July update

July is flying by and I have not had time to update my blog lately. So here is a quick overview. After we recovered from the birthday party fun for Javin we dove right into a garage sale!! It went pretty good and we sold a bunch of stuff. But somehow there was still a lot leftover! Oh well. I love to clear out the clutter in my house. It makes me feel lighter! We had quite a few Amish buggies stop by. It was interesting to see my stroller hanging out of the back of buggy as it drove out the lane. :)

We made our annual trip to Orrville for rides at the carnival and fireworks. Not as good as Red, White and Boom, but worth the trip for around here. Javin can't wait for his trip to the big amusement park. This kid loves fast rides!

My parents took the kids to the zoo in Cleveland. Kailyn was so excited for this trip and would ask me eveyday if it was time to go. They enjoyed seeing all the animals. It was a hot, hot day but they all survived the heat.

We tried out the canal tow path at the Cuyahoga Recreation Park near Cleveland with the Bichsel family. We boarded a train and rode a little more than 6 miles on it, then rode our bikes back to our car along the tow path. It was a beautiful day and we had a fun time.

This week the kids have been at the Millersburg pool for swimming lessons. They both have been doing awesome! The water is usually pretty cold but they have been able to just get right in and practice. Javin is in an advanced class and Kailyn is in a beginner class.

We got some unexpected tickets to see the Indians play baseball this week. That was real treat! The seats were fabulous and we had an awesome comeback game to watch. The Indians won it in the 11th inning! Broken bats, homeruns, booing fans, double plays - fun times!

Sheriff Javin had a wild and fun birthday this week. His kids' party was filled with play time, games, and cake.

The cake story starts the evening before the party. I made Javin a Sheriff Badge cake in the shape of a star. I had it all frosted and partly decorated when I took a break to put him to bed. I left the cake on the counter. When I came back down awhile later. Molly had ate one of the star points off the cake!! Thankfully, I was able to use leftover pieces to make another star point. That dog loves to eat cake! At least it wasn't chocolate this time!

Mimi got to take him out for breakfast to start off his birthday celebration and then the party began.

The kids played outside on the swings and with the outside toys until lunch was served. Pizza does the trick with little party goers.

Then came presents. He got such nice gifts from his friends. He gave the biggest reaction to his sister's gift of a jump rope. He has been jumping rope like crazy now. We saw the movie Jump In and he was inspired to learn how to do it. He also got a Slip N Slide which we promptly got out and set up for the rest of the party. The kids had a great time sliding on it. After they dried off a bit, they played a few party games. The human tug of war at the end of London Bridges was quite funny and water balloon relays were bursting with fun. For his Sheriff theme he had handcuffs and sheriff's badges for all his friends. Ben's wondering when Javin is going to get those handcuffs off his arm! Happy 7th , Javin!

Camp Fire Recipes

I got some of my camping recipes from Allrecipes.com. They had a camping recipes section with some interesting ones. Here is the banana concoction.

Peanut Butter Banana Melties

INGREDIENTS:
4 large bananas
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS:
Leaving the peel on the bananas, slice each in half lengthwise. Smear the inside with peanut butter, and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Place the two halves back together and wrap each banana individually in aluminum foil.
Cook in the hot coals of a campfire until the banana is hot and soft, and the chocolate has melted, about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the heat of the coals.

Here are some pictures of our Shrimp Boil and more camping fun:

Camping capers

This weekend was a fun adventure in camping. We had great fires to warm up to in the evening and beautiful mild weather. Morris even brought his own fire barrel for cooking and heat. Javin made several new friends while riding his bike around. They were up at 7 am riding bikes. Hope no one was planning on sleeping in around there! It was a bit chilly for swimming but Javin didn't seem to mind. He got his fill of water slides for one day at least.

The resident raccoon came to visit us one night and stole our bread and made a hole in the graham cracker box. He had no interest in the coffee, picky eater I guess. Here is a picture of Dad holding the remains of our box.

And the food...That was the best! We had all kinds of tasty treats to roast over the fire like smores and apple pies in pie irons, and bananas filled with peanut butter and chocolate chips. Mmm. Yum. We ended the weekend with a grand Shrimp Boil that included sausage, potatoes and corn on the cob. It is all prepared in a turkey fryer and then spread out on the table that is covered in butcher paper. Everyone eats it all up with their hands. What fun! I'll have to post pictures later of this annual tradition!

Molly went along with us. She did wonderful. She just got her summer haircut which helped keep her clean and tidy. But at night it got cold and she was shivering on the bed, probably wishing for all her hair back.

Time Flies By

Where has the time gone? The past few weeks have just flown by. June is a challenging month for us. Javin's school ended so we began a new summer routine. I'll post more about my summer school for the kids later. The anniversary of Kevin's death and Father's Day have now come and gone. Those two have got to be the hardest days for me to face all year. Too much down time gets my mind to wondering down depressing roads, so I respond with a full schedule of activities to keep things interesting. A trip to Chuckie Cheese for a birthday party was just what we needed to keep our spirits up.

We got our borrowed pop-up camper set up and had our own little camping night in the driveway. We were surrounded by animals with deer out one window and horses out the other... Then our neighbor decided to mow the yard at 9 pm, so our serene evening was drowned out by the rumble of the lawn mower. Ahh the joys of camping. The big question was, "Whose bed is Molly going to sleep on?" She ended up choosing Kailyn's bed but Kailyn kept kicking her so I moved her to Javin's bed. It was a fun outing before we head out this weekend for the real thing.

Sunday we went to Mohican for a picnic lunch and hike to Lyons Falls (uhh..Trickle, I mean). Kailyn does not have the endurance and energy that Javin had at her age. She walked pretty slow and had to be carried part of the time. It was a nice little hike with beautiful surroundings. Don't squint too hard, but there is water falling down from the top of that cliff. You'll have to take my words for it.

Javin's Tball season ended and Tae Kwon Do started up. He has been enjoying his class which is very small right now. He is getting lots of personal attention and is being challenged to work hard. Just what he needs.

Hole in the Mouth

Javin has had some excitement the last 2 days. His top middle tooth finally came out yesterday. It had been just hanging on for some time. Then this morning the tooth beside it came out as well. The adult tooth is already showing through. He has a big hole in his mouth today!

He said last night that I should just give him his money, instead of putting his tooth under his pillow for the tooth fairy. I have no idea what he did with his tooth because it wasn't under his pillow last night. He didn't even remember it this morning. I guess it is not a big deal to him.

Bunny Tale

On Friday, Kailyn and I came upon a bunny in our yard. He was so cute. Kailyn walked very close to him before he darted away to my flower beds. He scurried about from plant to plant trying to hide himself before he took off through the yard again. He ran all around and came very close to us several times. Kailyn was quite impressed with the bunny in our yard. I hope he doesn't discover the garden. Here he is hiding by the steps.

We have also been enjoying the wildlife display in our front yard. This time of year our view is filled with little fawns. God's precious creatures.