Feeling Patriotic

I think it must be the fact that we just visited the heart of where America first began, because this Independence Day I feel especially proud and blessed to live in this free country. Some very brave, wise, honest and humble men helped lay the foundation for this great nation. I hope we can stand strong against those who would shake that foundation. Abraham Lincoln once said,
"American will never be destroyed from the outside.
If we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
I love America...from sea to shining sea! May we remember the sacrifices made so we can all be free and never forget why this country is so great.

May God bless America, for in Him we trust.

Fish Lake

Last weekend some friends invited us down to Fish Lake for a little camping and a lot of fishing. We've visited this lake before but never fished it or camped, so we were excited to finally do both. The lake is beautiful and there is a cool 100 year old lodge by the dock. Aside from the wind and my sunburned lobster legs we had a great time!

Ooh what a cute little family.:)

Ava loved fishing with Daddy. She's a pretty darn good caster after this trip.

Poor Jeremy and Luke didn't catch anything. But that didn't slow them down...they were fishing fools and loved every minute of it.

Josh's first fish! Even though it was a far cry from the 20 pounder he was sure he would catch I think he was still proud. Jason lucked out and caught the most of the trip. We cooked those suckers up and I think there was enough for everyone to get a little taste.

Getting a lesson on gutting a fish.

Kodi reeling in a big one.:) haha

The kiddos got to troll around in the canoe for a few minutes. The waves were just a little to much for the little boat. Darn wind!

Our first camping trip of the summer gets a big 3 thumbs up from these two.

THE END. :)

Off to Visit Grandma and Grandpa

Prepare yourself for a serious "no picture left behind" post. (What's sad is this isn't even half of them.)

This first picture is one of my favorites.

Our first stop was beautiful Mount Vernon, home of George Washington.

Washington's tomb

Boat trip on the Potomac River for this incredible view...


Tasting famous Peanut Soup

Luke and Jeremy in front of the White House. And we had to take a picture of the cool secret service guys up on the roof.

On our way out of DC the next morning we stopped at the gorgeous temple

"Crab soup" town (Mom I can't remember it's real name but it was pretty.) That evening we arrived in Chincoteague where we spent a fun 2 days. Then it was off to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We crossed a 17 mile bridge with two under water tunnels...just a little creepy.:) On the way we stopped to tour the very impressive Battleship Wisconsin.
Ava managed to find the one thing on the ship that was pink.:)
That night we swam at Grandpa and Grandma's pool, ate pizza and watched fireflies. In the morning we explored Jamestown, the first settlement in the US.

The Ships they came over on were pretty amazing.
The kids by the Pocahontas statue and the actual brick walls of the church where she was married.

Grandpa has been talking about this ferry forever. Luke was so excited to finally go for a ride on it. You drive your car right onto it and then of course you have to feed the gulls while it crosses the river.

On the other side we went fossil shell and shark tooth hunting. We found two shark teeth and lots of cool shells.

That evening we had a picnic with our Christoffersen cousins and went kayaking. It was really fun getting to spend time with them. Driving home we saw tons of whitetail deer and more fireflies.

In the morning it was "Are you guys ready to go to Busch Gardens!"

This is a picture of Ava and Luke both riding all by themselves on a pretty fast little rollercoaster. (They were oh so proud.:))


Ava was just alittle to short for the Escape from Pompeii ride but somehow she squeeked by on her tippy-toes. It was pretty funny, even after we got off the ride she was still on tiptoe. :) The park was so fun!

Our very last day we spent in beautiful Williamsburg. A neat little town with little gardens and sideyards and so many cool historic homes.

We took a tour of the Govenor's mansion, which was beautiful! (Our tour guide was a bit theatrical.:))

The walls in the entryway of the mansion are lined with swords and rifles and pistols, it was really cool.

This was the jail. The kids loved it because it was a pirate jail. Blackbeard's crew was held here before they were killed.

At the Govener's mansion they were making chocolate and it smelled sooo good, we had to get ourselves some fudge and a carmeled apple.:)
That evening while Ava and Grandma and I went swimming, Grandpa took Luke and Jeremy fishing.

Reading bedtime stories and eating breakfast out on the balcony.
And getting there was fun too. We had to take a picture of Ava's first plane ride.
It was such a fun adventure. Thanks again Grandpa and Grandma! Miss you. XOXOX