And More Pictures!

Silas enjoying a treat!
Silas and I on board the Battleship North Carolina.
Elayna in one of the rare moments a camera captures her real smile instead of her cheesy grin.
While in North Carolina we were able to go to Hanging Rock State Park for an afternoon. It's been the family camping spot for years and years. Grandma was able to go along and enjoy the beautiful drive, as well as watch the kids swimming.

Here is the lake at Hanging Rock, with the beach on the left. We have so many family memories there at the campground and the lake!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

Moving back to August pictures... I share a birthday with my grandmother, and we for the first time in a few years we were able to have our traditional birthday lunch together. It was very special to be together! We finished my birthday celebration at my sister Amanda's house. She cooked us a wonderful steak dinner, and then served my requested "cake," a Krispy Kreme doughnut!


Two days later it was Elayna's turn to have a birthday- her third! Aunt Amanda was off work and took the girls to the Children's museum. Those were some delighted little girls! Among many activities, this hands on room full of pioneer stuff was a hit for these "Little House on the Prairie" fans.
Another fun activity was a kid sized grocery store. Here is Brynn checking out.

And Elayna loading up a cart!
If you don't think the trip to the Children's museum was enough fun for a day, don't worry! We continued by meeting Aunts, Uncles, and Grandma at Chuck E. Cheese for pizza and fun!

Our recent (and not so recent) adventures!

After many adventures in the last few months, I feel so far behind in updating everyone. The farther behind I get, the less motivated I am to try to catch up. So I'll just start with today for now, and see where we get!

Today we took the train into Boston. We rode the swan boats, and visited the statues of the Mallard Family from "Make Way for Ducklings" by Robert McCloskey. Here is our family with the Mallard family.

Grandpa and the girls posing for a shot with Mrs. Mallard.


Riding the swan boat was a hit with the kids! Silas was sure he needed to swim with the ducks!
Here's the little man just being cute! I think he's pretty good at it.

Last Saturday we went apple picking. With the nice small trees the girls could pick their own- and eat their own!

Even Silas got in on the action!
The orchard had some activities for the kids as well. Here is Brynn enjoying one of the tractors they rode. There was a hay maze, a moon bounce, and some farm animals to visit.

This is a picture of Silas I just had to include for Nana, Papa, and the aunts and uncles. =) I'll try to add some more pictures of our summer activities soon, but here's a start!

The whole gang!

In the last two posts I neglected to share our newest Rideout clan photo. So here we are- all 26 of us!

Half-Birthday girl

Kira gets to celebrate her half birthday each year, since she was a Christmas baby, and misses out on some of the fun on her real birthday. Her half birthday was last week. So while Heidi, Kay and Tom are still here, we went to a local lake for a cookout and to play in the water. They had a great time!

Cousins galore!

We have been having a great time with Kevin's family! We were all together for a week, and the rest of the time has been spent with Kevin's dad, grandma, and Ian and Beka's family. Rather than tell you about it, I'll just show you!

Our arrival in Boston, and some really tired kids!

Elayna and same-age cousin Rayna



These four year olds were all born between January and March. So lots of cousin fun for them!
Here's a shot of all 16 cousins together. They range from 13 years, down to 1 year.
One fun thing we did was go to Clark's trading post in New Hampshire. We got to see trained black bears do a show, ride on a train and blaster boats. (bumper boats with sprayers- lots of fun!) In case you wondered, this is NOT a real bear. =)

We're back!

After over 24 hours of traveling, we arrived safely back in the US. We have been enjoying the last couple of days eating ice cream and lots of cheese, and visiting with Kevin's dad and grandma, as well as Ian and Beka and family. The cousins are having a blast together! Last night we enjoyed a "circus" they prepared.
There have been lots of things that we have had to introduce or reintroduce to the kids. I thought I'd just mention a few things that stood out to us over our first couple of days back.
The kids:
-water fountains
-learning how to flush the toilets here- the handle is in a different place!
-playing in the grass
-hot air hand dryers
-milk that doesn't have to be mixed

For me:
-driving for 15 minutes without seeing a single motorcyle (not to mention goats, cows or camels!)
-retail overload- there are WAY too many choices in the grocery store
-internet that is FAST!

Off to bed for now! Thanks for praying for us as we made the journey. The kids were great, and we couldn't have asked for a better trip. It still feels a little unreal that we are here, but we are enjoying it nonetheless.
We look forward to seeing Kevin's family this week. 10 adults + 16 kids + 1 week in New Hampshire= lots of fun!