Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Last week the boys and I joined Keith in Skaneateles to celebrate his birthday. He was there all week for work (the company headquarters is located there) and we didn't want him to be alone on his birthday so we thought we'd do an overnight trip to see him. We decided to go on a dinner cruise on Skaneateles Lake for his birthday and it was great! It's a beautiful lake and the cruise was a fun time. It was a 3 hour cruise (Insert Gilligan's Island theme song) and we enjoyed a nice dinner and just some time to relax. Keith's friend, Ron, was in Skaneateles too (from North Carolina) so we invited him to join us as well. It was a really nice evening.

Darien Lake

A couple weeks ago we were able to go and spend the day at Darien Lake with our friends Amber, Rachel, Erica and Carrie. The kids love Darien Lake (what kid wouldn't??) and our friends were nice enough to provide us with free passes so I didn't even feel guilty about going the day after we were at African Lion Safari and spent too much money!! LOL (Thanks again Amber...you rock!!) It's always an adventure when we go anywhere with 5 kids and by the end of the night I was ready to lose my mind, but we did manage to have fun anyway! I am considering getting season passes there next year as we live so close but I might have to make it contingent on the boys having a good year at school and seriously adjusting their bad attitudes!

Here are a few of the pics I took...

Happy Retirement Nana/African Lion Safari

At the beginning of August, my mother retired from her job at the County Clerk's Office. We wanted to do something special for her but couldn't think of a gift to buy so the boys and I decided that taking her on a "mini-vacation" would be the best idea. Keith was gone for the week for work so off we went!

We had found a "Safari Package" at a local hotel so we went up the day before and stayed over. The boys love staying in hotels, especially when there is an indoor and an outdoor pool. They swam for a while, we enjoyed a dinner out and some shopping, and then the boys went back into the pool until they were sufficiently "pruned" and then got them in bed so we could get an early start the next morning.

African Lion Safari was AWESOME! If you can go there sometime I strongly recommend it. The boys just love seeing the animals without them being behind bars. Whenever we go to a zoo it seems like the animals are too far away to see, or they're sleeping in their cages, or they're being fed, or whatever....and it's really disappointing to the kids that they can't see them. I love that at African Lion Safari they are running around and interacting with other animals, not in a tiny little cage by themselves.

We did the bus tour as I didn't want to drive my car through and risk losing a windshield wiper or having monkey pee running down my windows, though that is the sort of thing that would provide the boys hours of enjoyment! We do enjoy watching the monkeys on everyone else's cars though! You see so many animals while driving through, it's really incredible.

Our other favorite part is seeing the elephant bathing time. They have the elephants (about 6 of them) walk through the park in a line, holding each other's tails, and they go to the lake and play in the water for a while. It is so fun to watch! The baby elephants were especially adorable.

They have lots of other things to do also. There's a boat ride where you go around islands that have different monkeys living on them. A train ride where you see birds, turtles, reindeer, llamas, and a bunch of other animals. There are different shows to go to: the parrot show, birds of prey show, and an elephant round-up show (our favorite!). You can even pay $5 and go for an elephant ride, something I was unable to convince the boys to do! They did love the petting zoo and I think they would love nothing more than to have a pet alpaca or a goat! The baby goats were so cute and I think the boys would have played with them all day long. At one point a guy was walking around the park with an anteater and he put it on the ground so the boys could see it.

The elephant round-up show was especially neat. The elephants did lots of tricks and fun things and then at the end you can pet the elephants. You don't *really* realize how big and powerful these creatures are until you're standing right next to one. I'm still amazed that they let people touch them and get so close to them there....what if one was having a bad day and decided they didn't want to be touched?? Yikes! But fortunately they were in a good mood that day! During the elephant show they even paint t-shirts that are sold in the gift shop. Of course, Connor had to have one. It's pretty cool, I must admit!

At the end of a long day the boys were happy to go and play in the waterpark there. Nana and I were glad to just sit and relax! It was a great time but very tiring!!

Cub Scout Camp

Earlier this summer I had the opportunity to spend a week as a den leader for Cub Scout Day Camp. I had a great time and the nine boys in my den were a lot of fun! This past week Keith was able to take a week of vacation from work and go to Cub Scout resident camp with Connor. They both were looking forward to it since they had so much fun last year and they get to spend some one-on-one time together. I also enjoyed having the time alone with Evan at home.

They both had a great time this year but were exhausted when they got home. Though it wasn't even noon, Connor was sound asleep in the car when they got home!! They went with a group from Connor's pack and did lots of fun things....archery, BB guns, crafts, whittling, swimming, sports. Their pack won most of the awards at camp that week. Connor even said the food was good, despite the fact that their pack had to take their turn being "waiters" one night!

Connor in his tent



Connor in front of the dining hall

Reading letters on his bunk

Hanging out around camp

Just hangin' around!

Archery Time (Connor is the one in the black shirt in the middle)

Woodworking (making catapults)

Swimming

Connor's Pack

Connor's turn to be a waiter

The shield that their pack made to leave at camp

(It was a Knights of the Round Table theme)

Next year Evan will be in Cub Scouts too so all three of my boys will be gone for a week! I won't know what to do with myself! I'm sure I'll figure out something though! ;)

We miss you!!

This weekend we were happy to have a visit from our friends Tammy, Bob, Ryan and Tyler. They moved to North Carolina last year and it hasn't been the same here without them! :( Tammy and I have been friends for a VERY long time...since I was in 1st grade and she was in kindergarten. Ryan and Tyler are my Godsons and Tammy is Connor's Godmother. It seems weird to not have them living nearby. Hopefully it won't be as long before we see them again. We might just have to plan a trip to NC in the near future! Oh, and Tammy, please stop feeding those boys cause if they are taller the next time I see them I just might cry!

Connor, Ryan, Tyler and Evan

Connor and Ryan

Evan and Tyler

Aunt Tammy and Evan