Company picnic

This summer, the company I work for had a picnic at the Railroad Museum. We had a pretty good time. We went on a train-ride - but Natalie was more interested in the goodie-bag she had just received:

"I wonder how much candy is in here..."

Later, we went inside to get some food, etc. Natalie really enjoyed Karsten's company:

"Let me tell you a secret..."

"Tickle - tickle!"

At the farm - a story in sixteen pictures

This summer, we went to a local farm. There was lots to see. Natalie is not all that fond of getting too close to the animals, so for starters she was happiest when she could be up by Daddy:

"Carry me!"

The view from Daddy's shoulders was perfect for visiting the goats.

Soon, she got a little braver, and she even went for a ride on a horse:

Daddy helped her up.

One of the trainers led the horse around in a circle.

One proud girl.

We also went for a ride in a tractor-pulled wagon:

"This is fun!"

Natalie got to milk a real cow.

We had lunch in the barn. At first Natalie did NOT want her picture taken...

... But a big brownie soon changed her mind.

The hay that was stacked up at one end of the barn was perfect for picture taking:

The explorer.

The silly girl.

And the laugh.

Natalie and Daddy also got to pet a little black kitten.

And Daddy caught a duckling for Natalie to pet.

We finished the trip off with playing on the playground, on the bouncing balls with Daddy...

And in the sand with Mommy.

At the beach

We did make it to the beach a few times this year.

I couldn't go in the water due to some of my surgeries, but Karsten was there to make sure Natalie was safe - and had a lot of fun.

Getting ready for the water

The slide is always a hit

Water-squirter-fight!

Natalie and Karsten made this huge tunnel system, and then they let the water out from the big hole into the tunnels - engineering in action - maybe we should change the blog name to "Three Geeks"?

Tunnel builders

No trip to the beach would be complete without a giant freezy-pop

But the best thing was playing with Daddy.

"Again!"

Daycare Fieldtrip

On a Wednesday afternoon this summer, I got the dreaded call from daycare. Natalie had thrown up, and we needed to come pick her up. Over the course of the evening she got better, and by the next morning she was perfectly fine. Unfortunatly, policy at daycare is that she can't go back until 24 hrs after she stopped throwing up. And, the next day was a field trip day.

Fortunately, the field trip was to a local wildlife sanctuary. So, I took the day off, and Natalie and I went there at the same time as her daycare class. It was fun to see her interact with her friends.

Looking at the coyotes.

Studying the indoor exhibits. While the other kids were running around and playing, Natalie looked at almost all the exhibits. She's such a scientist.

We had a great time that day. And, we made it back to the car just in time to avoid most of the rain from the afternoon thunderstorm that came right at departure time!

Just a cute picture from one of the wooden observation platforms.

Last day of camping - going home

On the last day of camping, we had to pack up the cars again. This gave the girls another chance to do some gymnastics outside while us grown-ups were packing and cleaning inside:

The balance beam!

Brayden loved stealing Karsten's cap.

Of course, we had to have our traditional picture with all three kids. It only took about thirty pictures to get one where they were all looking at the camera and looking reasonably happy:

Cheese!

After checking out, we stopped by the Bears cottage again. We had some arwork to drop off:

Mail for the Bears.

Then we went back to the mini golf course:

Hole in one many, many tries.

On the way home, we stopped for lunch at a gas station / Subway. After a healthier lunch, it was time for a dessert for Natalie:

That's a big donut - with multi-colored sprinkles, of course.

When we got home, Natalie was happy to clean up a bunch of rocks while I unpacked. I think the idea for this came from the rocks we had been looking at at the campground:

So focussed...

Ready for drying and organizing.

Camping day three - afternoon and evening

After lunch, Brayden needed a little quiet time for a nap, so the girls and I went on a picture walk:

Ready, set - picture time!

First, we walked down by the water. The girls got a lot of photos.

They were also very curious about the water. First they dipped their toes in...

... then their hands.

There was also a great lookout spot. Of course, the funnest part was to run up and down the bridge to the platform!

Of course, we also had to get a picture with the big Yogi Bear statue - the girls sure know how to ham it up!

We ended up with some time at a playground. Natalie's favorite activity was the monkey bars - no surprise there!

In the evening, we brought out some glow in the dark bubbles. We were way too busy playing with them and having fun to take pictures - but we did get this one afterwards.

 I guess Natalie spilled a little of the glow in the dark bubble solution on her dress.

Camping day three - morning

On day three, we went on the hayride in the morning. Actually, we had to wait for a little while first - which was a great opportunity for pictures. Here's one of my favorites:

Just hanging out...

We also played on the playground for a while. The slide is always fun.

After the hayride, it was time to raise the flag and visit the Bear's cottage. Natalie got the honor of holding one of the flags:

Such a big girl - so responsible!

We got to go inside the bears cottage and meet the bears:

Natalie and Aubriella posing for a picture with Cindy Bear.

Of course, Natalie wanted to explore some more - so she climbed up to take a look at the top bunk.

Back at the cabin, we had time for a little playtime. Can you tell that it was right around the time of the Olympics, and we'd been watching a lot of gymnastics on tv?

Then it was time for the pool again. The girl can swim! On her own! And once she started, she wasn't going to stop for a long, long, time...

... In fact, the only thing that could make her stop swimming was the idea of jumping into the water with Daddy - again and again and again...

But I figured I'd finish this post with one of the cutest videos ever. Brayden can be such a charmer...