8th Annual Campout

Each Summer we host our annual CAMPOUT for our younger nieces and nephews.  And each Winter or Spring I realize I never posted the pictures!

We begin the night with PIZZA!

Get all the tents set up!

ENJOY the summer night.

Roll out the CANDY, thanks to good ol' Sadie, (my bike).

"The Feast" kid style!!

Jake created a HUGE outdoor theater on the side of the carriage house,
with speakers on either side.

They watch movies until they can't keep their eyes open!
Always being sure to fit in "The Parent Trap", (THE ORIGINAL)!!

We make mass amounts of POPCORN & SMORES

and live life through the eyes of a child.

It doesn't take a lot to make a child feel special.

A little effort for a lot of memory!! 

"Please, let them be little,
'Cause they're only that way for a while."~Billy Dean~

Previous years of fun....they grow up so quickly,

soon they are "too cool" to come to our campout, (makes me sad, but maybe once they hit college age they will come back for the FREE FOOD!!!  That's your invitation Mitch, Carson, Tessa, Lance, Linds and Meg!!  XOXO. Aunt J.2007

2008

2009



getting ready....

We're enjoying these sweet, sweaty days of summer.

I found a swimming pool at a garage sale for $1.

it was naaaasty, but we scrubbed and scrubbed, (the boys and I)

and now it's as good as new!!

work hard~play hard, (although most of the time it's me=working hard and them=playing hard)!!! You know what I mean??

I'm out of coffee.

How did this happen?
I will never let it happen again.

It's wrong.
Of course, I have 2 new HUGE bottles of creme brulee creamer,
(of which I made a special trip to wal-mart for). But alas, no coffee.
Are you kidding me??

We're busy getting ready for our annual campout for my nieces and nephews.

it probably won't be as cool as last year, but it will still be loads of FUN!! Maybe I'll put together a "treasure hunt". Remember them? One clue leads to the next~ "I don't have waves like the sea, because they're so tiny you can't even see!!" (microwave).

So you run to the microwave, open it and there's the next clue......

or something like that.

i need coffee.

The boys have been watching a lot of "Curious George" lately. They now "talk" to each other in monkey talk...it's hilarious and annoying all in one.

Happy end of Summer........

"C is for cookie, that's good enough for me."

A little Taste of Summer ~ 7th Annual Campout

It's looking like this outside right now....

but here's a little taste of last Summer:

For the past 7 years we've hosted my nieces and nephews for our annual backyard campout!! Each year we try to have some different/new for them to experience. This year it was THIS:

and it was a HIT! The kids, (and adults) loved it and bounced around until the sun went down....and kept bouncing after that because we had spotlights shining on it!! It was quite the sight! Taylor Swift's "Fearless" album blaring over the outdoor speakers, (with constant requests to play #12) all kinds of candy and drinks galore and the bouncy house!

Oh, the Summer of '09!!!

We had pizza, chips and drinks for dinner....

And when the sun went down, we had smores and popcorn.

Then we bundled up and watched movies on the ginormous outdoor screen!

And then we had ice cream cones at 9:30 pm because, well, it's SuMmErTiMe
and the livin' is easy!
Sleep came at some point, not sure when!!

Somewhere between the OLD "Parent Trap" movie,

the giggles of little girls and the sugar crash!!!



RISE and SHINE, it's time to bounce.

I'm not a morning person, but on this particular day while there
was still dew on the ground I was being tackled by certain little boys in an inflatable house! Breakfast was served!! I get the sugary cereal and the mini donuts,
you know, all the stuff you aren't NORMALLY allowed to have!

Oh, and they wanted the leftover pizza for breakfast too!
Hey, why not??

Already looking forward to this year!

Making memories isn't hard~
it just takes time!!

Make some memories for the ones you love this Summer....

start planning now, it will warm you up on inside!!

Here's the link to the 2007 Campout!

Here's the link to the 2008 Campout!

Too much FUN!! The kids grow so much in one year!!

Flashback to Summertime-Campout 2008

It's November 19th and I just realized that I forgot to post pictures from our annual nieces/nephews campout! I was looking through our summer pictures trying to get warm inside and came upon them! Each year becomes a little event in and of itself. This was the 6th year in a row that we've done this and we don't intend to stop anytime soon! It's something that we all look forward to each Summer. So, here's to Summer!

The Happy Gang!
Mariah and Taryn...such great friends!

Self-explanatory...

the result of the above photo... My little chip-thief....

Caught!!! orange-handed! Sami, Kylie and Olivia. Golf anyone? Sweet Sophia. Here's a bunch lounging on the hammock eating pizza on a beautiful summer's eve.

Sami and Kylie...or shall I say, "Moldy Cheeseheads?" (don't ask)! All the kids running to see Grandma coming! So cute!!

Tyler and Chase crusin' around the yard, somehow Chase
is always the one pulling or pushing Tyler around! Bless his heart!!

The boys at their favorite place. Our makeshift "Thomas the train table."

The girls "swimming" in our hot tub! Always a highlight for them!

Playing on the giant ship and in the ball pit! (Thanks MaryJo for letting us use it)!

Movie Time! Jake cut down a tree and then rigged the screen on the side of the barn, with speakers on either side, (the cutting of the tree was a different night although I wouldn't put it past him to get an idea and put it into action immediately He's amazing! It looked so NEAT! We're looking forward to lots of outdoor movie nights next summer! A movie's not complete without....

POPCORN!
anxiously awaiting some buttery goodness!

We rented this great popcorn maker, (thank you Zimmerman's) and it came with popcorn and little pouches to put it in. They all looked so adorable sitting out there watching the movie with
their own personal popcorn in hand! Loves it!
JOY! We love our nieces and nephews so much! It truly is a highlight for us each summer.
Even when we were looking for a new home, Jake would say, in regards to the yard, "I don't think this yard would work for the campout!!" How sweet is he??


My buddies! (side note: could I please have my tan back? Thank you very much)!
Air mattresses outside = tons o' fun! EARLY the next morning, this is where I find Tyler and Aiden! Until next year...."God gave us memories that we might have roses in December."
~J.M. Barrie~

*"over the rainbow" israel k.