Shadehill

We had our annual trip to Shadehill with the "Geigle clan". Heidi, Randy and their kids, Aunt Diane and Uncle Norm, and Sara and her 4 kids were there. Grandma rode up with us, and we spent the night on Sunday and came home Monday morning. A pretty strong thunderstorm went through the campsite right before we arrived, so the boys (especially Colt and Aiden) took right to all the mud puddles!








Yep...he's just wearing his underwear! He didn't even have time to let us get his trunks on before he went to town "looking for crocodiles!"






Zoey decided to jump in on the action.






These were their special tools they used to hunt the alligators/crocodiles.






After a quick lunch, the big boys (Scott, Randy, and Tyson) took the boat out on the water to try their luck at some fishing.






Such a pro....






Captain Randy!






Look what Dad caught!






Tyson's first catch...ever! Way to go buddy! He ended up catching 4 (more than Dad and Randy:)






I believe this was the biggest one they caught, although, they were on the catch and release program, so no one had to worry about cleaning them.






After Sara and the kids arrived we all went down to the beach area and met up with the boys for some boat and most importantly raft rides.






Tyson decided to stay on the beach and play with Collen. After all, he had just been on the boat for a good 3 hours fishing.






Last year Aiden was scared to death to even get on the boat. What a difference a year makes! He hopped right on and we were on the first raft ride. He had a blast...didn't want to get off!






Jax...the boat dog (Heidi and Randy's dog). I think he's spent many many days on the water!:)






Captain Norm with his co-captain Aiden!






After our first ride on the raft we went back to the beach and picked up Grandma. She had never been on the raft before and wasn't even wearing her swimming suit, but we were able to talk her into it. You don't even get wet it's so big...and sooo relaxing. Aiden made sure and hopped right on with her...immediately assuming the position and holding on to the handles.






Look at them go!






Dad took his turn at steering the boat...with Aiden's help, of course:)






Colt had saved a minnow from the fishing expedition earlier, and all of the kids took turns tossing him in the mud hole and then they would see who could find him first....don't worry, he had died long before they thought up this game:)

Silly boy!

Everyone enjoying supper...

After supper it was time to take out the trash. We thought it was the perfect job for the kids since the dumpsters were just across the road....

Talk about a group effort! They tried their best, but the bag was very full...and heavy. Cousin Sara finally took pity on them and took it the rest of the way.

Just about the time we were starting the campfire to make Smores a terrible storm blew in...and it was WINDY!!! We were tossing camping chairs underneath Heidi and Randy's camper and picking things up as fast as we could to take cover. Thank goodness we just went with a cabin this year, because I'm pretty sure our tent would have blown away! Aunt Amy had given the boys a tin of some card games, marbles, and pick-up-stix earlier that weekend and they definitely came in handy. It rained until early Monday morning, so it was an early night!

The next morning it was still cloudy, cool, and windy. The lake was too choppy to take the boat out, so they started playing at the park and then found a small piece of beach that was a bit hidden from the wind to do some last minute fishing before we had to head back home.

The boys had a great time getting to play with their cousins! Thank-you so much Heidi and Randy for always including us on this very fun weekend! We can't wait until next year to do it again!!

Iron Creek

We went to Iron Creek this weekend with Brandon, Lyndee, and their girls. They have a nice camper, and we were planning on "tenting" it for the weekend. They also have a couple of 4-wheelers which we took along as well.

The kids wasted no time when we got there...Avery and Aiden loved playing in the sand...

While Tyson and Grace got their poles out and took to the lake...

Check out that form...he unfortunately didn't get any bites, but none of us did for that matter. The fish were just being picky, I guess.

Gotta have Smores. It got pretty darn cold on Friday night. Aiden decided before we even went to bed that he had a spot in their camper...and being the watchful mother I am- I slept in the camper with him:) Scott and Tyson decided to tough it and sleep in the tent. Scott said after about 2:30am he got absolutely no sleep! Tyson did OK (because Scott basically made sure he had all the covers on him to stay warm). Anyway, by the time Saturday night rolled around we all had a comfy (and most importantly-warm) sleeping spot in Brandon and Lyndee's camper. Thank God for awesome friends!!

The boys love riding on the 4-wheelers, so after a quick early morning (unsuccessful) fishing outing and some breakfast they were on there way to tour the hills. Lyndee and I stayed back at camp to make sure the beautiful sunshine was not wasted on empty lawn chairs:)

Check out Aiden's sweet pink helmet. Again, Brandon and Lyndee came through and let us borrow one of the girls' bike helmets to wear since he doesn't have one. He didn't care, and I know it helped Mom relax a little knowing he had it on while riding around the hills.

It was nice and warm when the sun was out, and even though the water felt freezing to me-Aiden had a blast hauling water back and forth to the little trails they had made in the sand.

These two had a blast together. They are the best of playmates!

Tyson found the water to be a bit too cool, so after only a few minutes decided to just watch the little kids from the sidelines.

Great teamwork!

Saturday afternoon the "big boys" went 4-wheeling and took Tyson and Grace, while Aiden and Avery took a much needed nap in the camper. Again...Lyndee and I kept the lawn chairs company:) Sooo relaxing!!

They were gone for over 4 hours and toured quite a bit of countryside. Both Tyson and Scott looked like whipped pups when they got back, but Tyson couldn't stop talking about all of the exciting "stuff" they saw! The pictures pretty much sum it up...

As soon as they got back and parked the 4-wheelers Aiden hopped aboard. He didn't even care that he wasn't going anywhere. I swear he would have sat on the thing all day if we would have let him:)

Doesn't he look happy?!

Tyson after a few powdered-sugar donuts.

Couldn't resist myself...the smoke was Scott's friend..would.not.leave.him.alone.

Wouldn't ya know....Aiden's still hangin out on the 4-wheeler...with his pink helmet!

We sat around the campfire Saturday night and sang songs. The kids had a ton of fun taking turns picking which songs we were going to sing. It was a great ending to a wonderful weekend!

After our very comfortable night's sleep in the camper the dad's took the kids on one last 4-wheeler ride while Lyndee and I packed up camp. Tyson was sad to have to go home...we all had soooo much fun! Thanks again Brandon and Lyndee for being such awesome friends and inviting us for the weekend!