Raystown

Nana Sharon and Pappy Dave took all of us out to ride the Proud Mary at Raystown this past weekend. The kids got to feed the giant starving (kind of frightening) fish at the dock before we got on the boat. The fish were huge and looked like they could have swallowed Ryan whole.

Once we were safely on board we were able to relax and enjoy the scenery. The favorite activity was looking for jet skis, water skiiers and speed boats.

After the boat ride we went to a playground and the kids came up with a game - they were all wild pigs and Paul was a wolf. Paul kept attacking the wild pigs on the swingset.

Bald Eagle

Our bike riding adventures on Rails to Trails keep delivering great wildlife spottings. This past weekend we got to see a Bald Eagle perched on a branch across the river. Another rider spotted the eagle and pointed it out to us. It was so pretty. We all stopped and watched it for a while.

Ag Progress

We touched a lot of farm equipment at Ag Progress this year. Nana Sharon and Pappy Dave joined us for the day to check out all the latest farm equipment. We saw lots of tractors and the boys wanted to climb inside every single one of them. (including Pappy Dave)

The boys got to practice some horse grooming skills.

Giant Tires!

Now we just need something to dig up!

Summer Don't End Yet

We are still really enjoying the hot summer sun at the pool! I know it's getting close to the start of school, but I'm not ready for it to end. This has been our summer. David is a cannonball expert.

Ryan does small cannonballs onto the stairs. He is still enjoying the adventures his swim toys go on when we tell stories at the side of the pool.

Our typical afternoon involves being in the water for half and hour, snacking for half and hour, back to the water, snacking, walking around the pool, snacking, in the pool, snacking and then running around the basketball court, . . .followed by more snacking. The pool is just a distraction from the snack bar.

Little Boys

We had a rainy afternoon this week and invited 4 of David's friends over to play. We started the afternoon off with 5 treasure hunts for coin and then a final hunt for a snack. They were so loud and full of energy when they first got here. The house was full of screaming giggles.

It took about 40 minutes for them to find all the treasures. Than we had a snack and headed outside. The rain stopped for a little bit.

They had races around the trail in the woods. At one point I overheard David say to his friend "Let's spit on them as they cross the finish line." I was very relieved to hear his friend say "I don't think that's a good idea." :-)

It started to rain again and we all came inside. It was amazing how quiet they were. You could tell they were wiped out from the treasure hunts and races. The house was full of quiet little boys playing with racecars.

Baseball . . . Oh Yeah, That Was Happening Too

Sunday night was our 3rd night of baseball games at the Spikes. The boys were much more interested in hanging out at the Kids Zone area and doing the obstacle course and the bounce house. They raced through the course a few dozen times. David didn't quite get the concept of waiting in line . . . he would skip past kids to the front, pulling Ryan along. When I asked him about it he said "Oh yeah, those kids didn't mind us going in front." Hmmmm. Not so sure about that one.

Decisions. . .Decisions. . .to bounce or to race. . . . . . They had to sit and discuss.

At the end of the night, we made it back to our seats and Ike asked David to sit and watch the fireworks with him! What a great night!

Baseball Picnic

This weekend included lots of baseball! We went to see the Spikes play on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night! The boys ran the bases on all three nights. Saturday night was the picnic night for Paul's work. It ended up being a very full day, with the farm tour in the afternoon and then the game that night. The boys energy level never seemed to diminish.

David had a blast with his best Videon buddy, Todd. When Todd left David's side he ran around asking "Where's Todd?".

Down on the Farm

We toured 3 farms and a vineyard on Saturday afternoon with Nana Sharon, Pappy Dave, Grammy Jill and Poppy Dave. We drove a lot on route 45 into Amish country and then headed back toward State College to finish up with the vineyard.

Everyone, except Paul, enjoyed tasting 6 different wines and we all bought at least one bottle. Yum!

This was our view from the organic vegetable farm we visited. It was a long hike up the mountain, but the view from the top made it worth it.

The boys were real troopers. . . so was Paul. He carried both of them for most of the hike.

The little guy was born at the Amish dairy farm the day before the tour. He looked so soft and sweet all curled up and resting.

Ryan liked the baby ducks. All of the animals were for sale. We could have gone home with lots of baby ducks, chickens and bunnies.

This was our first stop. An amish dairy farm. Such a beautiful day.

David and Ryan got to feed the composting pigs. David talked about composting pigs all afternoon. I don't think he really understood what it meant, . . he thought it was a type of pig.

Fun with Cousins

Kelsey and Kaitlyn spent the day with us yesterday while Shelby attended at conference in State College. The kids did not stop moving from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. (except to sit down and eat) Dance party in the morning - Boom Boom Pow sung by Alvin and the Chipmunks (it's Munk Rock)

followed by Ice Cream snack outside (yes it was 10 a.m., but everyone was happy to have ice cream)

Pirate Pool and Slip n Slide for the 1st have of the day.

Kaitlyn loved spraying Twix. She couldn't stop giggling.

After lunch we went to the pool for the afternoon. Swimming, snacking, swimming and then snacking.