Matt's Birthday Camping Weekend

Good morning!

Poor Iker really needs a bath!

One of the kids brought a remote control truck. The kids spent almost the whole morning chasing it around the campsite.

Kite flying time (Evie was very interested in the kite)

Laughing Ike

Out for a short hike around the lake

Looking for fish

Matt's Birthday Camping Weekend (Part 1)

Matt wanted to go camping for the weekend to celebrate his birthday. He and the kids went down the first night without me (I was still supposed to be taking it easy because of my eye injury). It was a big challenge for him to manage the two of them at the campsite. He was pretty happy to see me arrive Saturday morning.

Playing around on the little bridge at the campsite

Waking up on Saturday morning (Happy Birthday, Papa!)

Swinging on the gate

Happiness all around when Mama arrived :)

 

All Ike really wanted to do was climb in and out of the chairs

Mama time

  

Resting up in the tent

Soaking it all in

 Happy Birthday, Papa!

Evie passed out for the night around 5:30

Grandpa D, the grill master

Some of the gang (dinner time)

Utter devastation when the Wildcats lost to Wisconsin

Tired Iker (and Mama with protective glasses)

More silly Ike pictures

 A basketball hoop becomes a hat/face mask in Ike's book

 

Ike likes to bring Doll Baby along when he's driving in his car

Here he is sticking peas down the tube of his fruit pouch

The Aftermath of the Party

Ike just loves to help vacuum. It's hilarious when he stands over the 

vent and lets it blow his hair around...

 

...or uses it as a stepstool.

 

We ended up in the Emergency Dept in the morning because I got a pretty severe eye injury while cleaning up from the party. Evie had a great time playing with the pulse ox monitor :)  

Surprise!

We threw a surprise party for Matt's 39th birthday. I think he was truly surprised!

Matt, still looking a little flustered

 Some of the kids had a ball taking ice from the cooler and throwing it over the fence into the pool

 

 Ice cream cake!

 As usual, the kids had a hard time waiting for the cake to be served

Worth the wait :)

Harper and Ike

Gardening again

 Evie, Papa, and Ike planted a few things this morning: a tomato plant (Princess Tomato), a pepper plant (Prince Pepper), and an eggplant plant (Stepmother Eggplant). Also, Evie learned that plants need soil, sun, water, and love to thrive.

Cinderella

 Evie has really been enjoying reenacting some of the scenes from the Cinderella story. She pretends to hear the clock striking twelve and then exclaims, "I must go!" While running off, she kicks off one of her shoes. We pick it up and try it on her, discovering it's a perfect fit :)

 

 Sometimes, she pretends to fall asleep after she's run off and left her shoe behind. 

It's a sort of Cinderella-Sleeping Beauty fusion.

Papa tried really hard to organize a group slide

Playing together at the park