July 4th!

 Mike hung the Fourth of July banners on the front porch and we are ready to celebrate our nations birthday!  We have a full weekend ahead and we can't wait to celebrate the 4th at the cabin!

We drove to the cabin on Thursday morning and Ginger loves the mountain air driving in the drive way!

We celebrated Austin's birthday with his cousins!  Thanks to Amazon, I bought a few gaming party supplies and threw a party!

He was thrilled!

I thought these gaming cups were cute!

Matthew grabbed some fireworks at half price on the way to the cabin and put them off on Saturday night!

We took many trips in the woods with the riding toys!

Love of my life ..... 🔥!

So many rides!!!!

This is what breakfast looks like every morning!

We had glow sticks and sparklers for the kids!

And dad! 😂

The kids love parties!!!!  Happy birthday, Austin!!!!

Cross Net was played late into the night and Croquet Golf during the day!

These people were super excited to light a firework and watch it fly!

It really was a nice little show!  Perfect for the kids!  The past two years we said that we would drive to Gilten in Potter County to watch that big show but last year they were calling for bad weather and we decided to stay at the cabin.  Good choice.  This year I really thought we were going to go but after we mapped it out, it happens to still be a 2 hour drive from the cabin and we just weren't into driving that far and back again just for fireworks.  Maybe some day we will go and witness this show!  For now, it was fireworks at the cabin and that was another fun, good choice!

Dad owned property along the river and we took the crazy path down the mountain to get to the river and waded in the warm water one afternoon!

The water was swift but the kids loved it!!!!

The next morning views ... 

We were on the four wheeler driving out the driveway on our way to River Hills and we spotted a big bear in the woods.  It showed up at the cabin later that day!  This is a big one!

Mom and Dad are the best hosts!  They stock the cabin pantries with foods, toiletries and detergent!  We are so spoiled!

Thank you!!!!

The kids loved the glow tubes!

We live in a land with much freedom and abundance!  Happy Birthday, America!!!!!

July is here!

 How in the world is July here already?  We are already out of school for a whole month and the summer is flying by fast!  July is here and the summer heat is here too!  It's dry and hot outside.  The grass is crunchy and the garden needs watered every single day!  July is the month of more birthday celebrations and fireworks shooting into the night sky!  It's the month for cucumbers out of the garden and many BLT sandwiches are made!  Staying hydrated with lots of water is a must!  Sitting pool side will help beat the heat!

July 1 .... we celebrate Austin!  He turned 9 years old and has the best life!  He loves baseball and keeps us on our toes with his energy and love for the game!  Mike and Matthew do a great job with throwing catch with him in the back yard and Ashlyn plays this sport with him too!  There are many, many nights with baseball flying through the backyard air!  Austin loves waffle sandwiches for breakfast!  I start with a warm slice of a homemade waffles, Nutella, whipped cream, strawberries and top it with another waffle slice on top.  His best friends in the whole wide world are his cousins!!!!!  We celebrated Austin's birthday with a date with his dad and buying a very cool birthday gift!

We've said no to gaming games in the house for many years.  It's something we turned down when Matthew was a kid.  It's also something we found ourselves talking to our older kids about because when they start to ask or make comments like, "This isn't fair.  We were never allowed to have that or that!!!!"  Mike and I try to stay consistent with our two oldest and now our two youngest.  Times are different from 15 years ago.  We had a heart to heart talk with our older kids about this decision and they gave us a green light!  This gaming thing is not encouraging more screen time but actually encouraging time together with siblings and friends playing fun games!  So far it's been a very fun event for the two boys!!!!!

Austin is blessed to have a dad that loves him VERY much!!!!  Mike decided to take Austin for his gift this time because he knew buying this together would make a very fun memory!  Matthew bought Austin a new catchers kit and another gaming game.  He got other gifts and is so happy on this special day!

Every birthday, the kids get to pick where they want to have dinner.  Austin and Mike decided on PF Chang!  It's a family favorite!!!!!

We made a stop at Target and Dicks on the way home and then everyone joined in on the gaming fun!

"Happy birthday to you ....."

This was a fun day for this kid and we loved loving him on his special day!

Mike turns 47!

 

Mike celebrated another birthday and he's the man of the house that keeps us laughing!  He keeps me from taking life too serious!  He loves on me and the children every single day and we love on him!!!!  Life is well and Mike still loves coke and chips but is working out upstairs and is trying to get in good exercise!

Mike was in a golf tournament the end of last week and so we celebrated when we got home!  I made a homemade chocolate cake and we added some peaches and candles and sang happy birthday!

This is the man I love!!!!  Happy birthday Mike!