Toys, Boys and Baby .... Camp continues

I know that iPod owners are supposedly "uppity and elitist" but we sure know how to have fun with them. Cherise and the kids with their iPads and wannabes.

Wyatt really wants us to buy him one for his birthday.

It was the boys turn for an outing

Since Cherise and I took the girls out to the mall and Cam got to spend a day at Oaks Park, Wyatt and Hayden got their turn to have a special treat. They chose Billy Heartbeats.

We like the atmosphere there. They now have 3 tvs with various cable news or sports stations going. I think all three should be tuned in to "Perry Mason" from noon to one every weekday. It would be the perfect for the decor.

Garrett and his reflection. They both slept the whole time we were there.

Wyatt was impressed with the kids menu. It came with a kiddie sundae. He thought I said "kitty sundae". When I asked if he was ready for it he asked why they had a "cat sundae" on the menu.

Miss Muffett

Danika is such a little miss dress-up. She wanted me to take a picture of her with this towel on her head.

The Baby Boy

I think he was telling Cousin Henry stories in the first picture. If he is a future quarterback then Danika is definitely a future cheerleader. The big siblings loved on him for a bit after he got dressed for the day.

And Grampa was giving him his breakfast.

Camp G'pa & G'ma cont.

Granny & Pa camp at Jantzen Beach

Jess's parents were in town to bring a couple of their grandsons home. When they come for an extended time they park their camper at a nice RV park at Jantzen Beach.

That is where we found them last week.

Among the treasures at Granny and Pa's were a collection of vintage Hotwheels cars that belonged to Jess and his brothers.

The grandchildren flock to Granny for ice cream bars.

They sat on the lawn and stared at the back of the car seat. Not really. They were watching "Kipper" on my iPad via Netflix via WiFi.

Granny and Pa have the sweetest dog!

Dress up with hats

Girls at the mall

Cookie break

Beautiful figure skating to "Amazing Grace"

Getting a bit tired... but they have their Old McDonalds toys.

Heading back to the van.

One of these things is not like the others

They all look extremely real but 2 of the youngest three grandchildren are photo depictions on Cherise's and my iPads.

Matchy-match

Garrett happened to get the identical outfit for his shower that I got for Henry earlier this summer. Pay no attention to the sleep deprived Gramma ;-)

Beach & Baby Shower ~ What a weekend!

The Fab Four + a few

Up until a year ago these 4 comprised the first batch of grand-children we had.

Within the last year we've added a group of 3 more!

Henry (soon to turn one year old) isn't so sure about Max and the feeling is mutual it seems.

The youngest grandchildren, Katelyn and Garrett. She is getting around so well, playing on the floor. Garrett sleeps a lot during the day and is awake a bunch at night but he is growing and more interactive each day.

Westward Ho

On Saturday 14 out of the 20 of us, Harlan Hilmans, went to Seaside, OR.

It had been 10 years since some of us had been to the coast.

We should go down there more often just because it is a beautiful drive on the way there.

Playing in the HUGEST sandbox ever!

The weather was cool and foggy when we got there in the late morning. Kids will be kids though and soon they had shed their jackets and were having a great time.

The sun broke through the fog in the mid-afternoon. It was a nice temp in the high 60's. Portland got into the mid-nineties that day. I was glad we were at the coast. We got there early enough to have a nice big area to ourselves though there were a lot of people there by the time we left.

Cherise is our water girl... loves swimming, turning her face up to the sky during a rain shower and skipping in the ocean with Wyatt and Genevieve.

Our Eight sort of...

Blessings on Baby Garrett

On Sunday afternoon I had a Baby Shower for Garrett. He got some really cute things. Joylynn had help opening the packages.

It is rare that all 5 of our girls are in the same place at the same time... it is also fairly rare for the 4 Zywicki girls to be all at one place too, so it was especially great to see all of these beautiful women together at the baby shower. Could the next time it happens be Courtney's wedding? =:o

Above right: Courtney and Katelin. Friends for a long long time.

I asked the more mature women to pray a blessing over the little guy. He is blessed to have these ladies in his life.

Sink Baths

I am so glad that I found that sink at the resale shop a few years ago. It has one shallow small side and a deep larger side. It is very conducive to bathing small children.

Genevieve isn't exactly small but Wyatt was up in the tub and we wanted to get everyone scrubbed up and jammied before it got too late.

What I hope we are doing for a long time to come

It is so nice to just hang out with the grands.

We had our 8 kids, 7 grandchildren and 2 of the sons-in-law here yesterday.

Our life is busy and exhausting but we are so blessed!

Camp G'pa and G'ma

Wyatt, Genevieve, Danika and Garrett are at Camp G'pa and G'ma. They are having a blast!

You can't tell from his expression but he's pretty excited.

Girls and their phones

One of the boy came for my camera.... Courtney had to take a picture of the girls phones.

Old "McDonalds"

I'm sure it's because of the song but these kids call McD's "Old McDonalds". We took them to the Hollywood one which had outdoor tables. It was a lovely evening and everyone ate well.

Mini Maryann

I put Danika's hair in pigtails and put this hat on her. Can't you just imagine her growing up and ending up stranded on Gilligan's Island?

Gramma's Water Park

These guys have been waiting for warm weather coordinating with a visit to our house so we could take them to the local park.

We were there a few weeks ago with Henry and Simon and the fountains were not spraying anywhere near as strong as they are now.

It's pretty fun for everybody.

Garrett and his mom caught some rays while Dad got wet with the others.

They are renovating the playground area. It looks like it's going to be really nice.

"No girls allowed" amongst other rules

Wyatt set up a fort down in the family room and came to me with a paper and pencil to have me jot down the rules. There they are as dictated by a 6 year old boy.

Never a dull moment.