It's A ...

We did our gender reveal during our 4th of July celebration since we already had the whole family together.    We've never done it this way before but it was a lot of fun.  The kids actually wanted to wait to find out what we were having but when the day came and the balloons were in the box they were soooo excited to find out.  Sadie was voting for a girl, the boys were voting for a boy, and Daddy was pretty confident that it was a boy because he'd peeked at the ultrasound.  Naughty Naughty!!! However to his complete shock IT'S A GIRL!!!  

So as far as the reactions go Brandon's was the best.  His was in complete disbelief.  He immediately wanted to see the ultrasound.  Sadie was Soooooo excited, Wyatt I'm not sure, and Cooper's response I believe was "nuts it's a girl"  I unfortunately missed watching most of the reactions because I was so busy watching Brandon's, but I'm with Sadie, thrilled to be having another little girl.

 Mommy made the fatal mistake of letting the kids each have a balloon outside.  Not sure what I was thinking because it only took maybe 30 seconds for Cooper to let go of his.  Then we had to talk the others into letting go of theirs because otherwise everyone was just to sad.  If I remember correctly Cooper and Autumn were sad, Sadie pouted, Payton was mad, and Wyatt surprisingly didn't seem to care.

Oliver and Uncle Andy!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

Our First Camping Trip

We took our first family camping trip/vacation this June.  We took the kids up to a little zoo in Bandon, Oregon and then camping at Sunset Bay. 

We had mixed feelings on the zoo in terms of it being very small and a little sad for the animals, but it was definitely a hands on experience that you wouldn't get anywhere else and the kids loved that.  They really were able to see up close and even handle some animals that they normally wouldn't.

Holding the ferret

Petting a skunk

 Petting a fox

Saying hello to the lama

Hazel was mainly interested in the goats and especially the baby one she found.  She kept trying to feed it rocks.

 Saying hello to the reindeer

Petting the baby bear cub

Then it was off to try out our first time camping.  The kids' camp chairs were a big hit although I'm pretty sure they only sat in them for a matter of minutes.  The rest of the time was spent folding them up and down and rearranging them around the fire pit.

Our giant 12 person tent which we mostly filled up.

Playing while Mommy and Daddy worked on dinner.  Well mostly Daddy... It was Mommy's job to keep Hazel away from the fire and from banging her head while running around the picnic table and I assure you it was the harder of the two jobs. :) 

 Smores before bed

 And a game of poker with Daddy

We obviously have some work to do on our poker faces.

 Morning hot chocolate for the kids and coffee for Mommy and Daddy after surviving our first night.  The kids did well other than the exploding glow stick at the beginning of the night and Hazel.  Hazel ended up sleeping in our bed most of the night which was entertaining although not very restful.  Brandon will tell you he observed quite a few poses throughout the night including stink bug, drunk man, 

 After breakfast we hiked a nice little trail across the street from our campground that overlooked the ocean and then after packing up our campsite we drove down to the beach to play for a bit before heading home.