Batsto Village Hike

Sunday was a beautiful day, but not quite beach weather, so we headed out to Batsto to try out a trail we hadn't been on that went around the lake.

After much whining and complaining before we left the house related to the fact that we were horrible parents who never let him pick out anything to do and we always drag him on hikes that he hates, Rudy ran ahead and went down to the water as much as he could and generally had a good time (although he would never admit it).

Rudy's latest interest is the show Finding Bigfoot. So the whole time we walked, he talked about the pros and cons of the woods and whether Bigfoot might live there. Then he found these tracks. (Or rather, Paul 'found' them and then pointed them out and Rudy then saw them everywhere.)

A nice place to sit and relax.

The second part of the trail went away from the water and wasn't as scenic (and by that point someone was hungry and grumpy), but we made it to the picnic benches at the end and good humor was restored (until the next hike we drag him on!).

Summer, Week 1

Since I can't remember anything fun and significant we did last summer, and since we created a summer bucket list/ goals list, I decided I would keep of track of what we've done on here as a way to remember.

Monday- lazy first day of vacation for me and Rudy. Relaxed and did a few things at home, then Rudy went to PALS and I headed to work.

Tuesday- $1 movie of Hotel Transylvania. A trip to the bank for a new debit card (a nice start to the summer- 7-10 days of no debit cards!). I started a large puzzle that we'll ( probably I will) work on through the summer.

Wednesday- Rudy practiced writing by writing and mailing a letter to his friend, Anna. We went to the library, where Rudy found a Doctor Who graphic novel. Rudy made scrambled eggs for lunch (his first time).

Thursday- I worked all day so Rudy happily spent the day at PALS.

Friday- Rudy made himself scrambled eggs for breakfast. We ran some errands, including stopping to browse at the books store where Rudy found all sorts of Doctor Who things. We went to the summer reading kick off at the library, which included science experiments with dry ice and fire. Fun stuff! To end the week, Rudy saw The Lorax at the park and got to hang out with a bunch of his friends from school.

Father's Day Weekend

Saturday this weekend, Paige came to spend the night with us. We decided to head to port Republic to the beach. The water was a little cold but neither Paige nor Rudy seemed to care.

Sunday we went to brunch for Father's Day with my dad and Bill and Renee.
The fathers.

The fathers and the little ones.

All of us.

The moms and kids

After brunch, we had to walk past the carousel to get to our car, so Rudy and Paige (and Bill) took a little ride.

Baseball

Rudy had a great season of baseball this year. His skills have really improved and this year he tried out, and really enjoyed, being catcher.

These are pictures from the Championship game. His team lost, but had a great year,

He wanted to go to Rita's after the game. His trophy had to come with us, but he didn't want a picture with him and his trophy and his water ice. I had to try, though.

Cape May Camping

As June approached it was again time for our camping trip with our Guatemalan friends. We were lucky this time to be very close to the campsite. We all arrived Friday night and headed down to Sunset Beach to watch the day end. The kids, naturally, ended up in the water.

The women.

We had ice cream and watched the ferries arrive and then headed back to camp.
In the morning the fun began. The kids jumped rope a lot.

There was an epic battle between father and son.

We headed to the beach in Wildwood. We were some of the first to arrive and had a beautiful spot to sit and play.

Olav got his run in by chasing Ashton up and down the beach.

Rudy, Paul, and Liliana enjoyed a game of wiffle ball.

After lunch on the beach we headed back to the campsite. Some rested. Rudy and Lily headed over to the lake to try out the slide.

Paul rested at the lake.

Just before dinner we all headed over to the pool.

So sweet. Friends forever.

After dinner we had to make s'mores.

The older kids had the chance to use a peep instead of a regular marshmallow and thought it was the coolest thing!

And they jumped rope some more.

Breakfast the next day took place while playing cards.

We packed up our campsites and got ready for the usual pictures. We asked Rudy to stand for a sample picture to check the light by the tree, and this is what we got. Oh boy, what a ham!

All the kids

The Guatemalans.

With a silly picture.

The Murphys

Again with silly pictures.

The Gjerdes

The Henrys

Everyone

One final big kid group hug.