What do you get when...

You pack 4 moms and 8 kids?

Four of us moms packed up our kids and went to the beach for the day!!!  We had a blast!! The kids were just under a year old to 9 yrs of age and they did AWESOME!!! 
We met up and got into 2 mini vans. Then we of course had to make a stop at Starbucks before we hit the road. We got to the beach, made a potty stop and then loaded EVERYTHING up and headed down to the beach.

 Us MOMS!!!  We got to have girl talk, mom talk, wife talk and just talk. It was so nice to have our kids with us, but be able to talk with each other.

 Exploring the water. The kids loved going in the water. Jumping the waves, sitting in the water and just running back and fourth.

 Spencer is jumping the waves with Lilah.

 Some of the kiddos being goofy in the water.

 My sweet kiddos at the beach!!  They are such beach bums

 The kids playing in the sand. Using their imaginations and helping each other.

The kids played and played in the sand and water. They did so wonderful. We had very little time-outs and very little redirection of the kids. They all did so well playing together and sharing. 

All the kids pitched in and helped carry things to the car. They were all such troopers. Once we loaded everything back in the car we loaded 4 kids into the wagon and hunted down something for dinner. We ended up finding a great little Mexican restaurant  and ate a great dinner for super cheap!!! We had a wonderful ride home with the kids and did not get home until way past bed time.

The kids and moms did so well. I would do it any day of the week. We have decided to make it an annual activity that we will do every summer. I can not express in words how much fun we had. My kids still talk about that day and things that all the kids did together. I can not wait until next summer to go again.

Camping ADVENTURE!!!

Oh this is a story we will always remember. We left Saturday to head up to the Mt.Hood to go camping at Trillium Lake. We did not have a reservation for Saturday night, but borrowed my parents RV, so figured we would sleep at a rest stop or parking lot and we would be good. The next day we were going to go to the MT. Hood Adventure park at Ski bowl, so we wouldn't be in the parking lot for long.

On our drive up there Mike stopped to check something and everything looked fine, so we kept going. Looked for at a couple campgrounds and everything was full, so we went into this parking lot that was nice, shaded, and fun for the kids. I love how the kids did not even care we were in a parking lot, they played in the little sand and dirt they had, ran around the parking lot, walked the dogs. It was great. getting everything set up there was smoking coming from the brakes. I didn't really think anything about it, that it was some what normal driving and braking with the big RV. Mike had mentioned to me the brakes felt funny, but it was probably just them warm from the hot day, "Ok, thanks dear."

We had a blast a man with his 6 yr old daughter was broken down in the parking lot, so we offered them dinner, and a restroom. This is the first sign that I know we were meant to be there. They were able to use the bathroom in the RV and the little girl got to talk with the kids a little and make her day a little better. It was nice being able to help them. We had fun last  night. Made our plan for the am that we would get up to the adventure park at 9 to make lunch and get ready to go play for the day!!

Morning came we were getting ready as planned, went to drive off and we had no brakes. going like 2mph, granted down hill we could not come to a stop. Tried it a little more, and I saw Mikes face, I knew something was not right. We turned around to get going up the hill and still not stopping really at all. Mike pulled over into the shade and we called my Dad. I do love my husband so much and I am glad he did not really say anything to me about how the brakes were acting when we did get up the mountain, but kind of mad, because I truly did not know they were that bad and he felt that way. I thank God that Mike is an awesome driver and knows what he is doing. This was our other reason why we were meant to be in that parking lot. Much easier for a tow truck to get in there and tow the RV out.

My parents drove up and decided to stay the night. Since we had a car we were able to go to the adventure park and still have a great time. We never made it down to the lake, but hey that is what next time is for, right?

What I love is that our trip was ruined. We could not drive anywhere and we were in a parking lot for 2 nights. Yes, we were in an RV, but still had to be careful with water and our electricity, but we all had a great time. We made the best of what was going on. The kids were awesome. When we told them we weren't able to go to the lake or the adventure park they were fine. We told them we were going to have fun still and they were all up for it. I love that they are like that, especially Evan, since he gets it more and can be bummed out. Lilah is just along for the ride still.

 On our way home we also stopped at the Rainbow Trout farm and caught a few fish. It was such a nice way to break up the drive and do something fun. Evan has been asking to go fishing again, so we stopped here. I love this place. The owners are just so great and fun. They love their job!!!

We just thank God that we were able to get up to the mountain safely and that the brakes when out completely up there and not when we were coming down. we are so blessed and truly thankful for Him keeping us safe. Also that we were able to still have a great time and get to do fun things.