Summer Catch Up

Ok, so as Micah finished off his week at Camp Carl, I prepared to head to my annual Suite Retreat.  This year Christina hosted in Boston, and it was our first time in seven years without any kids tagging along!

Scott was amazing while I was gone, including unexpectedly spending two hours in a car dealership because our van door malfunctioned.  :(

Our summer this year has something scheduled just about every other week, and it's perfect.  The trips and camp and events are fun, but then we really cherish the down time at home in between.  The kids are content and enjoying each others' company.  So our home week this time included a visit from the Oysters...

"Why hello, little lady!"

Don't mind if I do!

 hanging out...

Let's pretend that Micah doing a little schoolwork happens on a regular basis.

 and child labor.

It also included a stomach virus for Matthew.  Ugh.

That brings us up to Grandparent Camp!  Last year it was just Micah and Caroline, but this year Hannah and Abby were old enough to go, too.  You can see all the pictures on Nana's blog.

The kids and grandparents were both happy but tired by the end.  

While the big kids were in Indiana, Aunt Laurie and Ezra came to spend time with us in Ohio.  Matthew and Ezra got along great, and I loved having my sister-in-law here!  We got to catch up, keep each other company, and even go shopping.

the otter slide at the zoo

very serious tv-watching

Laurie even watched both boys for an afternoon and evening so Scott and I could celebrate our anniversary.  We went to Ikea, bought a bed, and went out to dinner.  :)

Thursday morning we all drove out to Indiana to claim our children.  We spent Friday together in Indiana.  We had a beautiful day to go to a splash park and celebrate the summer birthdays (Hannah, Abby, Matthew, Ezra, and Anna). (I stole these pictures from Laurie's blog.)

Anna, Caroline, Matthew, Micah, Ezra, Abby, and Hannah

This week has been a great week of swimming, relaxing, and playing outside.  Next week another adventure begins!

Keeping Cool

Last night my internet service was out.  Today I'm a little under the weather (and pretty tired from day 3 of solo-parenting).  But I'll at least post today's shenanigans. 

ha! the faces!

those are safety goggles around his neck, not swimming ones.  he was wearing them all morning.

they were trying to jump together

 Literally overnight Matthew has become brave in the water.  Yesterday, he was always by my side, holding my hand.  Today, he was doing this:

jumping with Toby

Been a while

I know it's been a while, but if you're desperate for Gurley happenings, you can check out these blogs:
http://gurleygrandparentcamp.blogspot.com/

http://frahers.blogspot.com/2015/07/this-past-week-ezra-and-i-got-to-spend.html

Maybe I'll put up a real update tonight....or maybe I'll watch tv on the couch....we'll see.

Camp Carl

Micah is going to Camp Carl this week!  Camp Carl is our church's summer camp, located about 15 minutes east of here.  Micah is doing day camp this year, which is 9am-6pm each day.  Yes, he is exhausted at the end of the day.  We planned for him to go the same week as Carter, and then it turned out that several other friends from church were all going the same week.  Out of the 5 other kids in his group, Micah was already friends with 4 of them.  :)  Among other things, they have already gone swimming in the lake and the pool, gone boating, and played in the creek.  Today they are doing something called a "slopstacle course", and tomorrow is horseback riding.  The camp has someone taking pictures every day, so we get a glimpse of what they're doing.

The younger siblings have been having a good time, too.  

Yesterday morning we went to a lake with the Oysters.  These guys just love being together!

4th Weekend

Wow, we really packed in the fun last weekend.
Thursday night we drove to Pittsburgh to do a hotel and zoo trip like we did last year.  It's fun to enjoy all the little things that the kids are excited about - exploring the hotel, eating fast food, swimming in the hotel pool (twice), and the breakfast buffet.  (Ok, I was little excited about breakfast, too.)
The only small trouble we had was trying to get Matthew to go to sleep with his siblings in the same room.  The big kids did a great job of being patient and ignoring him.  After about 45 minutes, he finally gave up so they could all get some sleep.
Friday was a beautiful day at the zoo.  We had a lot of fun together, and Matthew was a trooper well past his normal nap time.

Road trip!

mmm...pizza...

sunglasses twins

 

The last time we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo, Hannah was not quite two years old, and Micah was four.

2012

2015

2012 - I guess Hannah was a more well-behaved two-year-old, because I wouldn't trust Matthew to sit still on this ride!

2015

 Saturday morning we went to the Stow parade, as we usually do.  After weeks of cool weather and rain, we were very thankful to have a sunny day.

star hair

not a fan of the fire trucks

the Tow Mater truck was one of our favorites

Saturday afternoon Scott and Micah worked on refinishing a desk for Micah's room.

Then Sunday after church our friends hosted a party for our whole ABF (church group).   We had almost 30 kids (aged 2 weeks through 14 years), some very competitive volleyball (well, the trash-talking was competitive; the play was just average), and a Segway.  I don't know why there was a Segway, but it was super fun.  :)