Playing Hooky--Vala's 2015

Family Fun Day!  We had the kids play hooky for a day and took everyone to Vala's pumpkin patch!  It wasn't crowded and we had the run of the place.  

 The little kids all like the cheesy story-book place (and I suspect the big kids are ok with it too...)

Em and Christian liked the big-wheel bike races.

Cubby and Ju Ju pedaled around as well.

Kari decided she was freezing and snuggled up to watch with Britta.

 Britta LOVED the corn pit.  Just look at that joy!

Intense rubber-ducky races.

 Everyone enjoyed the giant bouncy pillows...even Kari came out of hibernation for the fun.

...And then she went back to freezing.

The slides were lots of fun too--Kari was all smiles, Juliana...not so much.

I love this picture of Britta and me.  She's just too sweet!

 Lastly we wandered down to this little obstacle course area--which was the perfect size for Kari and Juliana.

We actually didn't even make it out the patch part of the pumpkin patch...but we did grab a few pumpkins on our way out!  Yay Vala's!

Picnic in the Park

My mom loves picnics.  (Honestly, who doesn't?)  One beautiful evening she called us all together for a picnic dinner in the park.  My sister brought her camera and skills along and captured some great pictures of the kids and the fun times they had hitching rides on Uncle Kyle's motorcycle!

 My lovely Britta, getting so big!

Em had her turn first (of course)!

My fire-cracker, Juliana.  (And can you see Kari's little scowl in the background??)

A very wistful-looking Kari.

 Christian was up next!

 Erin captured a small sampling of the chaos that these four girls bring to the table.

Such a happy grandpa.  Britta just LOVES him!

 Yup.  That's Kari...

Grandkids, minus Kari, who was having her ride.

 At last it was Ju Ju's turn!!

 We also played at the park...

 ...picked flowers, played games...

 ...and took a walk around the duck pond.

We are so lucky to live so close to family and that my mom makes the effort to coordinate our schedules so we all get together!

Blissful

Family Bike Ride

Fantastic-Forced-Family-Fun!  Otherwise known as, the family bike ride.  We had a rare empty Saturday morning and took advantage of it to take the kids out to a new (and fairly flat) recreation area to ride around.  Kari is still not big enough to keep up with the big bikes, so she rode behind Cubby and I pulled the two little girls in the bike carrier (aka their "carriage.")  It takes two cars to get everyone and everything to our destination, but it was great and not nearly as painful as the big kids thought it was going to be!

Britta Loves Ice Cream

Is it really any big surprise that Britta loves ice cream?  Soooo yummy on a hot day!  (And speaking of hot, doesn't Cubby look good in those shades?)

 Of course, the other kids all love their ice cream too.  We love our local DQ!