Yummy, Yummy Peaches!

It's our favorite season - peach season!  We headed to the farm to pick some yummy deliciousness right from the tree.  The kids devour peaches, and that isn't an exaggeration.  We easily go through 20 peaches every three days in our house.  It's a bit ridiculous actually.  

It's been pretty hot around here, so we made sure to get their early to avoid the heat.  It was a beautiful day, but I felt awful because I forgot to bring hats.  The big boys figured out a way to compensate for my short comings by using their buckets to keep the sun out of their eyes.  

This little guy is always up for an adventure.  I swear that huge grin didn't leave his face the entire time we were there.

The big boys didn't waste any time and got right to the task at hand.  Max must have eaten at least four peaches while we were in the orchard.  In every picture I have of him picking there is a half eaten peach in his other hand.

Will got it too.  He was great about gently placing his goods into the basket.  Jack finally got the hang of picking the fruit, but also thought that tossing them into his bucket was a good idea.  I must have told him to be gentle at least 20 times.

Jack was also completely smitten with all the little bugs he found.  He would see a fly and go on and on about it being so cute!

Every adventure it more fun when Nonna joins us, and peach picking was no exception.  I think she had as much fun in the orchard as the boys :)

It won't be long before Max is taller than Nonna.  He reaches her shoulder now, but she thinks he will be up to her chin by next spring.  I can't get over how grown up he seems lately.   Sigh. 

Before we knew it we were the proud owners of 28 lbs of fresh peaches and it was time to board the tractor for the ride back.  The two big boys were able to secure seats int he coveted top area and they looked so cute watching the tractor driver.

Another wonderful family adventure in the books.  It truly is a wonderful life!

Robotics Camp

 Back in the spring we attended math night at Max's school.  His favorite table, by far, was the one with the robots.  One of the local universities sponsors a robotics camp in the summer and we decided that it was perfect for Max.

So last week he spent three hours a day working with other kids and building a robot.  Her name is Evie, and she is made out of Legos.

Not only do the kids build the robots, but they program them as well.  They had to write a story with some sort of problem.  Max's Evie was stuck in the forest and had to find her way out.  He then had to use the ipad to program Evie's movements.  

On Friday we were able to head up to the university to see what he had been up to all week.  It was pretty cool if I do say so myself.

It was a great experience for Max.  This type of activity is right up his alley and we can see some type of programming job in his future - just like his Daddy.

Silver Dollar City

Brian is always on the hunt for a deal.  Vacation is no exception :)  He discovered that Silver Dollar City has a deal where if you go after 3:00, your tickets are good the next day as well.  We were worried that a couple hours might be enough for the kids so it was the perfect solution.  

They loved it.  I mean really, really loved it.  We hit all the water rides on Wednesday evening and there were no lines - we could just walk right on!  We all looked like drowned rats, but we had a great time.

The next day we were better prepared for the fun - which meant that the boys were in swimsuits :)  Both big boys rode some pretty big roller coasters and they loved most of them.  The Powderkeg, where it goes from zero to 70 in two seconds was a bit much for Will.  But he could have ridden Fire in the Hole all day long.  

Branson Continued

There was just so much fun on vacation that it takes three posts to cover it all.  After our smores night on the beach we knew we needed to come back to let the kids really enjoy the sand and the water.


This little man had so much fun he couldn't take it.  Between the sand and the water, he was in little boy heaven.  He also loved it when he was able to bob in the water with his puddle jumper.

The big boys didn't want to leave the water - unless it was to run away from someone shooting water.  They had so much fun and Will really got a lot more comfortable in the water.  He usually only wants to hang on to mom or dad when in the water.  At the lake he was willing to bob around a bit without holding on to anyone.  Progress.

Mom had some excitement on the lake too.  I took my very first stand up paddle board class - and I didn't fall it!  It was a great workout and I loved every minute of it.  Something I never would have even attempted two years ago!

There is a beautiful place near the resort called Top of the Rock.  We took the golf cart tour and it was perfect.  The boys loved looking at the scenery and yelling at daddy to drive faster. 

 The tour took us through a little cave - that had a bar - and around several different waterfalls.  The views were beautiful!

Like father like son, right?

Branson

We couldn't head down to the lake without  spending at least on day in the tacky, but oh so fun town of Branson.  We started out with a trip to the fish hatcheries.  The boys loved seeing all the different fish pens.  Best of all was feeding these sweet little fish.  I think we spent $3 on food and that was all we had - they could have kept on going. 

Next we boarded the Duck.  This amphibious vehicle can drive on the road as well as on the water.  The boys weren't too terribly impressed with the duck itself - but they sure did love their quacker.  Mom didn't love them quite as much. 

If I'm honest the ride was a bit underwhelming.  We were only on the lake for about 10 minutes of the 50 minute ride.  The highlight of the ride was that each kiddo was able to drive the boat for a moment or two.

The captain's jokes on the boat were pretty lame, but I have to admit this picture is pretty hilarious.

After a quick dinner we headed to the epitome of Branson fun - the go kart track.

We started out small with bumper boats.  Will wanted to sit this one out.  Max loved it and Jack had a blast shooting water while mommy steered the boats.  I was shocked at just how soaked I was when the ride was over.

Then we headed to the big kid wooden go kart track.  This track was no joke.  I was a bit shocked that even Jack was big enough to ride as a passenger.

Brian and Max were super fast and had a great time. 

Mom and Jack  went a whole lot slower - we didn't get lapped, but it was close.

William loved it too - luckily we had a friend that was willing to act as his driver. 

The best part of this track was that both big boys were able to drive their own cars on some smaller tracks.  They both did a great job.  There was one minor crash when I distracted Will to take a picture ;)

The day ended with ice cream on the strip.  Pretty much the perfect vacation day all around. 

Table Rock Lake

What a week!  We met friends from college with their kids to spend a week on the lake.  If I'm honest I was a bit worried about how nine people would work in a two bedroom, two bath cabin on the lake, but it was perfect!

 The resort was amazing.  There were tons of family friendly activities right there on the property.  We spent our first full day playing mini golf and swimming in the pools.

 In the evening we headed down to the marina for smores on the beach.  I'm not sure what the kids enjoyed more - the smores or playing in the sand.  I think they were a little disappointed that they weren't in their suits so they couldn't get in the water.

They made the best of it and built a pretty cool sand fort complete with water tunnels.  All three boys were a pretty much soaked and covered in sand by the time we headed back to the cabin.  A perfect first night of vacation all around.