Camping Lazy River 2015

For the past few years we have gone on a camping trip with the Mast family, Mabry family, and Brubaker family. We went last weekend to the Lazy River campground and had a blast! We went Thursday - Sunday which meant Jenna missed her last day of girl scout camp.. She was okay with it since they were all bouncing off the walls with excitement to come camping. Lazy River is one of our favorite spots too.

Jenna at the playground

 We arrived on Thursday to camp and Erik went home Friday to work. This arrangement has been working out well so that we get an extra day of camping and Erik doesn't have to take a vacation day. He's already going negative this year with our two trips.

The pool water was actually nice and warm so we were in the pool on Friday, played miniature golf, and drank slushies. It was a great day. The Masts and Mabrys arrived on Friday evening and it unfortunately rained so we couldn't cook out for dinner. We did play a fun game called Avalon. It is a group game involving bluffing so obviously I'm not good at it. We had fun though!

Sarah ziplining

Jenna ziplining

 One of my favorite parts of our camping trip was watching Sarah stand up to some older boys. Sarah had been playing in the water with this clump of grass she called her island. She left to go to the bathroom and while she was gone some older boys (maybe 12?) came by and started playing with her "island". A few of us were sitting in our camp chairs watching this unfold and were wondering what she would do when she got back. Do you know Sarah stood up to those kids, grabbed the "island" out of their hands and told them to go away. It was HILARIOUS to watch little Sarah yelling at those big boys to leave her island alone.

Sarah putting her island back after telling the boys off

Playing in the river

 We had to get our obligatory kid shot. They have all grown so much. Except Duane. He's pretty much stayed the same.

All the kids

 Even though it was a little chilly for July and it rained some, we had a great time on our camping trip.

I generally make bread a few times a week for our family. But lately instead of bread I've been making biscuits. I wanted to have a biscuit taste off. The two funny shaped biscuits are mine. One is a buttermilk recipe and the other is a baking powder biscuit recipe. The third is a pillsbury biscuit and is perfectly shaped. No one liked it. In fact no one wanted to eat the rest of them. It was amazing the difference in taste. The homemade biscuits were amazing compared to the flat, tasteless pillsbury biscuits.

Biscuit taste off

 This past week Sarah went to Game U camp. This camp involves creating video games using Project Spark. Sarah LOVED it! She's a gamer at heart. She was the youngest and the only girl in the class. It was interesting to see everyone else's games too. The other kids' games all involved fighting bosses and killing all kinds of trolls. Sarah's game centered around a fox picking up three apples (that was the main quest). She did great!

Sarah at Game U

 I have been wanting my Mom to come to zumba with me. She is 67 and can run circles around many people half her age. She came to my zumba class and liked it. She's also really good at zumba since she's been doing aerobics her whole life. We had fun! The next day we took the kids to the zoo and culvers. They loved going to the zoo with Nana!

Nana and the kids at the zoo

Matthew helping me cook

 As I mentioned before I've taken up a hobby creating signs from distressed wood. Below are 4 of my designs although I have ideas for a few more. Some that require a router but we do not have one. It's been a fun hobby.

My signs

In other news:

1. I finished a three book series by Laura Resnick called the Chronicles of Sirkara. I have a few more books on my to read list but am still not sure what I'm going to read next.
2. Our book club has decided to read the Magician by Lev Grossman. I may have read this before but sometimes I can't remember ;). I think it should be good.
3. Sarah has had lice and three ticks in the past few weeks. I think she is a bug magnet.
4. My friend Renee has started doing bootcamp classes at the elementary school the kids go to. She is Lizzie's (Sarah's friend) mom. Last night I went to the bootcamp and the kids played on the playground - it was a perfect arrangement!
5. Matthew and Sarah are taking gymnastics at the Y. They are really enjoying it and I'm glad they can be in class together (and that it doesn't cost that much!)