Sunday Citar

"I would say my greatest achievement in life right now - my greatest achievement period is - and I'm still trying to achieve it - is to be a wonderful father to my kids."  ~Bo Jackson

Photo(s) from the winery/brewery we went to one year ago this weekend.

Thank you for stopping by Sunday Citar! This blog quote meme was created by Fresh Mommy. You can stop by her blog to see the quotes and photos that she and everyone else is loving right now.

One Year Ago.

We LOVED the Wagner Vineyards when we went there last Labor Day weekend.  It was a really nice kids friendly place to visit. They had grape juice for the kids when you wine taste and root beer for the kids when you do the beer tasting.  The kids had fun drinking the root beer. 

Camping Day 1

Last Friday we started out on our camping adventure to Watkins Glen.  We went with another family and had a FANTASTIC time. 

To prepare for the trip, I made TONS of fried chicken & the potato dish (delicious fat filled potato goodness...I need to do a blog post on that easy family recipe someday...YUM) on Thursday.  I thought I had made way too much chicken, but every piece was eaten and they LOVED it.  I also premade taco meat and froze it so we could just reheat it over the fire for tacos in a bag.

I started packing the car Thursday night and I was concerned that everything would not fit.  My trunk is large, but we had a lot of stuff to pack in it.  My husband likes to call me the packing queen.  By the time I was done filling the trunk and backseat, every nook and cranny of the trunk was filled in (should have took a photo...it was funny) and the kids had just enough room to sit.  And before people think the kids were unsafe in the backseat, they had all the sleeping bags (5 of them total....4 reg & 1 queen) and all 4 pillows back there.  They loved the fact they had somewhere to rest their head during the trip.

We followed our friends down.  The drive down was beautiful.

Ok, so to keep it real.

Tent camping is interesting to say the least.  Ian slept on a twin air mattress, Jeff & I were on a queen air mattress and Lily slept on a pool float (don't judge, it which worked out perfectly for a 3yr old).  The first night sleep was awful.  I slept TERRIBLE and so did my husband.  I could not get my brain to turn off.  It was cool, but sticky and 1/2 the time you were hot.   I was MISERABLE.  The crickets drove me NUTS.  Between the cricket noise and my skin feeling itchy due to the stickiness, I wanted to crawl out of my own skin.  When I finally fell asleep my kids woke up.  The kids seemed to take turns waking up.  Thankfully the next 2 nights were much better and I relaxed some....bourbon & diet coke helped, too.  ;)

Day 2 we went to Corning.  More on that tomorrow.

Aloha Friday #36

It is Aloha Friday! In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that people take it easy and look forward to the weekend.

Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your comment below and link in Kailani’s blog. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

This weeks question is:
Have you ever been camping?

I went camping as a child when I was in girl scouts.  That was FOREVER ago.  OK, not forever...but sure seems like it.  We are going camping this weekend.  I am not sure where we are going to shove everything we need for the extended weather forecast.  There is a 40% chance of showers and it's only supposed to be 65 degrees for a high one of the days.  Brrrr!  I guess it could be worse.

On a brighter note, I have made enough fried chicken to feed an army and my camera lens is all fixed and waiting in my camera bag to take lots of photos.  =)

Wish me luck, I am going to need it. 

And because the weather they are predicting makes me think of fall, here is a new bow center I made the other day. (she is only about an inch tall and I made them for All Tied Up Bows.)  =D

Have a great weekend!

Watkins Glen

Two Weeks ago today we went to Watkins Glen. It was a beautiful day! We left home around 7:30am and we saw these beautiful balloons along the way...
After arriving we met up with our friends who were camping there. Here is a picture of our 6 kids...(the baby is in the carrier)

We went on a hike through Watkins Glen in 2 groups. The dads took all the kids except Lily on the first trip. Lily stayed behind with us moms.

After the guys were finished hiking, my friend & I decided not to take Lily with us because it was a bit dangerous. Besides we never get to do anything by ourselves. The view was just breathtaking.





After our hikes we went to a winery, then a quick stop at the beach...



And then we went to dinner. After dinner we went back to their campsite and had smores. We got on the road shortly after that and got home at midnight. It was a long day, but definitely worth it. We will be definitely be going back to camp next year with my friend and her family.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway, here.

Wordless Wednesday -Nope

We went to Watkins Glen a couple Saturday's ago with friends. While we were there we went to a winery. This photo makes me laugh because Lily refused to stand with the kids (we were working with a 15min nap). The way the kids were standing (on their own) she ended up in the photo anyway...just facing the wrong direction.