ADK 2014

The Adirondacks. One of my favorite places to be!
I forgot my camera, so these pictures are all from my phone.

This was our 3rd annual trip with Jeremy & Victoria & their kiddos.
We had fun thinking back on how our families have changed from trip to trip.

The first time we all went together, we camped at Heart Lake.
Colden was 2, Victoria was pregnant, and Doug & I were waiting to bring Bo home.

The second time we went, we stayed at the beautiful Grouse Patch.
Colden was 3, Kade was 8 months old, and Bo was 1.

This time, we stayed at this sweet cabin, Old Eb.
Colden is 4, Bo is 2, Kade is 1, and I'm pregnant.

It's fun to wonder what next year's trip will bring!

The weather was beautiful for us during our week-long stay.

We enjoyed a lot of swimming in the Ausable River.

I'm happy to share that Bo was much more excited about the water this year.

Almost every time he was in the water, he told us that he was going to swim,
"all the way to Grampa & Gramma's house."

And of course, multiple trips to Stewart's must happen when you're on the east side of the state.

 
Seriously. Their ice cream "Happy Camper"?!

We drove by this crazy "monument" noting the water line due to Hurricane Irene.

It's also become one of our traditions to grab lunch at 46 Sandwiches and eat by Mirror Lake.

This year, we were surprised to see the old gazebo has been replaced by a little amphitheater. 

While we waited out the only rain to interrupt our plans, 

we documented Bo & Colden's matching hiking shoes.

This was our 7-year anniversary picture:

And of course, V & I had to capture our coordinating plaids.

An abundance of s'mores were enjoyed...

and massive marshmallows consumed.

One morning, Doug & Jeremy left our cabin in the middle of the night to go hike Mt. Colden.

Doug texted me this picture from the summit - they got there right as the sun was coming up!

(This peak marks the halfway point for Doug - 23 out of 46!)

As we waited for the big boys to descend and arrive home, 

Victoria & I did a little hike of our own with the little boys.

I had Bo stop and pose by the entrance to our cabin:

He was a very slow little hiker that morning - 

taking his time to look all around and enjoy nature!

Another day we drove over to Marcy Field...

where we ran around...

and flew Colden's kite...

and played with trucks in the rocks...

and enjoyed a picnic lunch.

Such an incredible backdrop to our little lunch!

Both Victoria & I really wanted to get some family pictures,

so we coerced the boys into venturing out after dinner one night. :)

Victoria snapped this photo on Doug's phone:

Jeremy took a lot of pictures with his camera too, and I can't wait to see how those turned out!

On our last full day in the 'Dacks, we did a family hike of Cobble Hill.

Here we are enjoying a little snack atop the summit.

And here's me, Bo & baby with amazing views of high peaks in the background.

I'm so thankful that we were able to take a vacation with some of our best friends.

Love this place and can't wait to plan our next trip.

a country cottage shower

Yesterday we had a shower for my future sister-in-law, Bailey.

Bailey & Robert will be living in North Dakota on a beef ranch,

[well, Robert's already there, but Bailey will be joining him after the wedding!]

so we thought it would be fun to incorporate some of that into the shower.

 Unfortunately, I was slacking on pics [again] and didn't get a picture of the food before it was gone. 

The shower was at Bailey's Aunt Jen's cottage on Lake Ontario - such a beautiful home & setting!

Bailey's sister Katie, my mom, dad, Victoria and I all made different jams for favors.

We kept the decor really simple - just ball jars with zinnias from the garden 

& wildflowers from the field across from the cottage! 

Seriously - what a view!

Part of the dessert table - lovely cake made by the one & only Manda.

I heard it was scrumptious - sadly I didn't get a piece! 

That just means you have to make another one, Mand!

Drinks & desserts - what's not to love?!

The beautiful bride-to-be opening gifts.

My sweet sisters, taking advantage of having control of the camera! 

The bridal party, L-R:

Jayne, me, Emily, Bay, Betsy, Martha & Katie

[sidenote: I think this was the only picture with all our eyes open!]

Bannister Babes, minus Mom:

& one more to get Mom in the picture with us.

So blessed that my brother has found such a wonderful girl to spend his life with!

Love our growing family!

Thanks to the Hartway-Wilson clan for all their help in throwing such a fun party!

We love you, Bailey & we're so excited for the big day!

bonz & the fraz

This past weekend we drove to Chicago and

finally, FINALLY, Bonsa met his buddy, Mayes Fraol! 

When we first got to the Van Winkles', Fraz was so excited that he started doing laps -

crawling back and forth - probably the fastest little crawl I've ever seen.

As you can see from the picture above, Sara & I wasted no time 

getting the boys down to diapers. 

We had so much fun watching the boys interact. They really seemed to like one another!

And of course there was bath time.

 

It was a weekend full of laughter and joy.

It's amazing to see you both as parents and to spend time with your beautiful family.

We love you, Van Winks!