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Summer pictures

Practicing with the kiddies for a photo shoot the next day.  They don't always like being my models but they grow up so quickly I like having the pictures of them.

Swimming

Caitlyn practicing her kicking

I love having a pool in our apartment complex.  We go swimming about 3 times a week.  In this hot weather the pool is the best place to be.  I always loved swimming when I was younger and still do, I am glad my kiddies are loving it also. 

Liam putting his head under

They are really improving with their learning to swim and getting more brave being in the water also.

She will blow bubbles but still doesn't like her eyes in the water

Liam swimming with this noodle.  He can go around the entire pool like this.

Squirting me with this water gun

She was splashing me

Dunking his head under

and coming up out of the water

HOT, HOT, HOT!

Everyone told me that Virginia summers would take some getting used to, they were right.  IT IS HOT!  Basically, we stay inside with the A/C or plan activities where we can get wet and cool off.  Luckily, we have these fountains not far from our house that we can go play in to help us stay cool. 

DOUGHNUTS!!

Doughnuts all shaped and rising for that nice light, fluffy texture

The last couple of days I have been craving doughnuts.  Probably because I started a new challenge with some of my siblings and one of our goals is to not eat sugar or sweet treats so of course that is all that I am craving.  Another reason could be that I have been thinking back to days of cooking with my cousin and one of our favorite things to make was doughnuts.  Unfortunately, he gave me his recipe so I couldn't resist but to make a batch.  I halved the recipe but still ended up with too many doughnuts for my family to eat but we tried our best.

Dark chocolate glaze - YUMMY!

Cooking them

Chocolate with sprinkles, my weakness

Now, who to share them with?

MMMM, they were as yummy as I remembered!

Rollercoasters!!

So after surviving a day at Colonial Williamsburg the kids and I can add myself were all really excited to go to Busch Gardens and ride some rides.  We had quite the system of two of the adults going to ride a big roller coaster while the other two rode some rides with the younger kiddies and then we would switch.  Somehow my older nieces always ended up on the bigger rides with those adults, not sure how that happened. 

All my pictures will be with the little kiddies since the big roller coasters don't allow cameras and for good reason, just ask my brother who thinks he lost his out of his pocket on Apollo's Chariot. 

With the 3-4 days spent there we ended up riding my favorite roller coaster, The Griffon, about 15 times.  My nieces total was 23.  My dad would be so proud, he taught us well to make the most of our amusement park experience.

my niece teaching the younger kids how to pose of the rides

Needless to say by the end we knew where the camera's were and had done about every pose you could think of.  The other roller coasters I rode probably about half of the time.  I must be getting a little older because after 5 times in a row I was a little dizzy and had a small headache. 

my son's favorite ride, he called it the up and down ride

The younger kids had just as much fun riding their roller coaster and dragon rides.  They played in Sesame Street and were able to get wet when the days were too hot. 

cooling off from the heat of the day

We also went to the water park which also had several fun rides and kiddie play areas but I didn't risk taking my camera there.  Overall a very fun vacation, one that I needed a vacation from, and a lot of fun spending time with my brother and his family. 

stomping on the grapes in Italy

my daughter and her best friend, her cousin - they were either loving each other or fighting over something

Williamsburg

We were invited by my brother and sister in law and family to join them on vacation to Williamsburg, VA.  We went there Memorial Day weekend with my cousin and family but only to Busch Gardens so we went again this time for the entire week so we could explore around even more.  I am definitely more of a thrill seeker than a history buff but my husband and sister in law love history so we spent one day in Colonial Williamsburg, which really was quite interesting, just not as exciting as the roller coasters in Busch Gardens.  Basically, it is a town set back in Revolutionary War times with fun buildings and actor portrayals of what was happening in history at that time.  We visited several buildings, my highlight was the bakery, but the cabinet making and blacksmith was also pretty interesting.  It was hot that day which didn't really help with the kids and keeping their attention on what the people were telling us about their trade but they did like the drummers and sword fight.

At the end of the day we went to the Governor's Palace.  Definitely my favorite building in Williamsburg and where I learned that Williamsburg was the capitol of Virginia for a while.  The kids enjoyed the grounds, especially this maze at the back of the building. 

While I didn't complain as much as my older nieces about why we were spending time there instead of the amusement park we were happy to be headed to the roller coasters the next day.  I did enjoy teasing them that we decided to skip the amusement and water parks and focus on history this week and ultimately we did gain more knowledge and information about the circumstances of the beginning of our country which is humbling indeed.