Skate Night

The kids had their last skate night for Kloefkorn school.  Next year they will head to the new school Wysong.  All the kids love skate night and all of the kids are now completely independent with skating.  They all took their roller blades, and after helping them get them on, they all went out and skated their hearts out.  Callan was such a determined guy out there.  Skates are hard enough but he really wanted to do roller blades.  By the end of the night he was out in the middle of the rink not using the wall for help.  I love his desire to master something on his own.  He also won the limbo! If you make it past the lowest rung without touching the floor you get a ticket for a free Popsicle.  He was so proud of himself! Here are a few photos I took of the kiddos and a few videos.

Carter, Camden and Jackson

these two taking a break from skating so I can get their picture

the whole crew (it wasn't very busy at all)

callan doing the limbo

he won this ticket!

proud of his free popsicle

enjoying an icee

this guy on roller blades (he can go pretty darn fast)

these two cuties

the last of the skate pictures together

here is a quick clip of all the boys skating

another quick clip of carter and camden skating

A video of the kids dancing to Whip Nae Nae

Bike Rider

Even though Callan has been on again off again with riding his bike without training wheels since the summer, he was finally able to say he accomplished it over spring break!  We borrowed the neighbor girls smaller bike so that he could put his feet down easily and it made it so much better. Now he is working on his start and stop on his own much easier.  He even got out his bike today and rode it around. His bike is just harder to start and stop on his own since just his tippy toes touch.

riding his big bike and starting up on the "hill"

keeping control

look at him go

he is so so proud!

here is some video of him riding


one more video

Mahoney Cabin for Spring Break

A group picture at the cabin

This past week was spring break for the older kids. We had a gift card to the movies so we started the break by taking the kids to the new Zootopia movie.  It was really good and the kids loved it.

seeing zootopia

ready for reclining seats and comfort

Originally we didn't have any plans  for the week but friends of ours asked if we wanted to do something and we decided on getting a cabin at Mahoney for a few days. The cabin was only available on Monday and Tuesday so the days were chosen for us.  We divided up the food to bring and packed up the van and headed out.

We got up their early and the kids played at the park and the adults chatting a big swing.  It was super nice weather just really windy.

the big adult swing

We got into our cabin at 4 and the boys took the kids to the indoor play area while Shannon and I unpacked and got dinner started.  We grilled brats and hot dogs the first night with broccoli salad, homemade mac and cheese, fruit, veggies and chips and dip.  It was too windy for a fire pit so we ate an amazing cola cake that Shannon brought for dessert.  The kids rode scooters and played outside until it was dark and then we got them ready for bed and put them down around 8:30.  We had a 6 bedroom cabin and all the kids were in the basement.  It was glorious!  The adults had drinks and played games until we were ready for bed.

the scribner and wilkinson boys

camden is ready for bed

these two told stories before bed

preschool buddies having a sleepover

out cold

it didn't take long for sleep to set in

my sweet cam

It was an early morning with 5 boys but we had caramel cinnamon rolls, donuts and egg casserole for breakfast.  Then we headed out for an hour long hike on the dirt trails. The kids absolutely loved it and the weather was amazing.  We started out in sweatshirts and by the end had short sleeves.
 

we started our hike going up the tower

pretending to fall over the cliff onto the railroad tracks

they really enjoyed having walking sticks

such nice weather for a hike

we had to go through some rough terrain

these two

he climbed down this huge drop off and then back up.  I didn't see until he was on his way back up but it was really steep

walking back to the cabin

We got back to our cabin and made lunch and enforced a mandatory nap for everyone.  All the kids fell asleep in different rooms and we all got a nice nap.  We then headed down to the marina to walk around, feed the water fowl, and feed the fish. We had a nice time enjoying the beautiful weather before we headed back to the cabin to get ready for dinner and enjoy some drinks. 

feeding the geese

hanging out on the dock

we saw some pretty big catfish in the water

don't fall in

walking around the campsites that were empty

While we got dinner ready the kids enjoyed playing on a great climbing tree in the yard by our cabin as well as playing yard games, flying kites, and driving remote control cars.

they loved this tree!

bothering us while we make dinner

After dinner we decided to do a fire pit but were unable to because the park ranger told us you can't have a fire pit by the cabins.  So we had to move the fire pit into the fire place in the cabin to do s'mores. After some yummy s'mores made with fudge stripe cookies, we got the kids ready for bed. We switched the boys up so that no one had to sleep alone two nights in a row. They were ready for bed a little after 8 and they fell asleep fast.  We had another relaxing night of drinks and games and an early bed time. Chad had gotten a bad cold or his allergies hit him hard so he wasn't feeling the best anyway.  

after s'mores picture

love them!

ready to relax

The next morning we ate leftovers and packed up the cabin.  The kids enjoyed the last bit of time exploring around the cabin.  We then headed to Elkhorn and went bowling and then out to lunch at upstream. We got a starbucks coffee for the ride home and headed back.  It was such a fun little mini vacation with great weather and great friends.  We will have to do that again soon!

we put this sign outside our door

playing with the remote control car

gathering fire wood

bowling!

look at the form

it might be a spare

eating at upstream

they gave them these wiki sticks to play with and they kept them entertained