Westcott Beach!

A nice little beach getaway on Lake Ontario that is only about 30 minutes from the house.  Not exactly the beach I envisioned, but the kids thought it was awesome, and there is something so relaxing about laying in the sun with your feet in the sand!

The kids started on their sand castle creation right away!

John was the first one to test out the water!  A little chilly, but it warmed up and we all got used to it after a few minutes!

Katie's shell!

Luke must have filled his bucket up with water a hundred times!

John found some really cool rocks!

Just diggin'

Working hard on their sand creation with Daddy's help!

Covering yourself in sand really warms you up fast!

Love my beach babes!

Organizational Day

That is code for unit fun day!!! Food & fun for everyone!

Checking out the Hmmwv!

Bouncey slides!

Hanging out with Daddy on a work day!

1, 2, 3 Slide....

Whirly Wed

Do you have those days or weeks when you feel like you are in a rut?  I was in a rut, I felt like was dizzy from all the things I needed to do, the unfinished projects and incomplete task around the house, cranky kids, the list was a mile long, but on Wednesday morning after reading my friend Tracy's blog.  I felt inspired to have a Whirly Wednesday! To seize the day and have a new adventure!  I set aside everything else, decided to change my attitude and was ready to enjoy a day with my babes....an hour later we were on our way to Old McDonald's Farm with friends! 

There was so much to do there! You start out by feeding the goats popcorn! (which was free for the military, thank you Old McDonald's Farm)

Mini-golf with the bunnies, anyone?

I see golfing in his future!

They also had a bounce house for the kids at the farm.  After bouncing a bit, it was time to explore the animals up close. The animals on the farm...goats, pigs, cows, bunnies, chickens, lamas, ponies, donkeys, reindeer, sheep, horses, dogs and cats.  I am sure I left something out, but you get the picture. 

All the kiddos on the farm!

Old McDonald's Farm is actually a dairy farm, so we also took a tour of the dairy farm.  This was my favorite part of the day! I learned so much about how a dairy farm works!  For starters the #1 Rule on a dairy farm is Girls Rule!  If you are born a boy at the farm you get sold off to another farm. A few other interesting facts...they have 700 cows, it takes 7 hours to milk the cows, 1 hour to clean the equipment and then it starts all over again, there are 3 eight hour shifts at the farm. 

This little girl was born yesterday!

The mama milking cows!

Next up was a hayride!! You got feed the pigs and beef cattle on this ride! 

The cows loved to lick you, too! Yuck!

These were some VERY big cows!

Luke riding on the pony named Winny.

  It was a perfect Whirly Wednesday!  Not to say that we didn't have any tears or moments in the day I could have done without, but it was just what we all needed, a whirlwind day of summer fun!

ThompsonPark Zoo

Now that I am starting to feel more settled in our new home, it is time to start having some summer fun and see what Fort Drum is all about! We are so fortunate to be stationed at Fort Drum with our old friends the Douglas family. It is wonderful to be neighbors again! The kids were thrilled to have instant friends in the neighborhood and I have a friend to have an adult conversation with during the day and someone to trade kids with for errands! They are such wonderful family and blessing to have as neighbors again! You never know what the Army has in store for you!

The Zoo Crew!

The Zoo is small, but it is the perfect size for a fun adventure with 7 kids!  All of the animals at the zoo are native to NY.  My favorite was the Black Bears! I couldn't get a good picture of the mama bear in her den, but she was the biggest bear I have ever seen! 

Baby Black Bear

Monarch Butterfly Exhibit

There is a fun little playground for the kids too!

Thompson Park is a great spot for a picnic too!  After lunch the kids played on the big playground until they were all hot & tired!!!

We had so much fun on our trip earlier in the week that we had to go back with Daddy on the weekend!  The kids showed and told him about everything in the zoo!  So cute listening to them!

Everybody say "Cheese"!

My little jokers, can you see Luke holding up a lizard behind Katie & John!

We stopped on the way home for some ice cream before dinner!  Delicious!  Not sure if it was because we were so hungry or if the ice cream was really that good!  Yum-O!

John always gets tired of me taking pictures first!

Love this face!