Over the river and through the woods...

... To grandmother's house we go!   Cameron had a month long rotation in DC and after it was determined that dragging 5 kids, two of which are one, around DC would be a nightmare, we decided to spend a few weeks visiting grandparents,  I mean if you can't be with daddy, you may as well be with his family. Right?  We had a GREAT time, here are a few of the highlights:

 Grandpa Great was Lilly's best friend during our trip to Florida. she loved climbing up on his lap first thing in the morning, and pretty much anytime of the day. Grandpa didn't seem to mind.

 Don't let this cute innocent looking face fool you.  This little guy caused a multitude of messes, He is by far my messiest kid and grandma's house was no different.

 He also happens to be a pro at stealing licorice from Grandpa Bill,  how can you resist such a cute little guy?

 On Saint Patrick's day we set a trap for our friendly Leprechaun but he was too sneaky for us, he did leave us a "taste of the rainbow" for our efforts.  I'm pretty sure we'll catch him next year.

 The little ones had a great time discovering the awesome toys at grandma's house. Many of them are ones Cameron played with as a child.

True to tradition, grandma baked cookies with the kids.  Snicker doodles got the highest vote.  

Everyone knows the best part of making cookies is licking the beaters, and we knew just the person for the job...

 Grandma and Grandpa have acquired quite the little farm since we last visited, 2 donkeys, and a bunch of chickens, apparently the cat and goats had a run in with the neighborhood cougar .. or maybe it was a bear... I can't remember which.  in any case the kids had a great time feeding the animals that survived and in case you were wondering, no we did not let the kids camp out in the back yard... or even go out past dusk...

The weather was completely unpredictable while we visiting, often when the weather was suppose to be bright and sunny we got buckets of rain, so grandma made some playdoh for the kids to play with on the rainy days,  it was a hit!

 You can't have a farm without a tractor!... okay so it's actually a riding lawn mower, but it's still way up there in the category of AWESOMENESS!

not as fun to play with the mower when you have to share the seat but we still managed to have a good time.  

COUSINS!!!

The only thing better then cousins is more cousins!  believe it or not these are only the grand kids from 3 of the 6 children... of course we are the 3 that have by far the most kids, 5, 5, and 7.

 Lilly and Peter loved holding little Olivia, in fact they were very upset when it wasn't their turn to hold her, as demonstrated.  Except for the occasional tantrum, they really were very loving and gentle with their little cousin, hopefully that will be the case when they have a new little brother...

 Eating yogurt, chillin' by the out door fireplace.  Life is GOOD!

 Grandma with her newest little addition to the family.  Olivia is one of the cutest, sweetest little babies.

 Braving the pool in the FREEZING cold (high 60's). Thankfully the pool was heated, so getting in was great, it's the getting out we had a hard time with...

 Sharing Grandpa Great.  With a new little cousin around, Lilly and Peter had to learn to share one of their favorite cuddle buddies.

 Every night while we were sleeping, this little guy made his appearance and ate anything and everything left out. We set a trap for him and had no luck, he was too smart and some how managed to sneak the food out of the trap without getting caught.  Well grandpa finally fixed the trap and he got caught,  The kids were SO excited to have a "pet" raccoon. The mommies on the other hand were not too thrilled with having a wild creature in a cage were little fingers might get bitten. so he got moved into the donkey cage where the kids could still see him but not get close enough to touch.

 Don't let the sweet innocent face fool you, racoons are actually quite vicious... despite any cute little book you may have read to your children recently.

Bow and Arrows

 Grandpa took the time to teach the kids how to shoot a bow and arrow.  The boys were the most excited about it.  What boy doesn't love a bow and arrow?

No chickens or young children were harmed in the shooting of this bow.

 Even Peter got into the action.  Even though he was strictly forbidden he has a tendency to do things like that. 

Meanwhile the girls had a great time making bows and hair flowers.  Fun times had by all.

beach, oh how we've missed you!

Naples FL has the best beaches! A trip to Grandma's house isn't complete without a trip to the beach.  so we made a beeline to the beach the first chance we got before Cameron left for DC.  It was as awesome as we remembered it.

  It was as awesome as we remembered it.

Lilly and Peter had fun walking up and down the cost with grandma.  They weren't too excited about getting wet, honestly it was too cold for any sane person, although they also didn't like being sandy so they would brave the water to wash off the sand.

This guy is a sand castle king.  He is good at digging tunnels and motes around his castles.  He is also great at entertaining the twins.

Grant is also good at castles but his speciality is big holes that can burry people, preferably himself.

Katelyn is our collector,  she finds all the interesting rocks and shells, she also LOVES to be in the water, no matter how cold it is... Crazy girl. 

this was Lilly and Peter's first experience at the beach and they loved it... mostly... they didn't love the sand sticking to them and they also didn't love going into the water to wash their hands so we had to have a water bucket so they could wash in the safety of the shore.

Cameron and his mom, we absolutely LOVE her.

it's fun to have Grandpa Bill and Grandpa Great come to the beach, even if they don't have any intention what-so-ever to get in the water.  we are always on the lookout for a "rich widow" for Grandpa Great.