Starting Off the Summer Right!

One of our favorite families in the world is the Petty family! They are awesome and ALWAYS great and fun to be around. Cami and I are ideal "travel buddies". We are always on the same page, easy going, and enjoy taking our boys out for little adventures. The boys all get along SO well! Our families are a match made in heaven! Cami and I were both feeling the need to "go and do", so I suggested a hike to Pine Valley! Beautiful! It's about 30 mins outside of St.G. The boys were in paradise being outside with friends, sticks, being able to throw rocks in the river, jumping from rocks and lifting heavy things. They are amazing boys! We have more outings planned for summer, and I hope we'll get to do it all. At least we've started the summer off right!

 

Gorgeous

 Throwing rocks in the river. Just might be the best thing ever

Kade's awesome feat of strength!  The boys pick up big "logs" and impressed each other and their mamas.

We love Cami!

Carter and his BIG JUMP! Every big rock he can climb, he'll jump off. Big kid!

 A great picnic for hungry hikers! We found an empty camp ground to use its table. Perfect.

 A quick tour of a historic church, which the boys enjoyed quite a bit. They were very well behaved. Great kids! Great day, and we'll be hiking here again over the summer -no doubt about it!

On Memorial Day, we headed to the Petty's for a BBQ and some water fun. It was a great day with great food, great fun and great conversation.

 This is Carter's pout. We said "No" to something. :) It usually doesn't last long since we find it humorous, which isn't the reaction he hopes to get from his parents. He was back in the water within a minute. :)

 Our Red Cliffs hike and picnic day! Because we all enjoyed the Pine Valley hike day so much, we decided we should do more days like it. The boys were thrilled to be together again and out hiking which they love. I had never hiked this area of Red Cliffs before but Cami had, and the thought of a waterfall and pool at the end of it was exciting.

 It looks hot, but it was actually a beautiful day. Plus we started early to beat the mid day heat.

Carter climbed any big rock he could. He could climb and jump all day.

 The pool at the end was fun, but the waterfall was dried up. Already too hot. The boys probably spent a half hour throwing rocks in it, and moving the big rocks around.

 Our mountain goat children. These guys get along so well and really enjoy each other.

"Mom, we found a creature in here!" Haha After another great picnic, the boys played in the stream filled with crawdads. It was cool how many little "creatures" there were for the boys to "oh and aw" over. Perfect ending to the day. We had also seen lizards and beautiful birds and snakes during the hike. Great day, and so far fantastic summer! I love my boys! I love our friends! We are blessed!

The Iron Kids Race

When we get the chance, we love to sign the boys up for races. This was their third race. The Iron Kids race. The boys enjoy the exercise, the excitement of the crowd, getting a number pinned on them and receiving a medal (and sometimes a shirt) when they finish. It's fun for Joe and I to watch them grow. I'm hoping that this can be a regular thing throughout their lives.

 
 
 

Kade was our first finisher! He did great! This is just after getting through the finish line! You're awesome Kade!

 Ben just after the finish line. Joe stuck with him and finished too. haha

I don't know why the pictures are a little weird, but here are the boys showing of their medals. Carter came along too, of course, he hung out with me and cheered on the boys. It was a great evening out as a family.