Geocaching

On Saturday, Jeff took the kids and I Geocaching.
What's geocaching??
Well, first you need this:

a GPS.

You also need these:

small "treasures".

I need one of these:

but you can't have him....he's mine. =)

You also need these:

Some excited kids who want to look for treasure.

Geocaching is where people have hidden "treasures" in various places.
You have to find it using coordinates that they give you.
You put those coordinates in a GPS.
We happened to have one of these treasure sites right in the park by our house!
The hunt we went on consisted of three sites that had to be found.
The last site contains a "treasure" that you can take,
but you have to leave a treasure of your own in it's place for the next person to find.
The kids had graciously given up a car, ring, and bear to leave.
We had the coordinates to find the first site.
Lily found the first container!

This is what was inside:

It told us the coordinates for the next site.

We put them in the GPS and were off to find the next clue.

Riley found this one.

Jeff had to lift him up into the tree to get it!!

This container held the last coordinates.

These would lead us to the "treasure"!!

We found where the "treasure" was supposed to be........

but someone had taken it! =(
They hadn't even left the box that the "treasure" was supposed to be in.

The kids had a great attitude though.

They wanted to leave their treasure behind anyway so the next person would have something to find, even though they didn't find anything.

We asked if they had fun anyway.

Their answer was, YES!!

And just to keep it real for all of you.........


this was Lily's face after she had a major meltdown during the hunt.

Yeah for 3 year olds.........

=)


If you would like to go on your own geocahing hunt, you can find the website here .

Two more down...One more to go

We checked off number 19 on our list of summer things; going to the zoo
We went with my mom.
The kids were excited that Grammy was going with us!

In the Chimpanzee house, we got to see a baby!

So cute!

The kids were not as interested in him as my mom & I were though.

They preferred the coin thing where it makes your coins swirl around and around......

They also really liked the misters!

They were soaking wet after this one. =)
The kids had fun, but hopefully the next time we go to the zoo it will be a little bit cooler.

Jeff and the kids checked off number 7 last weekend.

Sleeping in a tent!

Jeff set the tent up on the deck this year.

Even Lily slept in it.

ALL night too!

Mommy still did not sleep in the tent.

Even though I was asked to LOTS of times.....
I am sure someday I will want (be forced) to sleep in a tent with them.

But for now, I am perfectly OK with sleeping in my nice, comfy bed in my nice, air conditioned, bug-free house. ;-)

So now we only have one more thing to check off of our list and we are doing that this week!!

We have all of the boys' school supplies and uniforms, and Lily picked out a new backpack.

Just a few more care-free weeks left.

On a funny note, we took an impromptu trip to Oklahoma this past week for a day and a half.

Jeff had to go out to one of the crews for his work and we decided to tag along with him.

We made the decision on the spur of the moment and I had 15 minutes to pack.

When we only had about a half an hour until we reached our destination I discovered I am NOT a good spontaneous packer.

I NEED lists!!

As we were nearing our hotel, I remembered that I did not pack my deodorant, toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner, or hairspray!!!

I don't know why I forgot those essential things!

So next time we decide to just up and leave with Jeff, I will have to take a little bit more time to think about what I am packing. =0

Picking Peaches

Number 13 on our summer list was picking fresh fruit.
While we could have counted picking the watermelon from our own garden,
we decided to go to a peach orchard and pick peaches.
We went to Sergeant's Berry Farm in Haysville.
The kids' favorite part (I think) was getting to eat the first peach they picked.

We tried to help them pick ripe ones, but Lily liked to just pull them off of the tree.

It was really hot the day we went.

But then the sky started to turn gray......
That was OK, it was starting to cool off.

Then it started sprinkling.

That was OK too.

It was actually refreshing.

Then it started POURING!!!

That was not so much fun.

Luckily there were some workers in the same part of the orchard we were in, so they helped us pick ripe peaches quickly so we had some to take home.

Then we rode back to the barn.......

soaking wet!

Poor Lily was so cold.

We were going to pick blackberries too, but we did not get to do that.

We did get plenty of peaches though!

One whole box full.

We made peach crisp out of some of them.

Mmmmmm!

The kids were eating them like crazy!!

I had bought some fruit fresh so I could freeze some,

but I wasn't sure I was going to have any left to freeze!

They ate them for breakfast and with lunch, and in between.

I am glad that they like peaches so much.

I was able to freeze some, so now we have a yummy cold treat for these very hot days!

Next time we will have to get more!

Brave Zach

On Thursday, Zach showed us that he is ready to swim in the deep end without his lifejacket!

He is also perfectly comfortable diving into the deep end....


without his life jacket......
even doing flips!!!


(that mat looks closer than it really was...)

He was SO proud of himself!!!

And I was SO proud of him!

Good job Zach!!

On another note:

You may remember at the beginning of the summer, Lily was not too fond of being in the pool without holding on to someone.

Well, on Thursday, she sat on the stairs, by herself!!!!

This was a BIG step for Lily!

Yeah Lily!!

As for Riley......

there's not a whole lot that scares this one....

Jeff & I may be in trouble as he gets older. ;-)

Fountain and Park Fun

Sometimes I wonder how it is that I have lived in this city my entire life and I do not know everything that is in it.
I did not know that a cool fountain that kids could splash in existed.
I also did not know a playground was located right next to it.
It is in Riverside Park.
I know where Riverside Park is....I just have never been in Riverside park.....
even though I did my student teaching at Riverside.....
The power of observation people, it's a good thing. =)
Anyway......
My sister Dianna took her and our brother's boys to it last week.
They had a ton of fun!
So, she invited my sister Mary, me and our kids to go with her this week.
I wasn't too sure how well Lily would like it.
She is not a fan of sprinklers.
Camden showed her the ropes though, and I think she really enjoyed it after she got used to it.

There was no "getting used to it" for the boys though......

It was all or nothing for them!

The playground is literally right next to the fountains.

Cooper and Carson showed my boys that their wet swim trunks make you go down the slides fast!!
They loved it!

Lily liked climbing up this net.

Then is was back to the fountains....

.....and back to the playground.....

..and back to the fountains....

After several times of running back and forth, we settled the kids down for a picnic.

Thanks Dianna for inviting us!

The kids had SO much fun!