Memorial Day Camping

I'm learning this year that the best times we have are the last minute trips we've been taking.  The Renner's & the Jackson's decided last minute to go on a camping adventure for Memorial Day weekend.  The only problem was no availability on the modern sites at every park we contacted!  At the last minute, I got a call from Delaney Park saying they had a cancellation!

Poor Jacqueline...her cupcakes landed wrong side up during the unpacking of the van!  I know, who brings cupcakes camping?  We couldn't celebrate her birthday without cupcakes!

Oh man!

Camping partners

Our original plan was to tent camp...which quickly changed when we arrived.  Delaney Park had given away our camp site on Friday night!  Thankfully our good friends the Shaffer's have a permanent site there and offered us Diamond Jim's camper.  This was such a blessing because the camp site they ended up finding for us was in the middle of the hot sun!

Not only did we have the camper, we had complete coverage in the trees.  We decided to set up our tent in the driveway so we could accommodate both families.  Funny story...the Renner's forgot their tent so we ended up using ours!

While we were unpacking the little ones were staying busy checking it all out.

Jessica & Emery decided to sleep on cots under the stars!  Jeremy slept on an air mattress beside them.

After we got everything all set up we  headed to the beach.  On Saturday is was PACKED but Sunday & Monday were low key.

I'm happy to report that all 8 kids LOVED the lake!  They had the best time swimming, digging in the sand & just having a great time.

The Shaffer's have 2 boys, Gage & Parker.  Eli was all about hanging out with them.  I don't blame him, they have super cool toys!  Parker & Eli were throwing football up by our camp.

The kids had some fun with chalk.

We called this scooter alley!

We cooked all of our meals either on the fire or camp stove.

Jeremy was all set for a movie night on the big sheet...until he realized that he forgot an adaptor to make it all work :(

Jeanna was so sweet to french braid all of the girls hair.  That's 5 heads in all!

Jessica, Emery, Jeremiah & Jacqueline working with the chalk.

Eliot was always the first "helper" cleaning dishes.  He LOVED the water hose!

Everyone at Delaney was so nice to us!  We were given a golf cart to use & a pontoon boat to borrow.  It was awesome.

Eliot having fun talking into the fan & cooling off.

Happy Birthday Jacqueline!  This big girl turned 7 and was so pooped from swimming that she fell asleep before dinner.

A childhood friend Mike has a permanent camp at Delaney too.  He stopped by with his daughter for a visit & enjoyed some watermelon.

I had a slice too!  Eli &  I are the only ones in our family that eat watermelon so I was glad Jeanna brought it along.

Before we all pulled out on Monday we took a group shot.  Eliot & Elese were already loaded in the car & when we looked in, Eliot was asleep and Elese was near asleep.  That's why they are missing from the picture!

I love how camping wears the kids out!  Emery would never admit to falling asleep...now I have proof!

Eli has finally passed the stage of napping but always falls asleep on road trips!

By the time the big kids fell asleep, the little ones were awake!  Such a sweet girl.

I love this little guy :)  Check out the oranges on the face!

Strawberries!

One of my all time favorite things to do is pick strawberries.  I remember picking them as a kid and loved every minute of it!  Strawberry season came a week earlier this year because of the early spring.  This was such a bonus because last year the strawberry crop was terrile because of all the rain.  I took the kids (minus Em) last week to a local strawberry farm.

This was our first time to Stokes.  It was a nice farm...very clean, organized & they were excited to see the kids!

When we first got there Eliot wasn't quite sure what we were doing.  After 5 minutes he was going to town on the strawberries!  He also touched every hose, spickett & farm equipment in the patch.  He had to figure out how it all worked.

Eli enjoys strawberry picking and has been many times.  We laughed on the way there about the first time I took him strawberry picking.  Every strawberry he picked he took a bite out of it before he put it in his bag.  It was so funny that I took a picture of the bag with all the 1/2 eaten strawberries.

Doesn't Elese just look like she belongs in the patch?  I didn't plan that but looking back she looked pretty cute!

Eliot followed Eli around the patch...literally standing right beside him.  I love how you can see all 3 kids at once. 

I promise they did way more eating than picking...which was fine with me!

Sweet boy!

The nice ladies at Stokes gave Elese a little quart container but she wanted nothing to do with it.  She was DETERMINED to use her bag!

 Group shot :)  One of the Stokes kids took this picture for us.  He is an Eliot too & it is spelled just like our Eliot!

Do you see all the ones she decided weren't good enough?  We went over which ones to pick but she still managed to get a few that weren't quite ripe.  No worries, just toss them on the ground!

It was such a nice morning with the kids in the patch.  Here's a shot of all the beautiful berries we picked.

Polar Bear Plunge!

Our community pool has opened so our summer is officially under way!  We have a tradition at the Jackson house that we like to be at the pool on opening day @ 9am...crazy, I know!  I hope you're not offended by this picture but I just couldn't resist how Eliot came strutting into the pool on the 1st day!

My kids are seriously already pushing each other into the pool!  It's the 1st day!  It was a little chilly this year because the heater was broken the week leading up to the opening.  The kids didn't care because they were getting in regardless of the temperature.  We called it the Polar Bear Plunge!

Elese was a little more reserved about getting in.  In fact, I'm not sure she got past her toes that day.

It was a 3 peat this year...3rd year in a row that we are the first family at the pool opening!

 Emery had a ball!

I'm excited to share my view with you for the next three months...Yeah right, this pool will be swimming with kids!  A girl can dream :)

Mother's Day

It's hard to believe that I've been a Mom for 8 years now!  I still feel like I just had Emery a couple of years ago.  The cool thing about Mother's Day now is that I feel like I have 4 different celebrations...one for each kid!

Muffins for Mom was my first celebration.  Elese was so excited for me to visit her classroom.  The thing I love about this picture is how great Elese looks.  Right now she is in perfect health and both her liver & celiac #s couldn't be better.

All the kids sang the Mom's a few songs.  I know, "Where is Elese?"...

There she is hiding behind me.  I took this picture over my shoulder because for some reason she wouldn't go in front of the parents and sing the songs.

Mrs. Essleman called each child up to hand out their special Mother's Day gifts.  Little brother went along to help...ha!  ha!

This is the special gift that Elese gave me.  Isn't that adorable?

Eliot & Eli LOVED the muffins (for the Mom's you know) and took down 2 a piece.  Elese wasn't too interested in eating the fruit.

The 2nd celebration was at Chick-fil-a for the Mother/Daughter tea!  It was so cute.  They had waiters waiting on us, table cloths and served our meal on plates.  The girls had no idea what the doilies were for and put way too much sugar in their tea...so funny!  The girls loved it and I had a good time too.

Katelyn, Chessa & Sidney came along too.

At last it was Mother's Day morning!  Scott had the kids all helping make the traditional breakfast in bed.  Funny thing is, it sounds like a zoo down in the kitchen as Scott is trying to pull it all together.  I'm not suppose to know that because I'm "sleeping in"!

They all came in smiling with arms full of cards & gifts.  They are so good to me!

Elese ran into her room and grabbed this one from school once she realized that each of the kids had given me a card.  Look, she's so proud :)

My gift...iPhone!  Can you believe it?  Look at Emery & Elese...they're so excited!  Now, look at Eliot...cheeks full of my toast as he grabs my oranges too.  If I could read his mind it probably would say, "Okay, she's not looking at me and she'll never notice her oranges gone."  I swear the only thing left for me to eat was the delicious omelet.  Thank you baby for putting onions, peppers and all the stuff the kids don't want to eat!

My 8th year of being a Mom has been great!  I have many pull my hair out moments but I always remind myself of that song "You're gonna miss this" because it's so true.  God has blessed me with four children and I am forever grateful.  I would not be the mother I am today with Scott's support.  He helps me to become better everyday.