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.

Yard Work

We kicked off the summer with summer with lots of yard work.  We have so many trees which we love but we also have been wanting to clean things up a bit so that eventually we can level the ground a bit and make room for a play set and some better parking as that's a nightmare when we have people over.  Brandon is quite brave and took down this huge pine by himself.  Not going to say I wasn't pretty nervous but it didn't hit anything and we are now rid of one of the ugliest trees on our property.  Yay!!!

The kids did a great job of helping Daddy stack all the fire wood.

Daisy just loves Hazel.  It's really funny, at least for now, to watcher stalk and pounce on Hazel.

One worn out little boy!

We did a trial run for camping to see if the kids would actually sleep in the tent all night and they did so I guess now we need to give it a shot.

Graduation

We are so proud of Sadie and all of the hard work she has done this year learning to read and write and becoming more confident as an individual.  She's loved this first year of school, her teachers, and her new friends and we've loved watching her grow.  At the end of the year party her teachers gave each student a fun little gift representing something about them and Sadie got glow sticks because she is a glowing example to her classmates.

 Getting ready for her big night

 Each student drew a picture of what they were thankful for.  Sadie's was her little sister Hazel.

We felt so supported by all the family that came to celebrate Sadie's graduation with us.  Her Aunties even made these cute t-shirts to cheer her on.

 Oliver

 Hazel and Carter

 Sadie, Carter, Wyatt, Oliver, and Payton

Family Photo Time

Silly Cousin Photo

Photos with the teachers

 Mrs. Lute and Mrs. Bennett

Mrs. Merina

The kindergarten teachers gave us a great book filled with memories from their entire year.  It was so fun to see how much Sadie grew and changed and to get to see some of the things we missed while she was at school.

At graduation as each child walked to the front they read their all about me page.

All About Me!!
1. What was your favorite thing about Kindergarten?   Recess
2. What did you learn in Kindergarten?  Math
3. What do you like best about Mrs. Lute?  She is my favorite
4. What do you think Mrs. Lute will do this summer?  Play
5. What do you want to be when you grow up?  A Teacher
6. What do you hope to do this summer?  I want to swim.

End of the Year Activities

There were lots of fun activities to wrap up Sadie's kindergarten year.  One of these was their spring musical and another was the kindergarten track meet.

Spring Musical

Track Meet

High Jump

Grammy and Great Grandpa were able to join us for the track meet which was great not only for the extra help but I'm also always so thankful for the way so many pour into and invest in our kids' lives and make them feel special.

Ring Toss

Long Jump

So while the rest of the school is away participating in a much larger track meet the kindergarten classes from both Crosshill campuses meet for their own track meet.  It was so nice to have such a small event and they even encouraged Cooper and Wyatt to participate which was so fun!

Cooper

Sadie

Wyatt