After the Brunch...

Lizzie just loves Grandpop Crispin! I love this one of him reading to her.

You might be a redneck...

If you make a giant slip-n-slide out of heavy duty plastic held down by milk jugs filled with water! That's okay, the kids had an absolute blast! Here's Darnel about to take out Jake!

And Gabrielle, with her gorgeous smile

Miss Kara Sue looks like she's bound and determined to take somebody out with this slide!

I guess Lizzie took my cousin, Adam's socks and dunked them into the bucket of water. Then Jon got them and it became a "throw the wet socks at my brother and cousin" game of tag. Kids make up the greatest games!

So sweet!

Lizzie and Gabrielle

Miss Natalie striking a pose

David with the wet socks...what a fun game...they were running around the yard laughing hysterically!

Lizzie with Uncle Mike (I hadn't planned on the water stuff, so no swimsuits...the boys borrowed David's, but Lizzie had to wear an old tank top of David's. Ah, it worked!

We had a BBQ with my family and had a fun time together.

Happy 80th Grandmom!

We all got together at a restaurant in Jersey for brunch and surprised Grandmom Crispin for her 80th birthday

Grandpop showing Lizzie the fish

Natalie showing me the blueberry and watermelon skewer she made. The kids had a blast dipping fruit into one of those chocolate fountains! I'm just thankful they didn't start sticking empty cups under it! ha ha!

David, Gabrielle, Lizzie, and Jake posing for a picture...Jon and Darnel were probably still going up to the buffet (the kids counted their plates...Jonathan, age 4 mind you, had 13 and Darnel, age 14 had 14 empty plates! GEEZ!!! We are so going to be broke when our boys are teenagers!)

Happy Birthday, Grandmom! We all love you!

Independence Day

Grab a snickers, it's a long one!

We actually started the fun on July 3rd and just kept right on going til the weekend was over.

Uncle Bill and Aunt Chris invited us to join them and my Gram for a picinic lunch down at Riverview Beach Park in Jersey. It's a pretty park right on the DE River. We all enjoyed seeing the big ships go down the river, seeing the planes fly overhead, playing baseball, playing on all the playground equipment, walking around, eating great food, and just enjoying each other's company.

The boys by the river.

Free ride

Doesn't Gram look ornery in this picture??

Liz loved the cup holders in Uncle Bill's chair!

The five of us with Gram

Aunt Chris, Uncle Bill and Gram

Jon asked Gram if he could get his picture taken with her.

I love this one!

You can imagine how much they liked this one...climbing and train all in one!

We had a great time. Thanks guys! It was great to see you all!

After hanging out for awhile at the park, we headed to Woodstown (just 15 min away or so) to Mommom and Popsy's house for a nap...and then lots of swimming!!!

Jake actually swam to the bottom of the pool to fetch this thermometer that came untied (can't imagine who did that?) from the side.

This girl loves the water and loves to be THRILLED!

After a yummy dinner, we headed out to the Ewart's house. They live near a campground that does a nice fireworks display and have a great view from their front yard. They're kind enough to invite us each year. Jake had fun catching fireflies.

And so did Jon, of course. Those two are never far apart. And that makes a mama happy.

Since the fireworks didn't start until 9:30, Liz went in her pjs...and jacket...it was chilly!!! I can't believe it, but she stayed awake the whole time!

Andy, Popsy, Mr. Ewart, and Andy's friend Mr. Edwards all played this fun beanbag game. Popsy is one tough competitor, let me tell ya!

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree....

The next morning, Andy and I got up early and went out to the rec field to run the annual Woodstown Firecracker 5K! Aren't you proud of us? Andy's been running, but my lazy behind hasn't run in years...seriously. I was running on the treadmill when I was pregnant with Liz, but not since she's been born. And it was a long time before that that I actually ran outside, so I was happy I made it the whole way...and in 29:30. Andy was way ahead of me. Anyway, after a quick shower, we headed downtown to the parade. Aunt Kimmy came down to join us.

Lizzie LOVED the parade. She got so excited at everything...firetrucks, bands, CANDY, POPSCICLES.

Jon giving me his cheesy grin. Anyone know when those cheesy grins stop and I get nice natural smiles again?

Must have been a long parade. Jon needed a rest.

Lizzie showing off her little fireman's hat.

And time to swim again...

That night, my folks invited us to go out to the Cowtown Rodeo! I haven't been in YEARS! Andy passed to stay home with Liz so she wouldn't be up so late two nights in a row, but I took the boys. They really had fun...and they always have a great time with all their cousins. We sat right down by the fence at the end where the bulls come out of the stalls. It was pretty exciting!

Sunday, the neighbor that lives behind Mommom and Popsy's house invited the boys to come try out their zip cord thingy. Here goes Jon!

And Jake! It looked really fun! I don't think it would hold me though, but I would have done it if it could!

And why not swim just one more time? I think Aunt Kimmy might have taught Jake this cool trick.

Jake was getting pretty good at swimming by the end of the weekend.

This face says it all...FUN!

Happy Independence Day, America!

We're blessed to live in such an amazing country.

Trip to Williamsburg

We travelled down to Williamsburg at the end of June for a little vacation. We stopped on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and walked out on the pier for a little stretch and potty break. The kids enjoyed seeing the boats, watching the people catch fish, and figuring out the whole bridge/tunnel thing.

We spent the afternoon of that first day just hanging out at the pool and playground at the condo. The next day, we went to Busch Gardens. These horses are massive, let me just tell ya!

Jon became fascinated with the map and walked around all day checking it out.

Jake, Popsy, and Jon on the big cargo net

Lizzie on the ladybug ride. Andy tried to ride with her, but the ride operator said, "um, sir, you're too big to ride this!" What ever gave you that idea? The knees up to his nose???? He was just trying to be a good daddy.

The boys "flying"

Liz and Mommom on the flying dragons

A barrel of monkeys?

The next day, we walked around Colonial Williamsburg. The kids enjoyed this little stop where they got to try out some old-fashioned games and toys

We found this cute little spot with the fallen log over a stream. Evey boys' dream, right? Both the boys kept their balance and walked across, and so kindly posed for this sweet picture. By the way, the arm around his brother's shoulder was not my idea. There's that sweet Jonathan emerging again.


Half a day walking around Colonial Williamsburg was about enough for three little kids (and probably Mommy and Daddy, too!!), so we spent the afternoon at the pool. Here's Liz floating in her little tube. She LOVES the water!


The time we were in Williamsburg just so happened to be the same time our friends, the Gebharts, were down there. We had a blast walking around Busch Gardens with them. Anna and Jake were walking all around holding hands, saying "come on, let's go ride Big Bad Wolf! Sit by me!" and stuff like that. It was cute. Donald, Popsy, Andy and I all rode the BIG roller coasters, too! They were so fun! We had a blast! The second day, we had Gebharts over for dinner at Mom and Popsy's timeshare where we were staying. The kids put on a little show for us after dessert. It was cute.

Such a fun little getaway!

Sweet Jon

July 1st, Andy and I stayed up late watching a movie. We went up to bed around 11:30 and there was a fierce thunderstorm going on outside. Andy checked on the kids, as usual, but Jon was awake this time, worried about his family being out in the storm.

Jon: "Is all five of us in the house, Daddy?"
Andy: "Yeah, buddy."
Jon: "Oh good. I can sleep now."