American Backyard Campout Day 2011

For the American Backyard Campout Day, we invited some friends over for a fun campout. Unfortunately for us, it was a rainy weekend and the campout turned into a camp-inside night. We did have some fun though, regardless of the weather. 

Riley and Jack thought putting the tent poles together was fun ... they were such great helpers.

All the kids were so excited to help put the tents up.

Riley did her job and played on the swing set as she waited.

Reagan and Jack using teamwork!

Let's get our sleeping bags ready!

WHOA! We finished, now lets relax, which only lasted about 10 minutes before it started to rain.

The kids thought hanging out in the tents in the rain was a blast ...

... but then the thunder and lightening started. They only lasted about 5 seconds after that! 

We spent the rest of the evening inside, eating, watching movies, and just hanging out. Riley fell asleep around 10:30, in her bed ... Reagan and Jack stayed up until about 1:00 am, when the rain finally stopped. Reagan was ready to go out to the tent then, so off they went.

Reagan and Daddy, at 1:00am, ready for the camping part of our campout. Reagan was so excited and slept until about 8:00am! She thought camping out was a lot of fun, a bit scary, but fun!

Jack and Mike were going to give it a shot too, but Jack only lasted long enough for the picture to be taken. They ended up sleeping inside with us Moms! 

Swimming, swimming, and more swimming!

Last weekend, we took the girls to visit Grandpa Joe. They were so excited that it was summertime and they got to swim in his pool (the last time we were there, it wasn't very warm and they got in the hot tub for just a few minutes). We bought Riley a new swim vest, one that has removable pads to teach that are supposed to help her learn how to swim. 

Riley was enjoying hanging out in the shallow water ... aka the hot tub.

She was showing off her new swim vest ...

until Grandpa Joe turned on the bubbles and scared the daylight out of her! She jumped out of the hot tub in record time!

WHOA! That was a close one! Of course, Reagan loves the bubbles and jumped right in.

Look at me swimming all by myself!

Reagan showing off her jumping ... she wanted Riley to jump in the deep end so bad but Riley is not ready to jump in on her own. 

I LOVE THE POOL!

Thanks for letting us swim!

Fun in the Sun

Summer has started, so has our days spent outside, enjoying this wonderful place we live. Going to the beach is such an easy and fun getaway. It is 2 miles from my house and the girls have so much fun. 

This year, they have both become more comfortable in the water (which makes Mom a bit nervous) and we have bought them Boogie Boards. Regardless to the lack of waves we have here, the girls enjoy riding the waves and having so much fun!

One of our "big" wave days! This is about the biggest I have seen it yet (pretty sad, I know ... but it is very nice with younger kids as it keeps me from being a complete nervous wreck)!

Riley enjoying her first day on the Boogie Board.

Riding in on a wave ... way to go Riley!

Reagan met a friend who had inner-tubes ... they had so much fun that lasted for hours!

Relaxing in the inner-tube!

Maybe I can ride this like a real surf board? 

But unfortunately, we do have sting rays! 

At least they are clearly visible (most of the time) and you can see them coming down the beach. It is crazy to watch the people flock towards the pod of sting rays. People will go out into the water and try to walk through the pod so they can get a closer look ... I think they are CRAZY people! 

After going to the beach, we come home to clean off the beach toys and stuff with the water hose. It tends to ALWAYS turn into our own fun in our backyard. The girls love it when I allow them to make a huge mud mess in the yard!

Reagan making the "water slide" more fast by dumping a bucket of water over herself as she slides down.

Riley would FLY down the slide and about 90% of the time, land face down in the mud! (that was a hard picture to capture though).

MUD! WHAT FUN!

We also have great neighbors who allow us to use their swimming pools, so when we are bored, swimming is always a fun treat!

Cannon Ball!

Watch me! I can jump too!

A Special Visitor

A couple weeks ago, we had the girls Grandma come and visit us for 10 days. We had a lot of fun with her here and enjoyed getting to spend some quality time with her.

We spent quite a bit of time at the beach and also did some fun things around the town. Since Reagan was in school most of the time, by the weekend, we allowed her to plan a day. She chose to go to the Botanical Gardens, the Children's Museum, and lunch. We had a blast! Way to go Reagan for planning such a fun day.

Reagan enjoying the Botanical Gardens.

Riley and I

Reagan and Grandma

Riley wanted her picture taken ALONE ... couldn't get a shot of her with Grandma :(

My Girls

Florida palms ... so beautiful.

The Posti Family

Next we went to the Children's Museum for a fun filled afternoon! 

Reagan pulling her own weight on the "pulley system"

Riley couldn't pull herself up, so Grandma helped.

Rock climbing ... well, sort of!

Don't Spray the Camera!!!

Our future Veterinarian

Watch out for the fast slide while wearing a short skirt!

Scott thought it was funny to take a picture of me, looking like I was naked in the Children's Museum ... so funny Scott!

Riley helping out at the Vet's office.

Grocery shopping ... I was amazed at the things she was buying.

Reagan spent a lot of time building ... and did a great job!

After the Children's Museum, we went to Columbia, a FANTASTIC restaurant overlooking the water. 

Sweet girls, enjoying their outing.

The view from our lunch table.

Thanks Reagan for such a fun day. You did a great job coming up with some exciting things to do!

Of course, Reagan was NOT impressed with taking her picture with the Pelican though. Right as we got close to it, it starting snapping his beak, and Reagan thought it was going to eat her. It was quite funny!