Philadelphia

We have been going to Sesame Place since Landon was 18 months old.  Last year we didn't go in the summer and just went in October for "Count's Halloween Spooktacular."  We had planned on that again, until Matt found out he has work meetings in Orlando this year in October.  So, instead of going to Sesame Place, we will be headed to Florida and to Disney one day :)  We couldn't skip Sesame Place altogether this year, so we went a week before I started back at school.  Cara flew into Philadelphia and went with us this time and we had a blast!  Before we went to the park for two days, we spent the first night after we picked up Cara exploring Philly. She had never been there, so we wanted her to see some things, and we wanted to go to a few places too. We were pressed for time and had to hurry everywhere, so that added to our adventure! We started off by eating some Cheesesteaks, then we saw Independence Hall.  We tried to see the Liberty Bell, but missed it closing by a couple of minutes.  Next, we went to the "Love" statue for a few pictures and then ran up the "Rocky" stairs at the museum.  Here are some pictures from our fun night!!

Indpendence Hall

Our Family

 Aunt Cara and the boys

 We made it to the top :)

Love this pic of Landon and Keegan

 In front of the fountain

Stay tuned for Sesame Place pictures...

Sherman

After we left the lake, we headed to Sherman for a few days to hang out with Matt's family.  On Friday night, we went to the last night of Vacation Bible School at a church in Salisbury where Cara's boyfriend, Nathaniel, is the preacher.  We ate dinner there, saw an animal show, went on a wagon ride and the boys got their faces painted!  It was a great time…thanks for letting us come!  Here are some pics from the fun night…

Landon touching one of the animals at the animal show.

Keegan got a puppy painted on his face.

 And Landon's whole face was painted like a puppy!

The boys showing us their puppy faces :)

The boys on the wagon ride.

 Keegan with his Papa on the wagon.

 Landon and Cara

 The boys had a blast swimming in the pool all weekend.  Landon can now swim all by himself (even in the deep end) with no swimmies!!!  He jumped off the diving board and everything without any swimmies :)  I can't believe he is big enough to do that.  Keegan also swam all over the place with his swimmie on!!  

Keegan and Papa

The boys in a motorized little tube.

Landon loved making up jumps to do off the diving board (just like off the dock at the lake).  This is the Blueberry!

The twisty starfish

Cara and Keegan

One night we had a fire and made s'mores.  Here we are roasting our marshmallows!

Keegan and Grandma

Aunt Cara reading Landon a chapter book before bed.

After church on Sunday, we went to Scheel's so the boys could ride the ferris wheel.  Matt took Landon and Keegan on it and they had a blast!

We left on Monday morning to head back home, but first we road the train from Springfield to Lincoln.  We thought since we would already be in the car for 8 hours that day, it would be fun to start our trip with a train ride.  It was a quick one, but the boys had fun!

Waiting at the train station...

Landon and Keegan standing in front of the train.


Getting off the train in Lincoln.

Thanks for letting us come stay for a few days.  We had a great time and can't wait to come back at Thanksgiving!

The Lake

I know I have said it before, but The Lake of the Ozarks is my all-time favorite place.  This year we were lucky enough to go for 8 days!  The weather was beautiful….no rain!! We had a great time and got to relax, as well as do some really fun things!  There are a lot of pictures so enjoy!

The second night we were there, my parents and I went to a Ronnie Milsap concert.  Jeremy and I grew up listening to Ronnie Milsap and know all of his songs, so this concert was AMAZING.  It was at a winery at the lake and we had a blast.  The only thing wrong was that we missed Jeremy :(

Selfie with my parents before the concert

 Ronnie getting ready to come on stage

 The legendary Ronnie Milsap :)

 Mom and I

 We were in the 4th row….this is our view during the concert.

During the concert, I went to the front of the stage and took a Selfie with Ronnie!

Landon had a Jake tattoo on his arm for 2 weeks.  It was on there for so long that when it finally came off, he had an outline of the tattoo on his arm from his tan.  It took 4 days of sun at the lake to make the outline go away!  If you look closely, you can see it!

We went out to breakfast one morning on the boat…The boys and I on the way there…

Landon and I on the way home

My mom and I with the boys

Keegan liked playing in the little bedroom of my parent's boat

Landon with the first fish he caught

Fishing with Papa...

Reeling in his fish

The boys caught 12 fish in one day!!

We had a blast on the jet skies.  Keegan went on them for the first time, but only at Idle Speed.  Landon loved them this year and Matt even let Landon drive on his own when they went together.  Here are some pics!

Keegan driving with Daddy

Keegan and I

Landon and Daddy

Landon and I

All 4 of us on the jet skies

We also took a boat ride to Ha Ha Tonka (a State Park at the lake)

Keegan helping Papa drive

Landon helping drive the boat

Cute pic of Keegan and Matt on the boat

Landon and Daddy

Family pic at Ha Ha Tonka

Grandma and the boys

Matt and I

Love this pic of Keegan climbing

Cute pic of Landon on the rocks

Landon and Matt

The boys playing in the bedroom

Matt kneeboarding

Me on skies

My parents have this awesome float called "The Relaxation Station" that we spent a lot of time in.  You can easily fit 4 adults and lots of kids.  The middle holds about a foot max of water so the kids can play all day in it.  Keegan loved it and called it "The Bathtub" all the time.

Cheese!!

The boys playing

Keegan playing

Family pic!

Landon and Keegan both did a great job swimming all over in the lake.  They loved the water!

Landon also loved jumping off the dock.  He did all sorts of jumps.  This is the Starfish!

The Blueberry Jump!

Twisty Jump

We love to take the boat out for boat cruises after dinner.  Here are some pics from one night.

Landon with Count

Mom and Dad with the boys

I rarely drive the boat, so Matt took this pic while my dad was in the back taking some pictures.

Mom and Dad

All 4 of us

Landon driving all by himself

One of my best friends since grade school, Brittany, and her family happened to be on vacation at the lake the same time we were there.  So, her whole family came over one day to hang out with us.  it was so much fun and so great to see everyone and catch up.  It had been way too long since I had seen her family.  Thanks for hanging out, guys!!  Good times!

Here is a pic of Landon and Keegan with Mykah, Britt and Doug's daughter

Britt and I

Here is a group pic with my parents and Britt's parents and sisters.

Our family with Brittany's family

A huge tower (all the way to the ceiling) that Landon made out of blocks!

2 days before we left, my brother's family came to hang out with us as well.  We had a blast and are glad we could see them for a little bit.
The kids swimming in the lake….Landon, Adelin and Chloe

Keegan and Chloe

We went to Captain Ron's one day with everyone.  It is a restaurant, but it also has a really nice sandy beach for the kids to play at.

Here is Keegan showing us his huge french fry at lunch.

Landon and Adelin playing together…can't believe how big they look here :(

All 4 of the grandkids

Silly pic with Jeremy photo bombing it in the background!!  Too funny!

Keegan

Matt working on his tan

Tubing (on a huge raft, almost like a couch) behind the boat….Cindy, Chloe, Adelin and Jeremy

Cindy, Chloe, Landon and Matt

Me, Keegan, Landon and Matt

Landon and Matt

No hands!!

Playing in the little bedroom, out of the sun.

Keegan and Grandma

Keegan with his hat, aka a bowl!

The 4 kids in their pajamas!

Looking at the lake

The boys on the morning we left

Last pic of the grandkids

Our family

Our family with my parents

Jeremy and his girls

This is a pic of my parents house from the dock!

Thanks for letting us invade your lake house for 8 days, Mom and Dad.  We had a blast, like always and can't wait to come back again next summer….wish it wasn't so long away!