Scenes from Camp NanaB 2012, part 2

The camp fun continued at a bridge construction site.

The campers hoped to be hired as day laborers, but no such luck.

Unfortunately, Maisie was never interested in sitting still for a group shot.

I love this shot of my sweet little guys running at full tilt together.

We made slime out of glue, liquid starch, and food coloring.

And the corn pool made another appearance!

We may need a bigger pool at some point if their legs all get as long as Charlotte's.

Diving in to the pool is always a big hit.

We packed up the corn into a smaller bucket, and the boys had a miniature corn pool experience.

We danced with scarves . . .

. . .and we played with masks.

Everyone got a little soggy when outdoor playtime was interrupted with a sudden rain shower.

The camp bus was bursting at the seams.

Cheesy cousins!

Group shots are never easy with teeny kids.

We finished with a camp trip for ice cream at the Paint Creek Cider Mill.  Quinn, of course, had his beloved chocolate.

Charlotte is also a chocolate fan.

CHOMP!

Where did my ice cream go?

Goofballs, goofballs, goofballs.

Sweet shot of GrandDad and his little Maisie.

Thank you for another wonderful year of Camp NanaB!  See you next year!!

Scenes from Camp NanaB 2012, part 1

Camp NanaB went by in a blur, mostly because it was the week that we closed on our new house in Michigan.  We had loads of fun and the cousins really bonded.  We were most proud of the three older kids all being able to sleep in the SAME BEDROOM together, all night long!  It may sound like no big deal to anyone who is not currently parenting a toddler or preschooler, but trust me, this was HUGE.  Anyway, here are some shots from our adventures:

Someone was a little excited about the start of Camp NanaB.

We read lots of books, of course.

We played "train" in laundry baskets.

We swam in a little pool (accompanied by Connie dog, the camp mascot).

Camp Counselor Granny Great served as a lifeguard.

Glamor shot!

Action shot!

Another action shot!

Everyone was surprised when Quinn dumped an icy cold bucket of water on his head.

Copy cat!

Granny Great hosed down the kids, too.

There was a TON of swinging on the tire swing.

Cousin love!

Time for an adventure to find a dinosaur campsite.

Any woodchucks in the culvert?

Cheese???

More to come!

Modeling session with Faithy and Alicia

On one of our last Tennessee outings with our favorite Tennessee people, we bowed to Charlotte's demands to eat lunch at Pancho's.  Thank you, Alicia and Faith Carol (and the rest of the Marshalls!) for being such wonderful friends to our whole family, but especially to my two little goofballs.  Aaaaaaand this is what happens when you try to take a group photo of three nutburgers:

Long time, no post

We have had a month of upheaval.  Good upheaval, but upheaval nonetheless.  

As some of you may know, I started a new job this month in Rochester Hills, Michigan with a solar development start-up.  We sold our house in Tennessee, moved into NanaB and GrandDad's basement, and are waiting to move into our new house in Oakland Township.  We have also attended our third Camp NanaB.

Here are some pictures of the excitement . . .

Moving out of our beloved little brick house in  Franklin.

Now, we live in the old Charter Township of Oakland.

Our neighborhood is Oakland Farm.

Here's our new house.  We closed on it last week, and hope to move in at the end of next week.

We can't wait to play in the backyard.  You can see a barn from the Fogler farm behind it.

More pictures of Camp NanaB will be forthcoming.  Here is a shot from a failed four cousins photo shoot.

Charlotte demonstrating her newly-learned WWF moves on poor Peter.

Tennessee Aquarium

Yesterday, Niki, Charlotte, Peter, and I fired up BRV and headed to Chattanooga for the day.  We visited the Tennessee Aquarium, had lunch at Mellow Mushroom, and then drove up Lookout Mountain.

Peter wore his blowfish shirt, and saddled right up to the shark/ray petting pool.

It took a bunch of tries, but Peter finally touched a ray.

Charlotte was not up for touching sharks or rays, but in the next room, she got to touch a butterfly.

Niki got to hold this little guy for a while.

Truth be told, aquariums are not ideal places to take pictures - the exhibit halls are typically dark, and the flash reflects off all the glass.  So, we did not take a ton of pictures, and even less turned out okay.  Here are a couple that turned out okay . . .

Walking through the "cove" exhibit.

Checking out the otters.

At the end of the day, both Charlotte and Peter got to pet a lake sturgeon.