Halloween Fun

We love Halloween over here! It was a party all day long.

Lincoln's preschool started off the day with a party. I only got this one picture, but they played games and had some treats. Lincoln asked to take his costume off while he ate, but he wore his costume for the games.


In the afternoon, the elementary had their annual Halloween Parade. It was so fun to see all the kids dressed up in their costumes. Following the parade Lincoln and I were lucky enough to get to help out with Eve's classroom party. I forgot to bring my camera for the festivities :(

After dinner we geared up to go trick or treating in our neighborhood. We were joined by 7 other families! It was our biggest group by far. We are missing one family in the photo, but you can see how large our group was. Our poor neighbors didn't know what they had coming. Can you tell Link isn't too happy in the photo? He was standing by Reuben and Ryan couldn't see him in the picture so he had him move to the front of the group. Lincoln wasn't a fan of that idea. He sure loves his brother! It melts my heart! I ended up staying at home to pass out candy and be a home base for those who wanted to come back because they were cold.


And they are off!

July 4th

To top off the fourth we had a BBQ with some games and then headed out to see some fireworks.

Ryan missed the BBQ part but was able to join us for the fireworks. People need to stop fracturing their ankles on the fourth :)

We had a shoe flinging contest.

A watermelon seed spitting contest

A human pyramid

I don't have pictures but we played water balloon volleyball too

The kids getting all comfortable while they wait for the fireworks to begin. This is what trucks are made for (at least in my opinion). We had quite the crowd this year! It was so fun to be surrounded by good company! The best fourth! I can't wait for next year!!

Our Hike on the 4th

Our wonderful friends the Wilde's invited us to go on a hike on their favorite trail. Hiking has to be one of my most favorite things to do, it is so relaxing! This was a great way to start off our fourth of July celebrations. We packed a lunch and ate next to a stream. Here are a bunch of pictures I stole from their blog. (since I forgot my camera) Ryan had to work unfortunately hopefully next year He'll be able to join us in the fun.

It was fun to see Reuben climb on this tree. It reminded me of playing in the woods behind our house while I was young. There were several trees like this one that I loved to climb on.

Here's the whole gang of kids! I love them all! I feel blessed to be able to have them all in my life.

Happy Easter

On Easter we had a little easter egg hunt at my parents. The weather was beautiful so we were able to do it outside this year.  I was only able to take pictures of the younger kids because the older ones were way too fast.

I thought it was cool that this egg was the exact same color as the flowers on this bush.

After dinner Ryan, Kaitlyn and Reuben went to see the outdoor monuments in D.C. I stayed home and put Eve and Lincoln to bed. Ryan took these great shots.

Thanksgiving

This year we were lucky enough to go down to Virginia again for Thanksgiving. It was such a fun and relaxing trip. We went to a parade one day and Mt. Vernon another day. But mainly just had fun being together. I had so much fun cooking with my Mom, it is one of my favorite things to do! 

City Easter Egg Hunt

Our city put on their annual Easter Egg Hunt today.  It was a bit chilly with the wind but much better than the snow last year!  Kaitlyn was such a good sport today!  The Hunt was only for kids up to seven so she wasn't able to participate but she was okay with it!  Thanks Kates!  This was Lincoln's first Easter Egg Hunt.  He loved the bag of eggs they gave him.  (unfortunately he dropped it at some point which I didn't notice till it was too late!) 

President's Day

This President's Day my friend Jackie and I took our kids to Lake Farm Park.  They had their "discovery days" going on.  So there were lots of fun things scheduled such as cheese making, sheep shearing, making candles, maple syrup harvesting, and much more.  It was REALLY cold outside that day so the kids lasted for the candle making and we saw how they get the sap for syrup from trees which were both inside.  The kids had a fun time playing in a play room with toys and two model trains to watch too.  This was also Lincoln's birthday!