Knoebles

 At the end of the summer Amy called to tell us that she had unused passes for Knoebles and they were heading out later in the week to use them.  It didn't take much thinking on our part, Kylee and Ryland LOVE Knoebles.  They were very excited when they found out that we were heading to Pennsylvania to join Nana, Grandad, Aunt Amy, Jack, and Aunt Laura to join them at the park.

It turned out to be another great day at the amusement park.  Kylee and Ryland rode just about everything that they were big enough to ride!

Kylee, Ryland, and Jack loved "driving" the cars.  There was no line so they went on a few times in a row!

This is one of my favorite pics from the day.  It may look like just an empty car but nope ... Ryland is in there driving!  Ha!  If you look really close you can see a little piece of his head over the steering wheel!  Ha!

The whip is always a big hit with the kids.  They even got to ride on the big whip with Pete this year.  As you can see, Kylee is getting to be a little braver on some of the rides and putting her hands up. : )

We are already looking forward to heading to Knoebles again next year ... hopefully Kenzie will enjoying the rides as much as her sister and brother do! : )

Frying Pan Farm Festival

Over the summer we went to the Frying Pan Farm Festival with our friends, the Schlegels.

The first day we spent riding the rides.  Even though Ryland wasn't tall enough to ride most of them he managed to keep a smile for most of the day and we found a few that he enjoyed.  Kylee was excited to see that there was a Scrambler at the fair and Pete even toughed it out and rode all the spinning rides with her. : )

Kylee and Bryaden took a spin on the little Jeeps.  It was the same Jeep ride that we put the two of them on two years ago, when they were 2, at the same festival.  Oddly enough Ryland wasn't tall enough for this ride either!? : (

We were able to get some good pictures of the two big kids though.  Here is a comparison of them from the last time.  I'm sure you could figure it out but the top three pictures of from this year and the bottom three are from 2010.

We went back to the farm the next night for a Touch a Truck event and an outdoor movie of Cars 2!  We got there nice and early to make sure we had good seats for the movie.  After eating a picnic supper the kids decided to get up and dance to the music playing over the speakers.  (Kylee wasn't as into the pictures of her dancing.)

Then we headed over to the Touch a Truck and all the kids had a blast pretending to drive all the different trucks that were set up.  Even Kenzie got to drive a tractor!

It turned out to be a great two days at the farm and hopefully they will do the same thing next year.  The kids had a lot of fun!

Virginia Beach!

We decided to take a day trip down to Virginia Beach.  It was a gamble with how the trip was going to go but we knew that the big kids would like to play in the sand (even if they didn't go in the water) so we figured it was worth a shot.

We got there and set up our spot.  The kids started playing in the sand and watching all of the action in the water.  As you can see, Ryland never really had the same feelings about "not touching the sand" as Kylee did.  He thought it was hysterical for me to bury his legs and then for him to break free. : )

We then made our way down to the water.  The kids got closer and closer and started to let the waves come up and touch them.  They were pleasantly surprised with how warm the water was compared to the beaches we go to in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

After carrying the kids out to really get in the ocean (Ryland was of course willing to go first) they started to really enjoy the idea of playing in the water.  Kylee, Ryland, and Pete were having a BLAST running around and playing in the ocean.  Turns out that after the first 30 minutes or so the kids didn't really play much with the sand toys at all because they were spending so much time in the water.

Kenzie sat and played in her tent (mostly to keep her from eating the sand!?) while she would look up to check out some of the people or check to see what Kylee and Ryland were doing.

It turned out to be a GREAT trip and one that we will definitely be doing a lot more.  The kids still talk about  the "beach in Virginia." : )

Water Fountains in Richmond

On our last trip to the Children's Museum in Richmond we were able to have some fun in the water fountains that were outside.  Luckily, I happen to see online that the fountains were up and running so I packed extra clothes for all the kids.  Needless to say, they needed them!  Kylee and Ryland (and Pete!) had a blast running around in the water and getting soaked.  We let Kenzie sit and play for a bit too.  She was surprised when the water would spray her way but she never shied away from trying to grab it.  It turned out to be a great way to end our museum trip.

Clemynjontri

We took the kids to Clemynjontri (or the "balance beam park" as Kylee calls it) and they all had a blast.  It wasn't too crowded which was nice and even though a summer camp group came through we were spread out enough that you didn't even notice the large group.

Kylee has been trying to do the monkey bars for a while now but usually with Pete or I holding onto her legs.  We don't have to hold her too tight but just a little bit to keep her up there the whole time.  Well there is a set of monkey bars at the park that are low enough to the ground that if Kylee stands on her tip toes she is able to reach the bars herself.  This also means that if she falls off she is just going to land on her feet and try again.  After a few attempts she was able to get all the way across the monkey bars by herself!!!  She was very very excited and proud of herself and kept going back and forth on them.  I was able to get a video of her one of the times.  Unfortunately this is when the summer camp group came through and ran in front of her (and the girl ended up sitting in time out for not watching where she was going!?) so she was a little distracted.  You can still see how great she did and how proud she was when she finished! : )

Soccer

Kylee and Ryland have been taking soccer through Soccer Tots over the summer.

It was pretty neat to see how well Ryland was able to follow directions without much guidance from Pete or I.  He really did a great job and enjoyed going every week.

Kylee had fun but as we all know it takes her a little while longer to warm up to new things (and people!?)  So the first few minutes of every class were a little hard for her and we usually had to do a "parent fade out" in order to get her to participate.  Once she was into it and ready to go though she did a great job.  She was also great at following the directions and listening to the coaches.

Kenzie was just there to watch 2 hours worth of soccer.  For the most part she was content just sitting and watching but she was really excited when she was able to sit and move around on her own.

Kenzie is 7 Months!

Kenzie turned 7 months in July!  She is still a bubbly and happy little girl but she is also becoming quite the explorer.  At 7 months she was fully crawling ... belly off the ground and everything!?  She loves to watch Kylee and Ryland run around and I'm sure she will be joining them soon enough. : )