Adirondacks 2015

Whew- we have been really busy this Summer and I hope that I will catch up on documenting things, but I thought I better start with last weekend.  

On Thursday morning we packed the car and headed on a 4 hour drive East to Old Forge NY.  We set up our campsite and started out vacation in the Adirondacks.  I read that the Adirondacks are bigger than Yosemite, Yellowstone, Glacier, and the Grand Canyon combined!  It's really huge & so beautiful.  I love seeing all the lakes, the pine trees, hearing the loons at night, and just being with my family.

Here are some pictures of what we did: 

Our tent site on Nick's Lake~

 We hiked to Castle Rock

 We visited the Adirondack Museum.  It was awesome!!

 Bruce tied knots:

 We visited Lake Placid and saw the Olympic ice skating track:

 and the "Miracle" Ice Arena

 James got to go golfing..

 while the other kids went on a ropes course.

 He got in trouble ;)

 Fishing on Moss Lake:

 Life is good!

 There were LOTS of ice cream places everywhere.

 We went on a ski lift to the top of a mountain.

 We swam in lot of lakes and played Kubb on the beach:

 So beautiful!!

 One more of Nick's Lake:

It's Great To Be Kate!

and 8!

On July 4th Kate was baptized.  We were so blessed to have Grandma & Grandpa Damstedt, Grandma & Grandpa Miller, and Uncle Andy here with us.
 Kate was so excited! 

My friend Melissa took some pictures of Kate for the invitation.  They turned out beautifully.  

Here are some from the day: 

                Treats!

                      















   

 Friends:

Grandma &Grandpa Miller :  

                                                        

Sisters:

 Kate's friend Natalie came from Cincinnati to see her!

 Kate and her primary teacher Brother Koefed: 

Kate and Bishop Jennings:

Some Pics of June

  James graduated from Kindergarten.  He did great at his "Author's Tea."  We are so lucky to have Mrs. Kern as his teacher.  She taught all 4 of them!




Bruce graduated from Elementary School!  Here he is at the 4th grade party- it was awesome!

I have been doing lots of gardening.  Here is one of my flower beds:

Bruce, Kate, and James all played soccer.  James loves it!

For my birthday my mom made me this quilt.  We all love how soft it is!

On night at scouts they had their "rain gutter regatta."  Here is Bruce's boat:

I got to go to Darien Lake with Jane and her orchestra.  It was a fun day!

James' field trip to the farm:

Jane was in "Young Astronauts Club" and they did a few rocket launches after school.

Bruce loves Summer!  Here he is at the block party participating in the egg toss: 

Silly James got lots of tatoos.

Jane and her friends:

Now we are looking forward to all the fun things that will happen in July!

Kate Goes to Georgia...

to see this cute friend:

On Friday afternoon Kate and her mom flew to Atlanta Georgia! 

 Our friends picked us up from the airport and we drove around Atlanta.  We even ended up seeing the Botanical Gardens: 

Magnolia tree- these were everywhere and we HUGE! 

On Saturday morning Ellie got baptized:

 Her Nana made her this: 

 We ate lunch at Chick Fil A and then headed out to "Stone Mountain"

Kate got to rock climb:

 That evening we enjoyed BBQ from "Jim N' Nicks"  I still think about how good it was.... and then went swimming at the hotel.

On Sunday we went to church, played, ate lunch, and went on a walk in Magnolia groves:

 We LOVE our friends!

and this Bubba too: