The Hardy's 1st Camping Trip

Yes, you read that title right! We, the Hardys, went camping. Thanks to the Orchard family, who are all seasoned campers, we spent Memorial Day weekend at Santee and we had a blast! Below is the picture of the Hardy tent that I purchased at Costco all by myself--picked it out and all! Notice that it was large enough to hold two queen-size mattresses and a playyard. Needless to say, we all slept pretty comfortably that weekend.

Here are my three girls one morning after they rolled out of their tent and were waiting for breakfast to be cooked. It was perfect weather--not too cold and not too hot!

This is Chef Orchard, aka Mr. Scott, cooking one of our many meals over the open fire in a dutch oven. We cooked peach cobbler and cinnamon rolls that ended up being some of the best cobbler and rolls ever devoured by humans! For proof, just look at the picture of my husband, Bill. He never lets a crumb of goodness get by him! Notice he has another plate sitting by the one he is eating off of. What a G.D.--garbage disposal, that is!
And Chef Orchard is back at it again. This time, he prepared bacon and sausage in the cast iron skillet over an open fire. Notice the anticipation on everyone's face--they can't wait to sink their teeth into the meat!
We did not get to do a whole lot of swimming in the lake. It was very high and what was supposed to be a sandy beach was actually the sandy bottom. The water was also still a little bit cold but it didn't stop the little boogers from getting what was supposed to be just their feet wet to getting the whole body wet.
And here is a picture of the two little princesses relaxing at the campsite. I am not sure what was up with the left arms hanging out of the car seats but the little ones had a good time, too.
Bill attempted to do a little fish but he caught nothing. He tried for several hours but to no avail. Maybe next time, Bill. However, I can not recall him ever having much luck fishing?????
We also went on a future nature trails which was one of my favorite, and Logan's too, parts of the whole trip. As you can see, she had the best ride on the trail--daddy's shoulders.
And if he didn't walk fast enough or in the right direction, she just pulled his hair.

We also met some new friends while camping. Meet the "cool" white spider that was hanging out on the fire pit. I am sure she got word ahead of time that we were coming and that great food was going to be cooked on this pit this weekend.
And here is our other buddy--not quite sure what he was! He was way too big to be a lizard and did not quite look like a skink. He had a couple of brothers and sisters that we kept running into also. This little fella lived in a big log next to our campsite and was a little bashful. He ran everytime we tried to talk to him!



We had a great time camping and can not wait for our next trip in the fall or spring (when we get the chance)when the weather is just right for it again. We give a big Thanks to the Orchards for this great initiation camping trip!

Must Take After Their Mother.......

I walked into the back room the other day and this is what I found:

Logan and Reagan sharing a lollipop. At this very early stage in Logan's life, you can not bring a lollipop within ten feet of her unless you plan on sharing!

It seems that the Tootie Roll Pops seem to be the group favorite here in our house and it doesn't help that Grandmomma brings a bag for each kid every time she comes over. But, hey, atleast the kids are as smart as me--they know something good when they see it!!

LOOK AT ME!!!

On May 19, 2009, the day finally arrived when my last little baby pulled herself to a standing position. My baby is growing up! And she is so proud of herself!

Pick Those Strawberries!

This year, we took the whole family strawberry picking including Grandmomma. Grandmomma, Bill, Jordan, and I picked away. Logan hung out in the stroller, and Reagan just kind of did her thing which did not involve picking strawberries. (We are working on Reagan's work ethics!) This is Jordan eating one her strawberries. The strawberries were huge and plentiful. As you can see from the pictures, the strawberries were beautiful. We just wanted to keep on picking and picking and picking.

Here is Grandmomma and Reagan in the strawberry patch. Like I said, Reagan enjoyed carrying a basket around but there was not a whole lot of picking going on with her.

And here is Logan on her first strawberry picking trip and I do believe she likes the strawberries. By the time she finished eating one berry, her white onesie was totally red on the front from the juice. Thank goodness for Clorox!

Reagan's 4th Birthday

About two months ago, (yes I am very far behind in my postings!) Reagan had her 4th birthday party and she insisted on having it on a playground like her friend Addison did a few weeks earlier. Unlucky for us, it was the hottest day of the spring. The temperature peaked out at 92 degrees, and needless to say, the party lasted all of an hour and 15 minutes because everyone was ready to get back into the air conditioning. We had just enough time to play for a few minutes, eat cake, and open presents. I think next year we are going to have to think of an alternative plan that involves sprinklers and such.

Here is Reagan as we sang Happy Birthday to her: (She just loved getting all the attention!)

And here she is ripping open all her presents:
Thanks to all those wonderful friends and their families that braved the heat to celebrate my Ray Ray's birthday!

Busy, Busy, Busy,

O .K. O.K. O.K. I know that I have not made a post in a while but we have been so busy around here. We have spent every evening playing in the yard until dark due to the nice spring weather. We have done lots of landscaping to our yard and we have finally cleaned out the yard and met my standards (somewhat on cleanliness) after living here for 18 months. We have been cutting coupons, organizing our coupons, cleaning house, even doing some occasional laundry. and we even cook our meals, too! Now that school is out, we have had vacation Bible school, swim lessons, and horseback riding. And I have still found time somewhere to train for my triathlon which is this weekend!! You would think we Hardy's must be the Energizer bunnies! I have noticed , though, as I looked through some pictures since I am so behind in my blogging, that our batteries run out at the most inopportune times. For example, Look at Reagan:

What kid would fall asleep with a cup of Crystal Light Fruit Punch in front of her and a nice warm toasted cheese sandwich? I even cut the crust off of it for her. It had to have been dead batteries.

And then there is Logan:

This kid was watching Yo Gabba Gabba. Who falls asleep watching "shake your sillies out"? My gosh, I think the show is so annoying, I can't fall asleep. It must be the batteries again.

I have no pictures of Jordan falling asleep in the middle of an activity. I think she runs on solar energy because she definitely keeps going, and going and going....hope I do that in my triathlon this coming weekend!!