what a bunch of goof balls!

we hit the cabin again for the big family week. my mom and i went up early to clean things up and paint the cabin. it was in desperate need of a fresh coat. connor LOVED the place. he could run everywhere, throw rocks, dig in the dirt, and let me tell you he did all of the above. he was all boy for 10 days, and he had a blast. he woke up every morning and he was ready to go at 90 miles an hour. then all of a sudden he would stop and say, "night, night" and it was time for a serious nap until he'd wake up and go 90 miles an hour again until bedtime.

we were some of the only people there for most of the time which was great b/c when we get up there it's like a small army has invaded sid town. so we unleashed our band of hillbillies onto the quiet ausable river. my dad got a rope and we headed out on the river to find a tree suitable for a swing. we found a great spot with a huge tree leaning over the river, so the boys were swinging and jumping into the river. it only took daniel about 20 minutes to get the guts to jump the first time. after that we couldn't keep the wild children off that tree.

we had some huge fires at night and my dad found a hollowed out tree when he was cutting firewood. we put some hollow logs on the fire which made some sweet chimneys for the fire.
i'm used to seeing the boys get super dirty, but i couldn't believe how dirty connor was. i had to give him a bath before naps b/c he was so filthy.

we had great fun telling stories around the campfire. my dad told his pizza story, and it got better and better. amazingly, he tells us that he can only give the truth as he thinks we can handle it. this year's story was like something out of a bruce willis flick. people were being thrown into pizza ovens and hot cheese was searing faces. but we all loved it and it was hilarious. somehow i was labeled persnickety. but even when people--uncle paul-- would say it i would hear someone else ask, 'what does persnickety mean?' no one really knew until nathan looked up the definition the last day during dinner. let me just say i do NOT think i'm persnickety. but it was funny when people would say it even though they didn't know what it meant.

the first few days it was pretty chilly. and the grass was as tall as connor until we got around to cutting it.

connor loved going around picking the tall grass, or as he called it, "flowers, flowers".

nothing like kicking back by the fire with a diet pepsi.

good morning, bb!

connor's favorite thing to do was go around with the broom making what he called "piles". i'm sure he got that b/c when i sweep at home i say, "stay out of mama's piles." it was cute until he put the broom into our paint tray. he saw us doing it so he wanted to help.

mom, this is sweet! can i get this dirty every day?

uh.... is anyone else seeing this? .......

.......josh is using the chainsaw???

connor inherited a fold up camping chair from the kids. he loved having his own seat.

more pics and videos tomorrow. today laundry calls.