The Highland Games

A couple of weekends ago, we went to the Highland Games which is a Scottish/Irish festival. John always loves to go and embrace his heritage and everyone loves to see Maddie's red hair. ;-)

Eli's favorite is the dancing and the bagpipes. Although, I must say, this year I think he loved seeing all of the weapon displays and sword fights. Maddie loved the dog competition and wanted every dog to lick her hand. So, all in all, it was fun for the whole family!

Free Day at the Firefighter's Museum

Last weekend, while hubby was out rafting for the day, I took the kids downtown for a free day at the Firefighter's Museum. I was expecting that we would get to walk around and look at some firetrucks and maybe get in a couple of them. I did not expect to see several streets blocked off and the myriad of activities that greeted us! The pictures speak for themselves.

Eli got decked out and went through an obstacle course to rescue a bear and bring him to safety.

We got to ride on a fire truck through downtown. One of the firefighters was warning us that the kids would want to cover their ears when we go under the tunnel because the sirens would be loud. Eli & Maddie thought they were supposed to cover their ears the whole time. :)

Eli & Maddie racing in their own mini firetrucks. Maddie got stuck halfway down, but didn't want any help ("SELF!!!") Finally, the lady in charge was able to get her to put her feet up and ride it in to the finish line. :)

Eli putting out the fire in the house with a real fire hose!

This firetruck was actually inside the museum. So, we did make it inside.

Here's Maddie very excited to be dressed up as a firefighter.

The 3 of us got to ride in the bucket WAY up high in the air...see?! That was pretty cool.

An egg race with life vests on...not quite sure the need for the vests, but whatever. When Eli realized it was a race, he got a determined look on his face and started passing everyone. He did, too, but dropped his "egg" right before he passed the finish line.

If you live in the area, you definitely need to mark your calendars for next August. We had a blast!!

The Beach, Part II

So, apparently I should just put all the beach pictures on at once or it will never get documented. As you can see from these next few pictures, Eli & Maddie loved the ocean! We had to keep a close eye on them to make sure they didn't get in over their heads. :) Eli loved throwing the foxtail in and then diving in after it to "rescue" it from the waves. Maddie loved "jumping" over the waves and would squeal everytime one hit her.















It was so nice to be able to sit on the beach and watch all the kids having the time of their lives. We just had to keep counting heads to make sure they were all still there. ;-) I must say, as far as kid vacations go, this one was pretty relaxing.




This last picture is of ALL of us making kites. My dad cut out enough Tyvek for everyone in the family to make their own kite and then brought the rods and the tape and we all put them together. The older kids even decorated theirs. And the amazing thing was, when we took them down to the beach, they actually flew!! The kids were so excited and proud of themselves. Eli said flying kites was one of his favorite things about the beach.

Another favorite of Eli's from the beach was crabbing. He got to stay up late with his cousins and go down to the beach in the dark to look for crabs. They took a flashlight, shone it on the beach and, when they saw a crab darting across the sand, one person would go after it with a net and another one would bring over a bucket to put it in. After they caught several, they would dump them out and let them go free. :-)