Happy Fifth of July?

We had our neighbors over for what was supposed to be a Fourth of July Party, however we got rained out on the fourth and had to have it on the fifth.

Here are our little boys all dressed up for the occasion (as you may have noticed in previous pictures getting both of them to look at me AND smile is an insurmountable feat!)

We had to bust our our embarasingly large inflatable waterslide for the event. Nothing says freedom like being wet on a slide?! How hilarious is Alex in this picture!

Here are all the kiddos eating some hotdogs and goodies. I know for a fact that Andrew ate almost a pound of M&Ms and brownies all on his own. He was a mess, physically and behaviorally!























After dinner it was onto Pop Its and temporary tatoos. The kids were covered with patriotic tatoos and looked like bikers!
















Here are all the kiddos playing an egg and spoon race...can you say all-American fun?! Pretty cute!

















As the sun was setting we started a fire in our new fire pit. It sort of looked like tribal council from Survivor with all the tiki torches but it was pretty fun, too.

It was very nearly a full moon that night and the kids thought it was pretty cool. You can't really see it in this picture but thats what they are all looking at...

And of course no Fourth of July celebration is complete without blowing some stuff up! All agreed that we need to invest in some better fireworks next year but for now, these were pretty fun and the kids enjoyed the show.

Holiday World Family Vacation

Last Wednesday we packed up the family truckster and headed to Santa Claus, IN (Yes, that's a real place for those who don't live in Indiana!). We stayed at Lake Rudolph campground in a rented RV and went to Holiday World for two days.

The first thing you need to know about this trip was that it was HOT. I don't mean, "Oh my, it is a bit warm today," I mean "Seriously, did we make a wrong turn and end up in Hell World instead of Holiday World???" The heat index was 105 both days we were there. So if we look like we're melting in these pictures, I assure you we were only moments away from heat stroke at any given moment!

Here is Andrew trying to stay cool with Mommy's sunglasses.

Andrew on the space rockets

We went on this vacation with our good friends Karen and Dwayne and their daughter Sophie. Here is Karen on one of the carousels with Soph and Andrew.

Daddy and Andrew on the safari ride. P.S. Andrew is a really bad driver!

This is a new ride they have there called "Reindeer Games" that is a mini version of those rides that take you up and drop you repeatedly from various heights. My first time riding this I screamed like a little girl and everyone waiting in lines for rides around us looked at me like I was crazy! What can I say, I don't like the feeling of being dropped! Here is Alex and Nick having a good time on our new favorite ride.

Here are all three of the kiddos on the Salmon Run ride, Alex in the closest fish, Andrew behind him and Sophie behind him. They inexplicably LOVED this ride and went on it more times than I can count. All it does is go round and round and up and down. Go figure!

Here are all three kids on the canoe ride. Alex and Sophie in one canoe and the lone pioneer Andrew in his own canoe.

Here is Alex playing on the enormous playground they have at the back of the park.

Me and Alex on the Holidog Roller coaster. We have both loved this ride since he was 2 and we rode it plenty of times this trip, too. Andrew was able to take his first roller coaster ride this time, too and LOVED it. He kept saying "Lets go FASTER!" after each ride.

Our stay at the campgrounds attached to Holiday World was very nice, and THANK GOODNESS they had air conditioning! Here are the boys enjoying some watermelon with our RV in the back ground.

Our last night there we had a campfire despite the 90 degree heat still in effect at 8:00 at night. I mean, you have to have smores when you're camping, right?! Here are our three campers in their little camp chairs waiting for their treats.

Alex enjoying his smore!

Day Out With Thomas!

On Friday Alex, Andrew, Nana and I went to Day Out With Thomas! (For those who don't know, Thomas is a very popular children's character who is an engine.) We drove to Connersville where they have a cute little train station and got to have a 1/2 hour ride on Thomas's train.


Here are Nana and the boys with Thomas. (It was very hot and humid that day so everyone looks a little bedraggled but it really was a fun time!)




















Here is some video of the boys saying goodbye to Thomas. I was so impressed with how much the train looked like the real thing! His eyes even moved and his whistle went "Peep peep!" Very cute!




Here are the boys on the train ride part.














Andrew and I enjoying the ride...














Nana and Alex giving their ticket to the...














...conductor! He was really into his part and gave us little tidbits of Thomas trivia throughout our trip. I don't know quite how he didn't pass out from the heat, though, with that hat, long sleeve shirt and vest!




















After the train ride we got some corndogs and lemon shakeups. (This is Indiana, after all! No event is complete without some sort of meat on a stick!)














They also had all sorts of fun activities for the kids around the train station, including this mini-train ride. Alex and Andrew sat together in the last car and LOVED this! Andrew kept saying he wanted to go again.

Michigan 10 years later...

This weekend Nick and I took a long weekend trip to Saugatuck Michigan for a much-needed getaway. It was a wonderful trip and very relaxing. Our first stop on Saturday morning was Oval Beach, which is where Nick popped the question to me in the fall of 1999. It really is a very nice beach and we hope to bring the boys here someday.















The water was a bit on the nippy side so there wasn't even much wading but it was nice to look at nonetheless.



















Funnily enough there was a summer camp run by the Presbyterian Church right by Oval Beach and they had this sign, which we found humorous. Us wacky Presbyterians! We are just downright kooky! :)













After the beach it was onto wine mecca, Tabor Hill Winery. For those of you who know me, Tabor Hill Demi-Sec is my very favorite wine so I had to go see where it was made. It is the cutest little winery and in a very nice setting.















The best part of the winery, though, was the restaurant they have there. Oh. My. Goodness. If ever I end up on deathrow and am in need of a last meal, I would like them to prepare it. We thouroughly enjoyed every bite, not to mention the fact that we didn't have to order chicken nuggets! The restaruant overlooks the vineyard and makes for a lovely backdrop for a lovely meal. We will go back again, oh yes, we will go back!

The rest of the day was great, too. We went to see Star Trek at the movie theater (awesome movie if you haven't seen it!) and then had dinner in Saugatuck followed by a lovely stroll along the harbor boardwalk. It really was a great trip! Yay Michigan! Yay alone time! Yay wine! Yay beach! Yay!

Graduations and Ordinations!

May has been a busy month for the Lents clan (which explains my lack of posts!). This Thursday Alex "graduated" from preschool. Here he is with the two teachers he had this year and a certificate that says he completed preschool. For reasons not entirely understood, this made me REALLY sad and I shed some tears thinking about how quickly he is growing up. I swear that he was a baby just yesterday!














Then earlier in the month Nick was ordained as an elder at our church. The ceremony was very moving and this shows the other elders and our pastor (on the far left) praying for him. It was really neat to see God working in his life and I know he is very excited about the opportunity to serve the church family. FYI, each elder class has two in it, which explains why he is kneeling with another woman--he's not marrying her! :) Her name is Justine and she will serve three years with him on the session.