Camp Pa and Gee Gee 2011

It's summer and you know what that means - CAMP PA AND GEE GEE!!!

That's right, the 4th annual Camp Pa and Gee Gee took place about 2 weeks ago. Ask any of the kids and they'll say it was the coolest thing EVER. Ask any of the parents that got some time alone and they'll say it was quiet. Ha! I ended up with a TON of pictures and I'll never get them all sorted just right on this blog, so I'm just going to give you a rundown of the week here and then post the pictures for your viewing pleasure.

On Sunday, I met my parents and handed Avery, Ella, and Madi off. They went and spent a night in a cabin on the lake. Madi informed me that it was a "fancy" cabin. Not sure what that means. On Monday, they headed to my parent's house for the remainder of camp. On Tuesday, they visited the "Fish Hatchery" and saw a diving show and some ridiculously huge fish. On Wednesday, Paxton and I joined camp and that evening we all went to the lake for some tubing. On Thursday, I left and met Ted in the metroplex for a little getaway (hence the quiet time) and all four kiddos stayed at camp until we picked them up on Saturday morning. After great weeping and gnashing of teeth, we loaded them up Saturday afternoon and returned home. Whew! What a week!

Now for the pictures...

Madi making a beautiful face

The Girls

Avery with Cody the Coyote, Ella with Rocky the Raccoon, and Madi with Sim the Possum (or posSIM - Ha!)
Riding in the BoatFishing on the dock
Pa finally got a boy to hang with at Camp!
Tubing with Gee Gee

The Sandbox

A new addition to camp - the golf cart!

Mema, Papa and Auntie were able to come for a quick visit on Saturday. So good to see them all!

Love this picture of Mema with her great granddaughters

Photo session - I bribed them with a Skittle every time they smiled for a picture. Don't judge me. You do what you've gotta do.

Chillin in the camper

Avery's 10th Birthday Party

I think she liked her present...

Eating - shocking, I know

Gee Gee and Pa thought the girls each needed a snake to bring home. Thanks again for that.

Making fish faces at the Fish Hatchery

I told you they were ridiculously big fish!

The girls did some fishing.

Well, Avery did some fishing...

while the other two searched for clam shells!!

Such a cool Gee Gee!

A few random pictures...

Now really, after seeing all of that, who WOULDN'T want to go to Camp Pa and Gee Gee?! Even though I've spent the last week and a half reteaching my kids what the word "no" means, we wouldn't trade the experience and the memories they made for the world. Thanks to Pa and Gee Gee for caring for and loving the kids. Looking forward to next year already!!

More Summer Fun

Still enjoying every moment of summer vacation. Some recent happenings...

We're participating in our church community garden, so we've spent some time up there watering, weeding and socializing. The only bad part has been some rabbits that have helped themselves to most of our vegetables. In an effort to stop them, the guy in charge of the garden has started putting up a rabbit fence. Not sure if it's keeping the rabbits out or not, but it works for Paxton!
We had a garage sale last weekend and Madi and her friend had a lemonade/cookie stand. They did pretty well and Madi is now $13 richer. At one point, she had to leave and left Jenna in charge. When she got back, Jenna wasn't there. Madi yelled, "Where in the world is Jenna?! She's not watching the lemonade!!" This was serious business.
Madi has been playing a lot of dress up lately and wedding is the most common theme. She asked me why brides wear white dresses. I paused and she said, "Because white is pretty, right?" I breathed a sigh of relief and agreed that it was a pretty color. Wasn't quite ready for the purity conversation with the 4 year old.
She's also been dressing up like a cowgirl since attending our western themed VBS last week.
Paxton just like being the cow...
I actually dropped Madi off with Gee Gee and Pa yesterday for their annual "camp". On our way home, Paxton and I stopped for a Mommy/Son date at Baskin Robbins. Couldn't ask for a cuter date!
Needless to say, he liked his clown cone!
It's been VERY dry here the past 6 weeks so when we finally got a rainy day, the kids enjoyed it. Madi insisted that they put their rain boots...
Paxton enjoyed the puddles, but thought they needed just a LITTLE more water...

SPLASH!!!

Like I said, loving the summer and wishing it would just quit speeding by!

Quick Trip to Texas

A couple of weeks ago, we made a quick trip to Texas to see my parents. Since the temperature in Texas was 105 degrees, we wasted no time in jumping in their pool!
Paxton loves the water and only got upset when I pulled him out to reapply more sunscreen.
I don't know why, but I think her expression is hilarious in this picture.
At some point, my mom pulled out an inflatable goose that apparently no one can ride. So of course, we had a to give it a try. Ted loved the goose but was only able to ride for a few seconds. But who cares when you get a priceless picture like this!!
And to be fair...and to brag a little... I'll post an embarrassing picture of me as well. And tell you that I rode the goose longer than anyone else. Now that's something to be proud of.
After our pool time, Paxton practiced his poses for his upcoming Calvin Klein ad. Serious face...

And the smiling pose

He added a hat later. Check out those abs!
The kids also tried out the new golf cart with Pa. I'll just say that he drove a little slower than Gee Gee did while chauffeuring Ted and I around later...
We had a great time and the kids got a small taste of Camp Pa and Gee Gee that starts next week. They haven't stopped talking about it since we got home!!