Pine Cove- Camp in the City

Parker and Eden just finished up a great week of Pine Cove Camp in the City.  This was Parker's fourth year to attend camp and Eden's first.  She wanted to go last year but we didn't think she was quite ready yet.  I prayed and prayed that they would get great counselors (especially Eden) and they both got counselors who were a perfect fir for them. 

His two friends Trip and Cole both got to attend this year with him and they all had a great time!

Eden's counselor was an angel!  She was so patient with Eden and let her do as little/much as she wanted during the week.  Eden completely trusted her and couldn't wait to go back each day.

During one activity, Eden climbed halfway up the ladder and then froze.  Her counselor couldn't get her to go up or down.  The only way she finally got her down was to promise Eden that she could put a pie in another counselor's face if she came down. 

It was a great week and they are both already looking forward to going back next summer!

Lily Learns to Ride her Bike

This girl.

She is so determined. 

And stubborn.

She has been wanting to learn to ride her bike for a while now.  We've given it a few tries but it just wasn't clicking.  Plus it's been so hot that I haven't wanted to get outside and spend time trying in this heat. 

Earlier today, Emily called and told us that Ryan had learned how to ride his bike. Lily started begging to go out and try so I told her we would do it after dinner.  We started in the grass and after a few tries, I realized that she might actually be able to do it.  We moved to the driveway and after several failed attempts and many tears of frustration, she finally got it!  She was so proud of herself and although we still have some work to do as far as starting and stopping, she can successfully ride up and down the driveway. 

She has been my youngest and quickest kid to teach and I am glad that I am finished teaching kids how to ride bikes.  I am so proud that she didn't give up and she can't wait to ride bikes with Ryan the next time we see him!

Update: It took several days, but Lily and Ryan were finally able to ride bikes together!  I'm so proud of them for learning on the same day!

HikeMS Lemonade Stand

Today we held our 2nd Annual HikeMS Lemonade Stand to raise money for our hike coming up at the end of the month.  The kids have been so excited about today and spent all day yesterday helping Emily and I get ready by stirring the lemonade and mixing the cookies. 

The kids were up bright and early ready to go!  They were so excited that Holland got to come and join us today!

We had an incredible turnout and have proven once again that we have the best, most supportive family and friends.  There was a steady stream of people the entire time and the kids stayed busy pouring lemonade and selling cookies. 

Several of the kids' teachers came to the lemonade stand today.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful teachers that support our kids both in and out of the classroom!

So many of our friends and the kids' friends stopped by.  Words can not describe how grateful we are to everyone who took time out of their day to come and support our family.

We surpassed last year's donations and raised over $2000 for HikeMS!  So many families are going to benefit from this generosity and we can't wait to hike in Colorado in a few weeks!

Thank you again to everyone who stopped by and made a donation toward our HikeMS team!  It was a very humbling day and we can't wait to do it again next summer!

4th of July

The 4th of July is always a fun day because we not only get to celebrate America's birthday but we get to celebrate Granna's birthday too!  We always start our day at the Keene 4th of July parade.  The kids think it's great that they throw a parade for Granna's birthday! Ha!

Granstan always treats us to donuts and chocolate milk before the parade and then the kids line up to wave at the floats and gather lots of candy!

After the parade, we headed back to Granna's to swim and enjoy lunch together.

We ended the afternoon with cake and ice cream.  It was a great family day that we look forward to every year.  I hope Granna knows how special she is to us and how much she means to our family and we hope we made her feel special today.

June Little Things

June was a busy month and it wore Maggie out!!

Parker thought it would be funny to put his glasses on Maggie.  Doesn't she look scholarly?!?!

Eden lost another top tooth!  She can officially ask Santa for her two front teeth for Christmas!

I love her new smile!

We ordered Lily's backpack for kindergarten and it came a few days ago!  Lily wore it all day and can't wait to put it to use when she starts kindergarten in a few weeks!

We have a lot of fun things coming up in July including our trip to Colorado.  I can't wait to get a break from this summer heat!