Noah's Ark!

The Rubles came to town for a long weekend and Lisa suggested we take the big kids to Noah's Ark for the day. They were pumped for a special day and we were excited to relive our childhood! 

Don't look excited at all - do they?!? 

Catching a wave on our way in...

Lunch time selfie! 

We had planned to pack a lunch and have a picnic - but the morning got crazy and it didn't happen. 

So lunch was corn dogs, nachos, and cheesy bacon fries - topped off with Oreo churros!  

It was a chilly cloudy day - but the boys had fun! 

Very few lines - but very chilly. We walked around with our towels for the afternoon and enjoyed sitting in the kiddie pool for a while since it was warm. There were a couple tube slides with no life guard and the boys enjoyed throwing themselves down it and crashing into one another (and others) over and over and over! 

 

We made a stop at the candy store on the main drag --- the Ruble boys got "make your own" pixie stix!  (Did I mention Lisa was taking the kids to the cottage after and I was going back home to work the next day?!?) 

Lots of flavors --- I heard Jojo comment that maybe he shouldn't have put banana next to root beer (yuck!) 

 

Happy (and finally warm again) kids! 

 

We topped off the night with dinner at Rocky's 

Overall the day was great - but not quite what I remembered.

Happy to have the short lines - cause there is no way any of us would have wanted to wait in line for 90 minutes (like many signed suggested!) for one tube slide.

Pearl Lake Days

Pearl Lake days did not have the beautiful weather we are used to - but we still had fun! 

The Ulrichs were visiting so it was little boy central again and they had a blast! 

 

It was sunny for the morning so there was lots of swimming! 

 

We walked down to get some corn from the festival (my favorite part!) 

and jsut ate it at home before the boat parade. 

 

Then we got pizza delivered in and had a picnic on the boat. 

 

The weather kind of killed the parade - only 4 boats! 

But they were great boats! 

 

Our favorite was Lightning McQueen! 

 

They even tossed us some inner tubes that looked like racing tires! 

 

Isaac was a fan! 

 

James has been wearing this visor for a few weeks! 

 

Three curious boys and one munching on the rest of the pizza! 

Posing with our favorite boat and friends! 

 

The weather improved and the boys were ready to swim despite the fact that they didn't have their suits on... 

 

Oh well - its summer and wet clothes never hurt anyone :)

We (heart) family!

We so love having lots of family at the lake! 

The boys love hanging with Corey! 

 

When a sea plane landed - Lisa and Karen took the boys out to go check it out. 

Ben helped by being the rudder :) 

 

TJ took James in his kayak! 

 

And thankfully Karen was there to give Jojo a tow when he got tired! 

 

We love Pearl Lake and Cousin time! 

 

These boys are getting big!!! 

 

Family selfie! 

Treasure Hunt

Grammy pulled together a treasure hunt for the boys again this year. Another year older means harder clues and more readers! 

Everyone had color coordinated clues and of course bandanas and pirate tattoos! 

 

These two goofballs! 

 

Jimmy and Jojo 

 

And they are off! 

Grammy made some tough clues this year - they even had to go inside the train shed and some clues lead to tricky dead ends and giggles. 

 

TJ and Jojo read most of the clues - but Jimmy did his part too! 

 

One clue was even written by Grammy (vs. typed) and Jojo could read the whole thing! 

We needed a picture since many adults have trouble reading grammy's writing - we were SUPER impressed that Jojo could do it! 

 

Their loot was under the canoe! 

What a fun time! 

Cousins at Pearl Lake

We got to spend a long weekend at Pearl Lake with the Rubles at the end of July. Mom, Dad and I had all 5 boys for half the weekend and thankfully the weather was awesome! The boys swam and played and swam some more - they were exhausted! 

We had lots of Mable rides - it is clear that these kids are gonna be just like us - the boat driver and rider are bored before they are ready to be done! 

 

 Love their wind blown hair! 

 

Grammy and Buppa got a canoe from some neighbors at home and the boys were pumped to try it out. 

 

Of course there are paddles for everyone - too bad we didn't let them out of the bay! 

 

They do look like they know what they are doing though...

 

Another year older and lots more independence... 

They take the paddle boat out to the raft and tie it up all on their own. 

 

Thumbs up all around! 

 

Also new this year - dragging behind the booze cruise. This was how we spent our childhood (partly because there wasn't enough room for all of us in the boat - but mostly because it was more fun to float and play on the tubes vs. a slow ride around the lake. 

 

We were taking bets on who was going to accidentally go in the water first --- I don't have a picture of it - but it was Isaac (duh!) Then it became a game :) 

So glad that they love the water and are so fearless (with life jackets!) 

 

Rescue mission - the littles fell in! 

TJ did a great job all weekend of helping all of the guys when needed! 

 

 

The big boys and I slept in the tent one night - bedtime selfie! 

 

Some more firsts from the weekend - some water skiing on shore and James even tried it behind the boat! Jimmy also swam without his life jacket --- again, clearly not afraid! 

 

He figured it out and is swimming like a fish. Still happy to wear the jacket - but glad to see such progress!