Grandpa's Camping Too

What a super treat to have Grandpa O join us for the weekend. Keith and the boys picked him up on their way out & Mom met them there after her dinner with friends Nancy & Joan.

Pet Parade
What better way to enter a pet parade when you don't have any pets...use your stuffed animals. The boys were the talk of the town with their "Hillside Park Zoo" entry.


Zoo Keepers Curtis and Spencer had Lamby, SSSSSnake, Eel, Froggy, Monkey, a parrot, some fish, Feel Better Bear, Christmas Bear, and Spot, just to name a few.

Don't forget to stop & scoop...much more enjoyable with stuffed animals!

Joke: Why did the birds fly South in the winter?

Because it was too far to walk!


Everyone goes to the Beach


Hey guys, I've got a plan.

Let's go over there and....

Get Gary!

The Big 'Kids' even gave up the volleyball court so the little ones could have a go at it.





And the Ellinghams brought Sarah decked out in her pink teenage mutant turtle gear. She loves the water.

Catch

"Dad, can you teach/play catch with us?"



Words of wisdom:
"Watch the ball buddy & put your other hand on top of it so it doesn't bounce out".


Look what I caught instead

Curtis catches his first frog all on his own!


WATER FIGHT!!!

It all starts so innocently.
Boys will be boys, no matter how old they are.




Sherry tries to get even after they've included her and Sarah into the event.







Come on Steve, pick on someone your own size!

Maybe we can get even with the hose!







Steve tries to protect himself with Sarah... remember it didn't work for Sherry!

Oh and let's not forget Grandpa too! You can tell by these dripping wet clothes that 'Super Soaker' fun was had by all!

Back to the Cottage

After a day of chores around the house, Friday night we got to the Cottage in time for the boys to join in on the street hockey game going.

Saturday morning Thomas, Spencer & Curtis all try to take on Carlos in a "friendly" game of soccer.

Carlos is just a little too good & the boys try some alternative tactics to get some goals ;-)

Then we are off to Summer Fest. Games for the kids at the park where they can win prizes. They did very well with their winnings and fortunately we got finished right before the rain started.

Barbara tries to get back at Keith for picking on her for still not being able to spell Oliphant, even after all the grief she took at the 50/50 draw that he won few weeks back.

She chickens out after all because she's fearful of his threats to get even!

Once the rain arrived we went into Cambridge and did some $ store shopping and went to the mall with the rink built into it to show Carlos skating, and to do some more shopping, of course! Fortunately the rain had stopped when we were done so it was back to camp.

Later that night the boys hook up with some new friends while frogging - Jerrod, Jessie & Johnny.

They ended up catching 11 little ones in all.







Curtis was in his glory.

Especially when they caught the biggest of them all!!!





The boys even got invited back to play with their new friends. There was no keeping them at the cottage after this.

On Sunday the boys insisted it was warm enough to go swimming at the pond.

Although they lasted longer than I would have, it didn't take too long to realize that being out in the sun was warmer.

Lastly the fun packed weekend was topped of with another awesome craft compliments of Leader Debbie. Soon Daddy is going to have to build a display case for all the masterpieces!

Well that's it. Vacation is over and back to reality. We had so much fun and created lots of amazing memories!

Niagara Falls Canada

Today we made it back to Canada & spent the day in the Falls. We went to...

We all were lucky to have butterflies land on us!

Then we went to the Falls.

The boys were too scared to go on Maid of the Mist.



So we just admired the falls. Well, Spencer could only do it with one eye as he accidentally got sunscreen in his other eye.

The balance of the day was spent on Clifton Hill. We went through the Mystery Maze (sorry, no pictures of ours but found this on the web). We searched for towers and swords and took turns leading our team through the maze.

Curtis desperately wanted to go through The Haunted House. Neither of the boys thought that was a very good idea by the time we were done.

These smiles are only because we are finished and getting ready to go to...

Next stop is the...

Games galore (along the Chuck E. Cheese theme)

Then we went on the gigantic ferris wheel - Sky Wheel - and saw all around Niagara Falls and a storm rolling in.

Time to go home and call it another successful day!