Game night fun

We had a fun Saturday game night at Aggies!
!
Rylie, Grace, Cole and Conrad

...can't remember what Madison was doing to Rylie...but it's a pretty cute picture!

The kids watching as Grace made them little cards.

Stupid....

So...when we got to Lowe's there was an employee trying to help load this grill into the trunk of this 2-seater Jaguar!
Then they decided it wouldn't fit and the grill would have to ride up front!
This is by far, the dumbest thing I've ever seen!!!
Everyone in the parking lot was just staring at this guy and commenting on how ridicuous it was!
For liability reasons, I'm shocked that someone from Lowes actually helped him load the thing...especially w/out a bungee cord anywhere!
He drove off just after this was taken....not sure if he, the grill, or the car made it to their destination all intact!

tug-o-war

We had a quick stop at Gpa's today and Cole ended up dragging around a rope...then a game of tug-o-war began!
Rylie is one strong little gal!

At this point, Cole was just absolutely refusing to give up!!

Playground fun w/Conrad

We met Conrad (and his mommy Keela and dad Rob) at the playground in Mt. Lake Park today and the kids had lots of fun!
It was nice for Cole to get to play w/another little boy for once!

Taking turns on the swings...they did a great job!

Cole had lots of fun crusing around on Conrad's bike!

Rylie invited Conrad in for a "drive" in the truck?

Fun w/Grandpa's camera

What a cutie! She poses everytime she sees me w/the camera on her!

One of the same flowers...this time w/a wasp! :) How exciting!

Our little green strawberries...we check them everyday just waiting for them to ripen!

Dusky salamander and baby robins

So, I've really been enjoying my time w/Gpa Rusty's camera...
I think I may have to get one for myself!

We found this little guy near our rain barrel.

These are the baby robins that have been living atop the flat tire on my Jeep.
I pulled the nest out to get a picture of them and so that the kids could see.
I know...you shouldn't mess w/a bird nest...but I seriously doubt they're going to be abandoned and we did NOT touch them!
The kids were excited to be able to see them up close and enjoy the stinky, stinky smell of a bird nest! It smelled like one of them were dead...but it looked like they were all breathing.

Kindermusik Program!

Wednesday evening we were invited to the kids
Kindermusik Program at their school.
The kids were all SO cute and did such a good job!
It was a lot of fun to see them all "performing"!

The Sound of Music




Rain falling down

Perkins fun

After the "music show" we enjoyed some fun times at Perkins w/our friends..
We even got an extra bonus since they had $0.99 kids meals on Wednesdays! :)

What blue-eyed cuties!
Rob, Jake, and Maddie

I wanted to get a picture of the kids together...and this is what I ended up with! :) Go figure.
Cole, Maddie, Rylie, Adrienne, and Evangaline

What a cutie!! One of the girls took this pic (maybe Maddie?)

Cranesville Swamp

On Monday evening after a day of rain and housework, we headed out for a little hike at Cranesville Swamp just a few miles down the road. We are very fortunate to live so close to some really cool places to hike!
The Cranesville Swamp is actually owned by the Nature Conservancy which encompasses 1600 acres of a reminiscent northern boreal swamp. The location is high in elevation on the Appalachian Plateau and is in a "frost pocket" where vegetation is similar to what you would find much further north. Even though it's so close, it's been a while since we've had a visit. The kids had a great time and it was fun...but we didn't get to see anything "cool" since we were being pretty noisy (after last year's encounter I'm very aware of the need to make noise to alert mama bears!). We're planning to leave more time for exploring on our next trip...we were in a bit of a rush to get back home to get ready for dinner and bed!

Cole ready to hit the trail!

Rylie checking out the signage.

Crazy tall trees...I think they're red spruce?

Hiking through the forest

Cole found some mud to stick his boot in.

Don't they just look SO excited!

Super cool "fern" tree

The kids "walking the plank" through some mushy areas of the trail.

What character! I thought this tree was the coolest...so interesting to have ferns growing in the tree! :)

Checking out some little tiny ant hills.

Cole was refusing to jump off of this log and Rylie was getting REALLY irritated that he wouldn't move!
Go figure....Cole being difficult?!

Pretty flower

Not sure what kind of flower this is...the lady that lived here before us had planted them in various places...they're really pretty though!

Cole and yet another hop-toad! :)

My pretty, pretty girl!