Camping Trip

Last weekend we went camping at Joe Pool lake with some friends. Juan took off Friday and we were the first ones there. We got to scope out all the camp sites and found two that looked really nice. Of course those were taken, but we got two others that ended up being great. By the time we were checked in the Gandys were there too. We both set up our tents and got everything situated (ours is the tent on the right).


Funny thing, Jovi and the Gandy girls were all wearing the exact same shirt and our boys were both wearing orange, totally not planned, but it made for a cute picture. It was too bad Corbin refused to sit on the branch till Juan came over.



Corbin decided to relax while Juan started to build a fire.



The kids were all facinated by the fire. Later that evening we were joined by the Bastians and Hamblins. It was a fun night. We had BBQ ckicken and campfire asparagus (yummy) made by the Hamblins. I tried roasting apples in foil in the fire. The first batch burned horribly, but the second batch was pretty tasty. The next day Juan and I made breakfast for everyone. We brought WAY too much food, but everyone seemed to enjoy it :).



After breakfast we took the kids to play on old, slightly wierd playground that our campsites kind of backed into. The proportions were kind of off, the monkey bars were two stories high and the slide was super wide and had a huge drop, but the kids had fun playing.



Then we went fishing. This was part of the camping trip that Jovi had really been looking forward to. The day before we left we went to WalMart and got her a Barbie fishing pole and she couldn't wait to try it out. I got an adult fishing pole too, just for fun.





Corbin wasn't that excited about the fishing, but he really like the bait.



Soon after fishing it started to rain so I put up my camera before it could get wet. We did get to go visit an old farmstead which was really cool even if it sprinkled on us most of the time we were there. When we got back we found our tent was leaking and more rain was on the way. Even though we had planned to stay till Sunday we packed up and went home that night. Even though it ended early we had a really fun time and I hope to go camping again soon.

Jovi's Birthday Party

Jovi had her birthday party a few weekends ago. We did it at our local park and were so happy to be blessed with a beautiful day for a park party. Juan and I wanted to do a treasure hunt for the kids so we decided to do an adventure party. The kids started out decorating hats and making telescopes. Here is a picture of Jovi decorating her hat and a group picture of kids making telescopes.



Juan made an awsome treasure map and I made backpacks with water, a compass, a magnifying glass, a pencil with blank book and pencil sharpener, a whistle and a flashlight.


I got all the kids together and showed them what was in their backpack and what it could be used for when going on an adventure.


Then I passed the kids onto Juan who helped them follow their treasure maps.




Their treasure ended up being lunch. They ate and then we got out the pinata, something Jovi deparately wanted as part of her party. She picked out a Hello Kitty one and I thought it was one of those pinatas that you pulled the ribbons on the bottom instead of hitting. Unfortunately I was mistaken, the ribbons were only decoration. Everyon had a chance hitting the pinata, even Corbin tried, but that thing was strong. We ended up tearing it open and throwing the candy at the kids. They didn't seem to mind.



After that we had presents then cake and ended with the kids playing on the playground.





I think everyone had a good time, I know Jovi did. It was a really fun day!

Jovi's First Pictures

I just recently got around to downloading the pictures from Jovi's camera. There were over 200 shots, all indoors in fairly low lighting, MANY of them were pure black. As you can see this camera works best in lots of natural sunlight. We will have to hope the rainy weather goes away soon so that we can try taking some outside. Anyway, here are a few of her best first shots. My favorite is her self portrait (Emma, you taught her well), there were MANY shots to choose from. Jovi is definitely of the opinion that pushing the shutter button more is better.

The Herd Natural Science Museum

I am very behind in my posts, hopefully I'll be able to catch up this week so look for several posts within the next week. Two weeks ago we went to the Herd Natural Scinece Museum in McKinney. It was my first time going and I'm sure it won't be my last. It's a small museum, but has lots of hands on stuff and there is an outdoor zoo component and...a butterfly garden which Jovi and Corbin just loved. Jovi kept trying to get one to land on her finger, but it didn't happen. She did get to pet a butterfly that had landed on a flower and was sitting surprisingly still. Corbin thought the butterflys were really cool and kept pointing "look" as the flew around him. He also found a huge mud puddle which he promptly stomped in. Here are some pictures:













Butterflys are such camera hogs!