying crafts for the girls. It was tiny, how dangerous could it be? Luckily Ed came home. Instead of allowing Dallin and Ian to launch it in the street, he directed us to the farm field behind the neighborhood. They had four successful launches and by the end, we had kids peering from their windows to see what was going on. A lot of excitement for $10.

Indianapolis Zoo

Janeen and I took the youngest 5 kids to the zoo while the older kids went to the water park (no pics of that, but they had fun). I've always love the Indianapolis zoo and the newest shark attraction didn't disappoint. The kids were all able to pet them and they really seemed to like Cami. They would swim by, turn around, and come back to her again (note to self: never let her swim in shark infested waters). We also got to feed the giraffes, watch the dolphin show, and see the trainers feeding the elephants.

Tug-of-War

The uncles challenged the kids to a tug-of-war. As you will see, they never intended to win, but rather to get all the kids to fall in the muddy yard. The older kids were mad they had been tricked, but all the younger kids got up and started cheering "WE WON, WE WON!" They didn't care if they sat in mud:)

Water Balloons

The kids filled 450 water balloons one afternoon. Taylor felt it was unjust for the older kids to get to participate because they didn't help in the filling process. Dallin and Reid decided to create their own weapons and showed up with full size balloons (we did forbid them from aiming at any of the small kids - ouch!). In the end, everyone was wet and happy.

Taylor, Emi, Elley, and Lily

Talmage

Elley

Lily, Justin, Braden, Taylor, Cami, and Emi

Reid

Dallin

Shaving Cream War

This one is pretty self-explanatory:
shaving cream + 15 kids = lots of laughs and one big mess

First Oreo

Having your first Oreo at Grammy's house is something like a rite of passage in our family. I was able to document this momentous occasion for Will. He really enjoyed the cookie... and the audience!

Kings Island

Ed and I both grew up going to Kings Island. I was in Indiana and he was in Cincinnati. We both feel like kids again when we get to go. It's funny the way things trigger memories, but when I walked through the gates and saw/heard the big row of water fountains, I felt the same sense of excitement and awe I used to feel as a kid.
It's about 2 hours from my mom's house, so we loaded up our kids and some of the cousins and went for the day. It was a lot of fun and as usual, Ed was the last one to call it quits. The kids were dragging after him as he proclaimed, "Just one more ride, c'mon you guys, we still have time!" I reminded him that just because the park is open until 10pm, doesn't mean we have to continue forcing fun on the children until that time. I do have to say that none of my kids are the least bit scared of roller coasters. If they are tall enough to ride it - they do.

Smile!

Dallin got his braces off this week! Doesn't he look great?!

Before

After

(We celebrated by having corn on the cob for dinner:)

Indiana Vacation

We returned last week from our trip to Indiana. We had two fun-filled weeks with cousins, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. I will have multiple postings about specific adventures, but here are just a few random pictures of really cute kids!

Grammy and Ada

Reid and Talmage

The Whole Gang after Swimming

Elley, Lily, and Cami

Braden and Dallin

Will, Taylor, Emi, Jenna, and Elley