WEEKEND: FAUX CAMPING, HORSES & MORE

The swimming pool opens this coming weekend, but this past weekend found us bundled in jackets to be outdoors.  I guess Elsa really is still angry, because the polar vortex had one last go round here in the Rock.  Today it is back to 80 degrees, and I'm so glad.  Last week was booked solid with activity and stress, and this weekend, it felt so good to be able to be together as a family and have fun activities planned for us!

On Saturday, we headed to a horse party for Kirsten.  You cannot really go wrong heading to a farm, and the horses were all so beautiful and pleasant.  All of my kiddos loved seeing them, and the big girls had a great time riding.

After the horse riding, there was cake and a piñata - birthday mainstays that certainly make everyone happy.





For our evening activities, we got invited to the Helmicks to cook out over a fire and camp out in the backyard, if we so chose.  Because it would be absolutely no fun with the babies, and we needed to get sleep this weekend, we passed on staying the night.  We actually did go camping a couple of year ago with these friends, and we talked about how fun it will be when all of our babies get a little older to go camping again.  Always near bathrooms.

Lots of our friends came for dinner, and everyone had a great time around the fire, especially the dads.  They had their job cut out for them, because everything was wet from the rain.  Nothing a little (or lot) of gasoline couldn't fix.

Here are the adorable hot dog helpers making their way to the table.  The little picnic tables were quite a hit.

We did s'mores after dinner, to everyone's delight.  Violet loved her first taste of marshmallow.  She cried when it was over and kept eying mine.

(They took marshmallow roasting very seriously.)

After dinner, we bathed the babies to get the campfire smell off of them before putting them all to bed in the same room.  There was no crying.  It was a May 17th miracle.



We put the big kids in PJs and put them to "bed" in the tent so they could "sleep" for a little bit before we left.




(That's the Little Rock Educator of the Year reading to my children.  Yep.  We are so proud of him!)

As the parents sat around the campfire, we marveled again at the fact that the children don't realize that we could hear them.  It is so funny to hear what they say to each other.  The older girls were trying to boss the slightly younger kids, and there was a lot of giggling.  It was a great evening of faux camping that ended in our own beds, freshly bathed and ready for the next day.

Sunday after church we hit up the 30th annual Greek Food Festival with some dear friends.  Sadly, this is the only picture I took.  I missed the moment when the four oldest kids were transfixed by the Greek dancers.  Such a tasty, fun lunch!



Good times.  Great weekend.  Happy Monday - I hope your week is getting kicked off well.