Swing Time

Wes and Reagan made this swing in the front yard this fall. It's a long rope swing with 2 bucket lids for a seat. The second Wes gets home from school the kids are asking him to swing them on the swing. Jack's been on with a little help but Rea and Dyl LOVE it! Fun Stuff :-)

One more Swim Pleeeeease

Wes took the boys to the beach to throw rocks and run around in the sand. It starts getting cold here around mid September so really not swimming weather anymore. Life guards have been gone for weeks and not many people want to get in the water especially with the cold air and wind around them. But that didn't stop Dylan and Jack! When Wes told them they were going to the beach Jack put on his swim suite and was ready to go, no reasoning with him, no changing his mind. Off they went and they came home wet and cold, but very happy. Wes thought they'd figure out how cold it was and quit, but he had to talk them into getting out of the water and going home. It was the last swim of the season, glad it wasn't me looks cold!

Waldameer

We hit waldameer on the last day of the season this year for the first and last time! This seemed like such a busy summer, as they all are! The kids had a blast with our friends on the rides! I think the favorite ride for the kids was the log ride ....... mostly because I screamed like crazy on that drop and tend to freak out a bit on rides and of course they thought that was hilarious! I got a shot of the little ones on the frog hopper and Wes and the kids on a small coaster everything else was a little blurry. I was so very impressed that Reagan rode the ravine flyer, it's a pretty fast and very intense old wooden creaky roller coaster and she was one of the youngest on it! When she got off she was a little shell shocked ...... don't know if she is going to trust her Daddy again when he says "come on Rea it'll be fun!" The kids can't wait until it opens again!

Mystical Powers affecting Lake Erie

We thought we'd go out and maybe do some fishing at this spot Wes new about by the lake. The wind and the massive waves had a different idea that evening.

Instead we got to throw rocks in the water and run from waves ...... these were the HUGE waves and Dylan was convinced that he was controlling them with his "powers." I'm not sure if he was using his Jedi powers or his Magical powers but whatever it was he spent quite a while pushing and pulling these waves up and back from the shore, and making some great sound effects at the same time. Once in a while a good wave would sneak up on the kids and they'd have to run or get some wet feet! We staying until sunset what a fun evening!

First Day of School

The kids were Super Excited to start school this year! Reagan is in 4th grade, Dylan is in 1st and Jack started preschool this year. They all LOVE their teachers and their schools!

Kick Ball and Sprinklers

Dylan got to play kickball this last summer. Our good friend Justin was the coach of his sons team and had extra room for Dylan. I will say it wasn't his favorite but he could kick the ball pretty good and got around the bases a few times during the season. It was good for him to get out and try a field sport. Thanks Justin for being a fantastic coach and Max for teaching Dylan the "ready to field the ball" stance :-)

We don't have a fantastic backyard here but we do have some grass and a tree with a rope tied to it. The following video is long and will probably only be appreciated by Grandparents but I thought why not post some summer sprinkler fun! Ignore the Mom'izums please ;-)

We LOVE Summertime!!!

Schools Out for Summer!!! I don't know who was more excited me or the Kids!

Happy Fathers Day Daddy! You're the BEST!

We had a Really Great 4th of July with Awesome Friends!

We really should have brought our Suits

So every other time Grandma Ewing has been out here it's been frozen, snowy, windy, icy and down right cold! So the kids and I were SUPER excited to take her to our beach, and our walking trails and show her why we love Lake Erie. I thought we were just going to have a picnic and throw rocks the first day out but ....... you can imagine how wrong I was with 3 kids a lake, a sandy beach and a BIG hole to fill up with water. I mean this stuff is important, no sacrifice to great to get that hold filled fast!

The next day Jack and I took her back to Presque Isle again to do some walking, see the bay and enjoy all the green trees. We brought Wally along and were surprised that he didn't scare off the family of geese we could practically reach out and touch! The flagship Niagara was out too so that was fun to see. Glad you could come enjoy a warm season this year Grandma!

Gymnastics and Friends :-)

As you can see below the kids did a Gymnastics class this spring. The older 2 had classes one right after the other, so I was there for at least 2 hours on the hard gym floor ..... ouch! Sometimes 3 hours if the coach invited Reagan to stay for the last class to work on her back handspring! I am so glad Micah was there with her girls for at least an hour of that, sometimes longer if we got to chatting :-)

The kids LOVED these classes and Dylan was more then thrilled to have Tayla in class with him! They are such great friends, never fight always have fun together and are sad to go home! Good friends are priceless!

Reagan had a great time learning new things and getting really close to doing a back handspring! We are going to find another one in the fall so watch out she may be bouncing by soon enough. The question is will Jack just watch this fall or do I need to find a class for him too? These kids are going to wear me out! Good thing they are worth it :-)

I am into these collage things lately. Click on them if you want to enlarge them.

Mothers Day

I love that my kids are older and acutely get the Mothers Day concept a little better meaning Mom does as little housework as possible on Mothers Day :-) It was such a nice relaxing day for me and as I say to my kids all the time .... "I am SO lucky to be their Mommy!" They made me gifts and pictures that I love and will hold onto forever! They are each so different and unique and I really am blessed to have great kids! Happy Mothers Day!
We went to go throw rocks on the beach that evening and I had to include the cute pictures of my cute kids :-)

Jack Is 3

It's amazing how fast life goes! It seems that Jack got to 3 SO much quicker than Reagan or Dylan. I am sure part of that is that he was born close to 10lbs and he's been jumping off of the kitchen table since he was 18 months! He's just never been my "baby" even though I call him that, he's just to grown up! What a fun and happy little boy and what a blessing he is to our family :-)

We had a Birthday Party with some of our friends here, it was a good time! Reagan made Jack's Dino cake and frosted it herself. We had lots of sugar, laughing, presents and even a little dancing! I've said it before and I'll say it again, we are SO blessed to have great friends here!

"It's the Milk Chocolate oh oh"

For those of you who have been to Hershey PA you know why I now have the singing cow song pop into my head now every time I think of chocolate or hershey. It's very catchy and who wouldn't remember a song sang by cows?

Wes just HAD to go to Hershey for an anesthesia conference, one of those education credit hour things for school and the rest of us of course HAD to go with him. It was a blast, really a fun place to visit especially since we got to go with not 1 but 3 great families that we consider great friends who were also there for the same reason as us ..... and that was the free mini sized Hershey's chocolate bars :-)

The amusement park was opened the Saturday we were there and the kids LOVED it! Reagan went on a ride that I didn't even want to look at! I got a pic. of her coming out of the gate at the end of the ride, pure shock! After that she was a little more "reserved" like her Mama when it came to rides. Both the boys enjoyed the rides a lot more than I expected them to, especially the rollers coaster they wanted to do that one again and again.

Dylan had a blast swimming in the hotel pool with his friends and got really brave jumping into the water from the pool deck. This was all thanks to the encouragement and example of his buddy Max, and of course the cheering of "Dylan, Dylan, Dylan" from Max's Mom Kortni! I was next to tears watching him actually ask for her to loudly cheer him on while he jumped into the pool with Max! What a great group of friends we have here, we are SO blessed.

And what a great trip this was ....... see ya Next Year Hershey!

Easter Again!!??

Easter is one of my favorite holidays, especially since we've moved east. I've never love spring more than I do living here, things really do "awake" and come to life after a long and cold, bitter winter. I am Grateful for the opportunity to reflect upon the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ during the Easter Holiday and I also enjoy the promise of spring here and it's symbols of rebirth!

Wow it seems like it was just yesterday that my parents were visiting for Easter and gave the kids those very popular Easter sombreros. (a dollar store find for Grandma) The kids have referenced them as such since then, thanks Grandma it's been fun :-)

This year the bunny had to hide stuff inside because of all the rain and soggy grass but the kids still had a great time and were overloaded with chocolate!

Baby Abe and Ithaca

Grandma Ewing came out in March to meet new Baby Abe! Yes another flight east for her, she had time to wash her clothes and pack up again! We were all really excited to go to Ithaca and see the new little Chunky Spud and of course the B&B, I&A Ewing family! Eli was super proud of his new "little" brother 9lbs 3ozs! He was such a cute baby and is growing like a weed! The picture of Dylan by the TV shows his mario kart 1st place win, it's what he was doing while we were cooing over the baby :-)

I love Ithaca, probably not as much as Brady and Brooke do but it is a very unique and beautiful place that we've enjoyed visiting. Thanks for letting us invade you guys once in a while.

A Dog Day ..... Birthday that is :-)

Ever wonder "What kind of people put a party hat on a dog?" ...... US!

It was Wally's Birthday on February 26th and we had a little puppy party. Ok we just stuck a hat on him, sang, and Rea and Dyl helped him open his presents. But Wes said "I better not see any of those pictures on the blog" so just for Wes ....... here's a picture of the older 2 kids and Wally on his 1st birthday. 7 in dog years and such a good dog!

(glad we don't go by dog years, I don't want to think about how old I'd be)

More Snow

I know, I know we have TONS of snow pictures up on the blog, what do you expect we live in a place where winter lasts an eternity and we are doing our best to make the most of it! Really I can't wait for spring. The spring here is truly a rebirth and so beautiful, I have never loved spring more than I have since living here. So much blooming and sprouting, and filled with tons of green leaves and blossoms and colors, plus the added bonus of some sunshine ..... how I miss you sunshine, you have no idea! So this is yet another snow picture but one too cute for me not to post .... Here's hoping we have a quick thaw and get to see wonderful, beautiful ........

Spring Soon!

ok one more