At the end of June, we took a trip to Letchworth State Park. On the day we arrived, the park was holding an exotic animal exhibit, free concert and fireworks! Drew and Sara lean in to feel the shell of a tortoise.
Luci gets up close and personal with a snake! She definitely does NOT take after Papa as he would be screaming like a little girl if he were this close to a snake!
Daddy helps Drew and Luci feed some hungry goats.
This little guy, though very cute, was a bit gross. He was on a leash and wearing a diaper, but his "trainer" was chit chatting to some people and not paying attention to the monkey. He had shifted his diaper to the side and was...ummmm..."inspecting" his nether regions which wasn't as bad as what he did next! He then proceeded to put hid fingers in his bum and then lick them clean! EWWWW!!! It was really gross and as the girls were saying, "ewwww!", the trainer finally realized what his little friend was doing and reached down to fix his diaper! I'm glad he didn't decide to climb up one of the girls!
Free pony rides are always fun!
Daddy with his pride and joy...his daughters!
One of the many fireworks we saw that night!
Letchworth was perfect for taking bike rides!
Horse-Balls, anyone? Drew turned out to be pretty good at this game and even gave me a run for my money!
This little guy reminds us to occassionally to stop and smell the flowers!
Daddy made some Super Bubble Juice for the girls and all their new campground friends! Drew shows us her stuff!
Letchworth has many bike trails, lots of them very challenging! Don't believe me? Just ask Jim! (To his credit, Jim was stuck with a bike which had street tires on it...that made it EXTRA challenging!)
Time for a much needed break!!
Throw some rain on top of tough bike trails and you've got yourself quite a workout!!
I took Ben and Tony fishing and the rest of the group decided to do some hiking. It was raining again, so we were all outfitted with rain ponchos. Here, Drew and Luci check the map! (Disclaimer: I did NOT do their hair this day!!!)
A chair fit for a giant!
My little Olympus camera has a cool panorama feature. Here's a neat picture, even if the perspective is out of whack!
We introduced the girls to an old "game" we used to do when we were kids...walking around with cans crushed to their feet!
We took a day away from Letchworth to visit Darien Lake. The weather cooperated and gave us lots of sun!! Here, the guys lift the girls while walking.
Ben and Tony had to go down this ride with 2 other people...and they got "stuck" going down with these 2 girls who looked about the same age!
Wave pool!
Ben and Hannah
Luci goes under!
Drew taking a break with Mommy!
My husband...aka my third child...goes down one of the kiddie slides!
This was taken by me. I was in the seat in front of Julie, Ben and Tony on the log flume ride. Julie's not much of a ride person...thrill rides are definitely NOT her thing! So when she got on this ride, I got a lot of laughs listening to her fretting behind me!
The girls ride hands-free!
On a rainy day, we took the kids into Rochester to visit the Strong National Museum of Play. I love this place, as do the girls! L to R...Sara, Drew, Luci, Hannah.
The gang prepares for a show put on by the kids!
Hannah is in charge of tickets.
Ta da!
Drew doing what she does best...wowing the adults with her never-ending hula-hooping! I chuckled listening to all the adults oohing and ahhing over her ability to keep it going!
Even Daddy gets into the dancing with the girls!
So many things happened at camp, but in order to get this post done, I'm skipping a lot. Hope you'll forgive me, but it's my own fault for waiting so long to post. When we arrived home, we decided to top one of our huge Adirondack Poplar trees. Here's what it looked like before.
And here's our yard after! The girls enjoyed it!
Don't let their small size fool you...they're strong!
Also new when we arrived home, was Papa's latest addition to the Kid's Castle! On the left, there is now another walkway. It is open on the end and will accomodate a fireman's pole...soon to be installed. Off either side of the end of this walkway, are two supports holding a trapeze bar and a set of rings. Under the walkway, soon to be installed, will be some monkey bar rings. Also to be installed...someday...is a zip-line off the open end of the walkway. This thing is getting huge!
Off on another camping trip, we hit the nature center at the campground. Drew teases a turtle.
Dean was talking to Pearl.
Max needs a closer look.
Luci petting Iggy the Iguana. Iggy was too sleepy to be bothered!
Here's Axel. This is the same bird who, two years ago, followed me out into the front part of the building and bit my big toe!
Sonja and Luci catching a ride!
All ready for a parade! L to R Luci, Darien, Jeb ad Drew.
Luci playing with a ladybug. (Disclaimer: I did not do her hair here either! She was her own beautician so I let her keep it like this!)
Sonja, Drew, Luci and Max playing peekaboo!
The highlight of my summer has to be the Rebecca Kelly Ballet! It is a week-long intensive ballet camp with a performance at the end of the week. This is Drew's second year, and if Luci matures a little more this coming year, I'll put her in it next year, too! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this camp! The girls learn more in this one week of ballet camp than they do all year long at their regular dance studio! And the performance is just beautiful! Below, Drew waits for instructions.
As you can see, she is once again the smallest one in the camp, even though there were several girls who were younger!
Being small has it's advatages sometimes! Drew gets carried across the stage by the older girls fluttering her feet the whole way!
Drew's little group doing a sweet dance.
Hannah's group did a dance to a cool song with lots of drums!
Hannah R, Drew and Hannah S.
Drew poses with Rebecca Kelly.
Another new thing this year, swim lessons! Between the weather, camping, ballet camp and cheerleading camp, they barely got 2 weeks worth, but that's better than nothing, I guess!
Yep, cheerleading camp...Luci is in the black shirt and Drew is in the light pink shirt.
Rah, rah, rah! Sis boom bah!
Luci adds her own unique touch to the choreography! In case you have a hard time finding her...she's the one with her butt in the air!
Our town's local summer festival ends with a big parade. Here, the girls help their dance teacher make a float for the parade.
Not sure how this shot got here...it was supposed to be a shot of Drew and her friends sitting on the finished float...If it weren't 1:30AM right now, I'd go back and fix it...
And last but not least, I attended my 20th high-school reunion last night! There was quite a showing with about 66 people actually attending! Here's a group shot!
Julie getting silly with my cousin Heather!
Jim tries to contain his enthusiasm...
Dave F and Shelley M. I had the biggest crush on this guy in high school!!
I literally had tons more pics and stories I could have posted...but I'm pooped and need to go to bed! Hope you enjoyed it!
