Slip-n-Slide: Dubois County Style

My cousin Kyle is gearing up for his second year of medical school at LECOM (Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine) near Pittsburgh, PA.  When he left last July for his first year, he had a going away party at his Mom and Dad's house.  It wasn't just any party, it was a slip-n-slide party.  He had another party this year before he leaves on Friday.  It was a blast.

While I choose not to participate in the slip-n-slide portion of the party, it is so much fun to watch!  My little buddies and a bunch of my cousins came out.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Here's a shot of the slip-n-slide:

We had so much fun!  Thanks to Kyle and family for having all of us over for the slip-n-slide!  I also want to wish Kyle a great year at LECOM.  You are going to be an amazing doctor!  

PS - Make sure you send me your new address or else you might not get any baked goods next year!  :)

O'Bannon with the Schmitts

Before this year, I had never gone camping and really had no desire to do so.  I didn't grow up doing it and if I was going to go out of town for the weekend, I wanted to go somewhere with a TV, wifi, and air conditioning (or heat if it was in the winter).  Brady convinced me to go to camping with Autumn, Nick, and Kadance over the July 4 holiday, and my cousin, Janelle, convinced me to go with them at least once this summer.  We decided to with them this past weekend to O'Bannon Woods State Park.

If you are going to camp and are a little uneasy about it, like I was, here are a few tips:

• Make sure you are in a camper and not a tent.  I don't think you could pay me to tent camp when it is 90+ degrees outside.
• Go to O'Bannon.  They have a pretty awesome pool.  (Even though I have no photos because I didn't take my camera to the pool.)  
• Go with experienced campers.  They make sure you don't run out of the essentials such as water, lighter fluid, and beer.  

We arrived at O'Bannon on Friday afternoon.  We both took the afternoon off, and it was a good thing.  We got there and we were supposed to be at site 188.  Janelle and family were at 187, so it made sense to book 188 if we wanted to be near them, right?  Apparently not.  188 was pretty far away from them, so we made arrangements to transfer sites.  We got a site next to them and proceeded to go park.  Brady is an inexperienced camper parker (for the lack of a better word), so he had a little trouble getting the camper into our spot.  A nice man tried to help us, but when Drew and Janelle got back from the pool, Drew made it look like backing a matchbox car into a regular parking spot.  We got everything together and were ready to have some fun.  Friday evening was spent just hanging out and having dinner.  We did go down to the Ohio River though.  It was a pretty nice view. 

Also a nice view:  watching the kids and some of the adults on the back of the truck on the way to and from the river.  Here are a few shots I took from the inside. 

Once we got to the river, here are a few of the pictures we took.

 

Saturday was a busy day.  We went on a hike for what seemed like longer than the posted two miles.  The scenery was very pretty, and we had fun.  After lunch we went to the nature center and visited the pool.  If you like to camp and swim, O'Bannon is the place for you.  Their pool is awesome.  They have an area that has spray jets for little kids (or adults, I don't judge), a kiddie pool, and a pool with two great slides.  Brady and I tried both slides and had a blast.  

After all of that excitement, we went back to the campsite for dinner.  Some of Janelle's friends made ribs for everyone.  Everyone else brought a side.  We were in charge of corn on the cob, and the Schmitts brought potatoes.  Everything was delicious!  

We packed up this morning and came home.  While I don't think that I'll be a camper multiple times in the summer, a few times would be fun to spend time with family and friends.  It was a great weekend!  Thanks, Janelle and Drew, for letting us tag along on your camping weekend!  

Only a Week Late...

I'm only a week late with this post but better late than never, right?

We have become big fans of the July 4 holiday over the past few years.  It's always been great, but there is a new tradition that has begun.  For the past few years, we have gone to Brady's cousin, Jayme, and his wife, Ginger's house.  Jayme and Ginger host a cookout, and we play fun outdoor games.  Jodi is a bit competitive, so she is always fun to compete against.  The Rivers couldn't make it this year, and we really missed them, but we had a good time with family.

The theme of this year's party was a water balloon fight.  It started out as a water balloon fight and then it turned out to be an entire water war!  I do not know if I have ever laughed so hard.

Max and Maggie were ready for the big fight!  

The idea was to get Nick.  Jayme tried really hard to pull one over on Nick.  It didn't work quite as well as he would have hoped!  

Nick and Jayme have quite the bromance going on.  It's great to watch!  :)  

I follow a blog called Young House Love and on the Friday before the Fourth they posted this link.  I decided to give it a whirl and see if it would work.  Disclaimer:  My Mom helped me. 

Anyway...

Outside of the cake

And the center!  

Woot woot!  It turned out!  

Even though we had a lot of fun with the water fight and spending time together, we didn't forget the real reason that we celebrate the Fourth.  We wouldn't be here today without the brave men and women in the military who risk their lives for our freedom.  

We all made sure to thank our favorite soldier, Nick.  Jayme and Ginger were too sweet when they got this cake for him.  

Hope you all had a great Fourth!  (Even if I am a week late!)  

Camping & Biking

Brady and I have been married now for four years and have been together for a total of eight.  (Time really flies.)  In these eight years I have avoided doing something that Brady really likes to do that I was not always fond of.

That would be camping.

This may or may not surprise you but I'm not exactly an outdoorsy type of person.  I'm going with that probably did not surprise you.  Brady finally convinced me to camp when Autumn and Nick asked us to go to Muscatatuck Park in North Vernon, Indiana.  Nick is involved with DINO bike racing.  DINO stands for Do INdiana Off road.

We left on Friday (July 1) to drive to Muscatatuck.  We stopped at Arby's for dinner and then made it to our campsite.  We got everything set up, grilled a few brats, and then went to bed.  We had a big day ahead of us.

On Saturday we got up, made breakfast, and then watched Nick in the short track race.  He didn't think he did the greatest, but I think he did a heck of a lot better than I would ever do!  After the race, we had lunch and rested up.  We went kayaking that evening.  This was an interesting adventure!  We had SO much fun!   Autumn brought a waterproof camera along, and I cannot wait to get these pictures back!  Nick hoarded the camera a bit, but I'm sure he got some good shots!  :)  The best moment of the day, by far, had to be when Brady got out of his kayak.  He slipped on a rock (the river was very low; it probably didn't even go past my knees) and went under!  I wish I could have rewound it and played it again!

Here are a few shots my first weekend camping:

Sunday was the big race.  It was so neat watching all of the bikers take off.  The race was only a total of three laps, but they were long!  Nick did a great job.

I think all of the men and women who do a DINO race deserve a big ole hug because some of those hills were pretty steep.  I am glad that I didn't see them coming down some of them!

After his race, Kadance took a nap and then we packed everything up to head home.  We almost missed the storm, but we got caught up in it when we got to Celestine.  Even though we had a lot of fun, it was good to be home.

My first camping weekend was a success.  Brady's even convinced me to go again next weekend.  We're going with my cousin and her family, so it should be a great time!

Waaaay Behind

I'm waaaaay behind on posts, and I have some pretty good things to write about.  Since I know you are all on the edge of your seats, I'll do my best to get a few done tonight and this weekend!  :)