Bayly Camp Out: Hobble Creek

The Bayly's headed up to a nice little spot near Springville for our first camp out of the year, a place called Hobble Creek. It had a lot of huge trees for shade, hookups for the trailers, and very few bugs, which was nice. It also had tons of paths to explore and a nearby creek. As such, this post will be heavy with Finn pictures, as the the other three kids made themselves scarce with their cousins.

Thursday night we got off later than planned, therefore necessitating a dinner stop at the In & Out.

Look at that face... he knows how tasty those fries are...

Rory made good use of the bubbles we brought, using them to entertain Finn on more than one occasion. She palled around with Grayson, and got so filthy it looked as if her natural skin color were an unhealthy gray.

Dany and Avery spent every waking minute together, even meals. I don't think they fought even once, and seemed completely content in each others company, coloring, board-gaming, whatever.

 Maisie spent all her time with her boy cousins, playing in the creek, fishing, exploring, having a ball.

Finn mostly worked on charming his aunts into playing with him and sneaking him treats.

Aunt Carolyn gave him duct tape to play with... cunning genius...

Finn also managed to get himself fairly dirty, despite the fact that he wasn't able to crawl or really move much of anywhere. As such, we threw him in a trailer bath.

He loves baths, so he was all for it. On Friday, most of the adults and some of the older kids took turns at a nearby firing range. Teag went target shooting to try out different sizes/styles of guns that his brothers-in-law own, but when it was my turn, they'd switched to tactical shooting. We set up a scenario with four bad guys, and a hostage, and I didn't embarrass myself too badly :).

It was actually loads of fun, I could have spent a lot more hours out there.

Thanks to Kris and Tom for setting it all up and being so patient and instructive! It was a really fun camp out, and our kids fell into bed exhausted every night. Looking forward to taking the Bayly's to the property this August for a reprise!

Sometimes the Snow Comes Down in June

 While I was out and about today, I received this picture, with only a single word attached: Rory.

Oh the carnage. Made even more grim by the naked baby in the middle of it all. Several minutes later, the first text was followed with this:

That's right, make them clean up their own crime scene. When I got home, I asked Rory why she had made such a big mess. Her response was, "Because I just like to play in the snow." Certainly not what I was expecting. I'm sure Teag must have been extraordinarily frustrated at the sight of a million tiny bits of paper scattered to and fro in our basement, but I have to smile at her imagination.

School's Out For Summer

So school is officially out, and I think Teag and I are in a bit of shock that it happened so quickly. I can't believe an entire school year has passed already, it's madness. In just the first week, however, we've managed to pack in an impressive amount of summer fun.

Just before school let out, Maisie became the proud owner of these:

That's right, we have our first brace face. In recent years, we've made the unfortunate discovery that Maisie is missing half (HALF!) her permanent teeth. We have no explanation as to why this is the case, but it is. As such, she's had braces put on earlier than usual to make room for the two permanent teeth making their way up, and we're hoping to hang on to the rest of her baby teeth as long as possible.

Maisie's also been working on, with the help of two of her friends, a sort of clubhouse behind our shed. They spent some time painting a sign for it the other day.

"Cyber Girls" is what it says, though I have no idea why. One of the other mothers even furnished some carpet remnants to lay down on the ground, while one of the dads provided the sign materials. I'm hoping it becomes a great place for them to spend a lot of time outdoors.

A few days after school let out, we hit the pool for the first time.

Dany learned how to get herself around the pool with the aid of some floaties, Maisie had fun being tossed around by Teag, and Finn spent most of the time splashing in utter delight, while Rory bossed around everyone in the kiddie pool. Good times.

The next day we went hiking, as our plan is to do as many of them as we can this summer. This first picture is of us acting out various woodland animals, though Dany and Rory's impressions are a bit of a mystery.

 Finn loved being out in the fresh air, bouncing along on dad's back.

 The girls thought this part of the forest, located in Mueller Park, looked a lot like the forest in Narnia.

 They found some sort of wooden structure to explore that someone had spent a fair bit of time constructing previously.

And on the way back, Finn decided he'd already seen everything he needed to see and caught a few Z's instead.

The kids love the hikes, and are enthusiastic about being out somewhere new. Hopefully this will continue to be the case as the summer wears on.

Later that night, we went over to a neighbors house for hotdogs and an outdoor movie.

Finn was a big fan of the licorice portion of the evening.

Watching "Tangled" at the Kiser's.

Even Grandma and Grandpa Rogers were there!

This summer has started out with a bang, and hopefully the kids stay active and entertained for the whole of it, be it with activities, imaginations or vacations.

Happy Summer!

Happy 1st Birthday Mr. Finn!

Alright, prepare to be inundated with many pictures of utter cuteness. A week ago we celebrated little Finn's very first birthday, and he did not disappoint! We invited some family over to celebrate with us outside, and 

started off the party opening a few presents.

Every boy needs his first tool set :).

Notice the other two littles in the background?

After that it was time for cake. Per our usual, I made an entire cake just for the 1-year-old to dive in to. Finn's was a large caterpillar because we always call him Finny-Bug.

He could barely wait for us to finish singing to him before he attacked it.

He managed to pack away an impressive amount of that cake, let me tell you, while stopping to smile, play peek-a-boo, and generally mug for the camera.

It was seriously gratifying to see just how much he was enjoying his cake day.

Poor little Rory, on the other hand, was quite sick, and had been for days at that point.

She wanted so much to participate in all the fun, but mostly had too little energy to do anything but sit and observe. Thankfully she's feeling better now.

Our Finny has been such a pleasure, and this first year has passed in a blink of an eye. I'm so grateful he joined our family, he's made us feel more well-rounded and diverse. He's got a personality that just jumps off the page and lights up the room around him.

He's also so fun, and eager to laugh and play with everyone.

He's finally, finally, crawling, catching up after all that illness set him back.

But mostly, he's just sweet. He's such sweet boy, and such a welcome presence in our home.

And yes, he's in a pink pod. That's what you get when all your older siblings are girls. We love you Finny! Can't wait to see what your next year will bring!

Dany's Kindergarten Graduation Program

 Every year the 3 kindergarten classes at Newman get together for a graduation program, of sorts. Ree and I were both planning on attending, but Rory woke us up early that morning with a nasty stomach bug, so only I was able to go.

The program consists of several musical numbers from the group as a whole, with individual classes doing performances as well. The highlight of the program is the fashion show. Each child is asked to wear their favorite outfit, or a costume of what they'd like to be when they grow up. On Maisie's year, she was only one of a very small few that actually wore something other than a favorite outfit. It was much better this year, with many kids wearing costumes or outfits showing what they wanted to be when they're older. We had ninjas, soccer players, dancers, and several more. It was a much more entertaining program.

Dany told us she wanted to be a fashion designer (?), so she chose one of her favorite dresses, which we accessorized with a tape measure and sketch pad. Dany also agreed to let Ree put her hair in curlers the night before and the result was beautiful! She did a great job singing with her class, and walking the runway when it was her turn. I was trying to upload a video, but blogger is choking on it.

Anyway, there was a small Open House in her classroom afterward, so I snagged a few shots of Dany with her friends and teachers.

Dany with Tressa and Nevaeh

Dany's teacher, Ms. Rosca

Dany's Asst Teacher, Mrs. Brown. Nevaeh had to sneak in, too

Congrats to Danyn for completing Kindergarten. We're very proud of you. We hope you continue this amazing start for the rest of your schooling. We love you!