what's NEW?

there is a NEW 8 year old in our house!

gibson with her new wii just dance game, she's addicted!

birthday dinner at T.G.I.Fridays (coincidentally her actually birthday was on friday)

being sung to at the restaurant, totally embarrassed.

yummy!

it was so cold in the restaurant that dad told the girls to put their chicken on their noses to warm up, and of course they had to do it. (really drew...)

a birthday puzzle from grandma. if you look closely we've been treating gibson's good eye with a dilating drop to help strengthen her weaker eye, which gives her a freakishly large pupil at all times!

another birthday treat, fundamiddles!

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a NEW family van!

volkswagon routan

funny story; as we were waiting to purchase this vehicle our family got to participate in two takes for a commercial to celebrate the dealership's new location. we received fifty dollars to T.G.I.Fridays, therefore; that is why we went there for gibson's birthday! i'm curious to know if we'll ever see the end result?

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a NEW swimming destination, the gaylord, mn, aquatic center.

the girls loved these slides, i bet they made at least 25 trips down.

they've been perfecting their handstands all summer.

total action shot from another slide.

SPLASH!

chaya's turn, i love the nose plug, that is totally me.

kenya chillin'

two thumbs up, we all loved the pools and slides

cabin fun

our second annual trip to shing wako resort on lake edward took place the last week in july. we would be "roughing" it at the lake with the gilmores and the harrison families, i believe a total of 7 cabins in all. although this was a vacation, it was filled with so much fun, it took a couple of days back home just to recover.

volleyball fun and hanging out at the campfire, it was a bit chilly the first evening.

finding frogs, a kid favorite (so tiny it fits in the acorn shell)

beach fun, chaya and abby. some kids and adults got a bit of swimmers itch, which was no fun.

captain drew

jake and kenya going for a wild ride (sorry jake)

the girls loved tubing.

miss erin with her fun new sun hat.

one of my favorites, swimming and playing in the middle of the lake on a hot afternoon.

cousins!

celebrating drew's birthday with a cake creation designed by kenya and made with love by mom and all the kids at the cabin.

papa and chaya in nisswa at the turtle races.

craft time: sand art, plus check out justin's t-shirt - we made that with tape and fabric spray paint. awesome.

kenya's t-shirt and finished bottle, very cool.

abby and kenya cheering on their turtles.

 drew heading up a crazy resort scavenger hunt, they had two teams and loved every minute of it. hint:  a great way to tire them out before dinner.

water balloons

there were a few times when they just needed some down time, bring on spongebob.

some of the gilmores and some of the harrisons out to eat at zorbas

justin and gibson catching some popcorn

kenya and jake

chaya and abby

thanks for a wonderful week at the lake up north. these are memories the kids will cherish forever.