Playground Fun at the Campground

Maggie sat opposite me on the teeter totter and did some squats to make her go up and down.  Good way to sqeeze in some exercise at the playground :)

The slide was a hit again.

Mena was "no hands" and stomping her feet on the metal slide to make lots and lots of noise!

 

 

 

As with all children, dirt (and wood chips) are a great place to play.

 

I think the metal merry-go-round was cool to lay on when Maggie got hot.

All the kids on the merry-go-round for a group picture!

Shannon taught the girls how to play flashlight tag, but it ended up being more a game of "where's Mena's flip flop" since she kept losing her shoe while she was running!  Mena saw how much Jacob was riding his bike, and she kept following him on her bike.  Jacob never waited for her, but Mena was happy to keep riding around the same area that he was in.  Mena also followed Jacob onto the playground we were camped beside (the new one, not the one I got pictures on).  I think she felt safer with someone she knew nearby.

We got the best site we've gotten so far at Louisville.  It was right beside the new playground and just a short walk to the beach.  We went swimming both Friday and Saturday.  I was successful in getting fires started both nights so we could roast marshmallows and our brats and hot dogs.  The playground was so close that the kids could ride bikes and play while we got meals ready.  It was a great weekend away before my fall classes started up.  We're done camping for the year.

 

These last two pictures are ones that Mena took of Maggie when she was using the camera.

Camping with Friends

 

We went camping with my friend, Lora, her 14 yr old daughter, Shannon, and her 8 yr old son, Jacob.  Our kids are different ages, but we've both been divorced about the same length of time.  She's becoming a great friend and support as we both transition successfully into single parenthood.

On Saturday evening I provided the brats and hot dogs, while Lora provided the baked beans and chips.  Jacob said these were the best hot dogs he'd had in his entire life!  He told his mom she needed to buy them and I believe he thanked me no less than four times by the time we went to bed!

Camping Set-Up

 

 

I've added a canopy to our camping gear.  We have quite the set up when we go camping.  It works great, but literally takes up every inch of the bed of my truck to haul it all!  Six of the totes, the 3 cots, the table, and the canopy, I just leave in the back of the truck so I don't have to load and unload it each time we go camping.

First Day of School

 

 

 

 

 

Mena was very excited for school to start.  She was also excited to use her Dora backpack again.  I thought she might want to wear a dress for her first day, but she chose shorts and a tank top.  I don't have classes this week so we hung out at home for the morning.  I dropped the girls off at daycare about 30 minutes before the bus was scheduled to pick Mena up.  Then I drove to school and waited for her bus to arrive.  When she got off the bus, she ran right to me for a hug.  She was shy around her new classmates and even was too shy to give Miss Kim (last year's teacher) a hug!  This year she is with Ms. Haze.

As you can see in the picture I took in front of our tree, I did comb her hair.  By the time she got off the bus, her hair was falling out of the pony tail.  After school I noticed that one of her teachers had fixed her ponytail for her.  The bangs are slowly growing out.

Picnic at the Playground

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After church we drove through Amigos and went to the park to eat our lunch.  Great weather for great fun!

Creativity

 

 

The girls stamped a school house.  Then Mena traced an "M" and cut it out all by herself.  She also colored her "M."  I've saved her "M" in her scrapbook.

Green Bell Peppers

More produce from our garden!  Yummy!

Getting in Shape

 

Last winter Mena pointed at my stomach and asked, "What's in there?"  I told her, "Fat."  I've tried to be careful what I say to the girls so they grow up with a positive self-image.  Over the last 3 months, we've talked about getting into shape and taking care of our bodies.  We've talked about exercising and eating healthy.  I've lost 15 pounds and dropped a size.  Mena now comes home and at supper she'll talk about how much exercise she got during the day.  Some days she'll say, "I didn't get much exercise, Mom.  Let's ride bikes after supper."  So we ride bikes, go swimming and go to the playground.  We've really enjoyed the summer being active.

Visit with Briget and Sami

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Briget and Sami came down to Lincoln to visit us.  We started at the Lancaster County Superfair.  It really wasn't that "super."  We saw some animals both in the petting zoo and in the 4-H area.  There was a zebra right between us and Mena, but it walked away when Briget snapped the photo, of course!

We went to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch.  The girls enjoyed the games and rides before and after our pizza.  After lunch we had time for the girls to play on the playground at our apartment complex.

I wish I'd have gotten a picture with all 3 of the girls together, but you can see Sami behind Maggie riding the horse and you can see Briget sitting behind Mena on the train.  It was fun to catch up with Briget while the girls played.