Happy 4th Birthday Zoie!

We had a party for Zoie on Saturday afternoon. She was responsible for putting together her party bags for her friends and was a wonderful host to introduce everyone at the party. Nana made the best cake in the world, a candyland cake, which was loaded with candy of every kind. Zoie's face lit up when nana brought in the cake. On Monday, we had a lunch party at Chuck E. Cheese's with nana, Mr. Mopar, and Breanna. Then after dinner, Ty made ice cream sundaes and we sang happy birthday with one candle stuck in a banana.

Alberta tries to help Zoie set out the picnic dishes.

Rasar State Park playground

Zoie and Vance wanted so badly to go to the water/river to play after we were packed up and ready to go home. But we did not want them wet and sandy . . . so we distracted them at the playground for about 30 minutes and headed home without any grumbles.

Rasar State Park Nature Pictures

Favorites

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Zoie and Vance from our camping trip.




The best Vance photo.

Camping at Rasar State Park

We took the kids camping this week, August 4-8, at Rasar State Park. It is about 30 minutes east of Mt Vernon, so it was easy to bring Zoie back into town for dance on Tuesday and take a
quick shower. The kids loved camping in Bill and Jean's 32 foot travel trailer. Zoie enjoyed roasting marshmellows, but she didn't care for smores (what a weirdo!). Vance played in the dirt everywhere -- even after Ty showered him, he was dirty within minutes. We hope to do more camping in the fall and winter.

A tired Vance -- holding out from a nap after miles of running through the forest trails.
Racing the hotwheels on the picnic bench.
Breakfast on the last day.

Run Vance!

Oh mom, take my picture. Vance loves the camera.
A tired little boy on the first day. He slept for nearly 2 1/2 hours in the stroller.
Roasting marshmellows for the first time.
Vance enjoys a movie on Tuesday morning as Zoie sleeps in until 9am. Notice the nice recliner in the travel trailer.

Painting