Camping with the Knochels

Well I have yet again taken a million pictures and am unable to narrow them down to a reasonable number, so brace yourself for a post full of photos :)

Sunday thru Tuesday our little family joined my big family (my Mom, Dad, Sisters, Brother, Brother-in-law, niece, nephew and Molly's potential mate :) ha) for a family vacation/camping trip to Tyler State Park. My parents have started a generous tradition of taking all of us on some type of family vacation every year to enjoy spending quality time together and make special memories for us and out kids. My Mom does the majority of the planning and we get all the benefit! This trip was special because when we were all kids my parents took us to this state park often. It was fun to take my boys there and watch them run around in the same park I once loved. We had a wonderful trip and enjoyed our little "limited use" cabins (my parents rented one for each little family and for the singles :) so we had 4 close together to share. Most of our time was just spent enjoying the company, relaxing outdoors and watching wildlife (kids and animals alike).

 

It is always a treat when Aunt Molly is in town because not only do we all love her, but she is also a big hit with the kids! Here Joel is showing off his open mouthed grin and tiny tater onsie (in honor of the fact that Molly nick named Philip tater tot) that Aunt Molly bought for Joel when he was born.

One of the first things we did upon arriving at the park was to go down to the beach and the lake and let the kids play in the sand and chilly water as well as the braver adults enjoying jumping off the platform. Levi loves anything water and since it had been a while since he had been able to play in the water this was extra exciting for him.

siblings :)

 There were some not so shy armadillos and raccoons that seemed to live and hang out near the cabins. We all enjoyed watching them scurry around and look for food.

One day the boys and Molly (so brave) went out for some mountain biking. Levi is always super excited when Philip rides his bike and yells over and over, "Daddy you ride you bike?!" While they rode My Mom, Sister Kate and the kids went on a long walk around the park and got a work out pushing the kids up and down the hills in their double strollers. Levi and Nora took a little cat nap together in their stroller. It is so sweet how much they love each other and enjoy playing with each other.

Molly brought along her boyfriend, Ryan, and he fit in quite well! We enjoyed getting to know him and to see Molly so happy. He loves babies almost as much as Molly and was very comfortable around the kids, which was very sweet. Ryan treats Molly very well and also jumped right in with all the activities and is an active guy, and so far we all seem to approve :)

Levi and Nora both spent most of their time filthy dirty. They could not resist the soft sandy dirt and were coated with it by the end of each day. The played hard and each obtained multiple ouchies as proof.

 

We all enjoyed the two littlest boys so so much! They are both just so cute and happy babies! I cannot wait to watch their relationship grow, they already seem to really like each other. Asher loved to crawl over to Joel on the blanket and love on him. Joel generally took the hugs, kisses and smooshing very well.

One evening we (Me, Philip, Dustin, Seth and Ryan) rode our bikes up to the play ground with the kids in bike trailers (Dustin pulled Nora and Asher and Philip pulled Levi and Joel). The kids LOVED the playground and we all had fun watching them climb, slide and play. After we were done we posed for a quick group shot.

We enjoyed a little extra time with Seth because he rode home with us so that we could drop him at the airport for his flight back to school. Levi loved having him in the back seat with him during the drive and then playing with him in his room with Joel until it was time for him to leave.

 

It was a wonderful long weekend and I think we will return to Tyler State Park. All of the facilities there are very nice and well maintained (including the all important bathrooms). There is a great playground, beach, hiking and biking trails, kayaking and paddle boating and we enjoyed all theses features very much this trip. Thank you again to Moe and Pop for a memorable and fun vacation! Spending time with my wonderful family in God's beautiful creation will always make me happy! We are so blessed!