Yogi Bear Campgrounds - Mike's Birthday

Mike and his family were all camping at Yogi Bear for Memorial Day weekend and invited us to join them on Sunday to celebrate Mike's birthday. It was our first trip, of hopefully many to come. They had a HUGE 5 story water slide that Andrew attempted to gather enough nerve to do twice, and chickened out both times. I secretly didn't mind. But, I did enjoy the slide myself! All the cousins enjoyed the kiddie pool and closed it down at 8. Michayla and Allissa were early to bed and Jonathen and Andrew enjoyed the campside viewing of Gnomeo and Juliet. We grubbed on ribs, beans, and potato salad before singing Happy Birthday and calling it a night!

T-ball

Andrew started his second year of t-ball with added enthusiasm. I think it was the red cleats his father agreed to buy him! He seemed to enjoy the year but wished that he could only bat and not have to go out into the field. I will always remember the first 6-7 running steps that Andrew would take in place before heading off to the next base. It was pretty cute and reminded me of Fred Flintstone for some reason. And, of course the arrival at each base required a full fledge slide! The more red dirt he could drag into the car at the end of the game, the better!

Here are a couple of pics from this year:

Matthew's Personality Shines

While Andrew was away at golf camp, Matthew joined me for a few errands. One, being Toys R Us. As we passed by this Lightning McQueen set up, Matthew almost jumped out of the shopping cart in excitement! This boy LOVES broom brooms (cars!) I just hope Santa doesn't ever show up at my house with this bed!

Peace Out YELLOW SCHOOL

Andrew's First Day of Yellow School

Andrew's Last Day of Yellow School

Andrew finished up his Kindergarten year at the Yellow School a week early so we could head to Destin. He has really enjoyed his three years he spent at the Yellow School. He has grown so confident and his experience, especially this year, has been wonderful. This is EXACTLY what I wanted his pre-school years to be like.....full of fun, full of imagination, and a fostering a love of learning! Next year he is moving on up to "real" school and will be a St. Francis Wolf!

Andrew turns 6!

Lots of experiments with bubbled

Andrew making his birthday wish

Checking out all the colors

Tasting the smoke

The Mentos Gyser

Sheer Excitement

The birthday cupcakes

Andrew TURNS SIX!!!

Andrew requested a science party this year that ended up being a BLAST!! Mad Science came and did a great presentation of all kinds of experiments. Then we had stations set up through out the yard with other fun, messy STUFF!!! The Mentos Gyser was by far the favorite!!

Destin 2011

We were able to take advantage of the last week of spring rates and snag a beach house right on the beach this year. It was fantastic. Besides a few shopping trips and an occaisional meal out, we pretty much played at the beach the entire time. It was GREAT to have the world’s largest sand boc in our backyard and then have spactacular views of the the Gulf as wee grilled dinner in the evenings. Since our voyage started at 2AM Saturday morning, our routines started VERY early (sometimes before 6) and ended fairly early too! One evening we had a photographer snap some casual pics that I am SUPER happy about. Matthew was not a good sleeper and his naps were spent in the jogger. That was OK though, because I was able to get my workouts in. I think I logged 20 miles that week!

We can’t wait to go back next year. I hope this ends up being a family tradition because we all seem to really enjoy it. But, how could you not with the beautuful white sandy beaches!!

Andrew's 5th Birthday

After 11.5 hours in the car, we made it to Destin, FL.