A nature scavenger hunt

I saw this idea a couple of months back and knew that I would do it.  And I pretty much copied everything that she did, with the exception of taking my own photos of nature items.  I would have just used hers, but our backyard didn't have all of the same things.

Bella was up to the challenge.  The only items she needed help finding were the feather and a specific leaf.  Which was actually just a weed.  I could have done a whole hunt on the varieties of weeds we have growing back there.

The boys did their own share of exploring

And after about a half hour, all of our items had been located!

Tomorrow morning, we head out for Wisconsin!  Which means that I have a lot of laundry/packing/cleaning ahead of me today.  :)

The fort that Bella built

THIS is what our living room has looked like for the past couple of days.

Here is the architect and builder of this masterpiece.

It is quite the fort that literally takes up our whole living room.

Graydon thinks that it's the greatest. You can't fake a smile as wide as that one.

There is plenty of room for three children (and even a parent). 

I was tempted to take it down tonight, but Bella protested. One more day? Alright.

After all, this is the kind of stuff that childhood is made of.

A Beautiful Mess

After a week of heat and drought, we got some much needed rain yesterday. Good thing I had some rainy day activities planned into our summer fun.

Yesterday's activity: Rock Painting!

I should have checked our paints beforehand.  Many of them were all dried up.

Graydon painted three of the rocks; but when he started using himself as a canvas, I had to call it quits.  This isn't the washable stuff!

Now we have some beautiful color added to our yard.

Benetti/Kreuser Family in New Jersey!

*** Disclaimer:  If any of you have already read Jodi & Aaron's blog, then many of these photos will be duplicates.  Jodi was a much better picture-taker during this trip than I was and many of these photos came from her camera.

The Kreusers and Kristen arrived in the early evening on Saturday, July 10th. The kids hit it off right away.  It was as if no time had passed since they'd last seen each other.

Aren't these two cute?

Sunday morning came and it was time for church.

We played at the park.

Watched Andy play softball.

Splashed in the pool.

Went hiking.

Ate ice cream (Ava's treat!)

Saw a movie in the theater (Charlotte's Web)

Jumped in the Jumpy House

Spent a day at the shore (Long Beach Island)

This was Curtis's first time in the ocean.

They rode ("Fly" - according to Graydon) bikes

Colored a lot!

Painted a little

The rest of the family (minus Jeff, Steph, Sydney, & Rose) arrived on Friday morning.

We celebrated Curtis's birthday

Spent the day in Philadelphia

Spent another day at the shore (Seaside Heights)

Here are some randoms from the trip:

"Parting is such sweet sorrow"  ~ William Shakespeare

Such true words.

The Kreusers and Kristen left in the wee hours of Sunday morning.  Everyone else left on Monday.  I LOVE family time and was sad to see it come to an end.  I MISS YOU ALL!!!

Until Christmas. . .