Saturday, August 20, 2016

First family camping trip!!! July 30, 2016

July 30, 2016 First family camping trip!!!!  With the blue van packed to the max, we drove about 3 hours north to the Rifle River State Campground where we met up with 2 other families we know who have kids the same ages for some camping fun!!!  We practice set up the tent in the backyard a few days in advance and Madelyn got super excited, talking about how cool it was going to be to sleep in the, "camping house."
One of Madelyns best friends, Maggie; the girls had a blast searching for walking sticks and marsh-mellow roasting sticks! Drawing in the sand with the sticks, looking for ants, snacking on camping snacks, hiking, swimming, we sure packed a lot into just one day of camping!

The kids stayed up later than usual, and Colin cried for awhile in the tent but Madelyn insisted on going in to be with him.  We had the monitor all hooked up and could hear her talking to him, "just go to sleep Colin, we are camping, this is the camping house, it's ok just go to sleep!"  It was pretty adorable and eventually they both fell asleep and stayed asleep till almost 8:00am!  A Hergott children record!

Our tent is roomier than I even thought, we had the pack and play, a double blow up mattress, Madelyn's cot, a small side table, a few suitcases, it's pretty impressive!
Loving nature and spending time outdoors as a family this chick was in heaven and having a blast!!
Beautiful campground; can't beat the quality time we had as a family just experiencing something new together.  We made some fantastic memories and will definitely be doing it again and hopefully seeing new sights!


One super packed van with supplies that could've lasted us a week, 2 super happy kiddos and loads of memories later we decided to head out after 1 night and end our trip on a positive note, we look forward to our next adventure!


family reunions, bday celebrations, dance class oh my!

Celebration of Aunt Kathleens birthday turned into a great Ellis family reunion for all!  We spent the day swimming, eating, and just having fun together!  The kids had a blast and barely got out of the pool to eat!
Besties, these cousins definitely love spending time together.  Madelyn loves her Megan and Megan is always great spending time with her :)


Birthday party for Grandpa!!  Fun times playing catch and eating great food to celebrate one great grandpa turning 70!
11 months Colin, you now have started to, "toddle," we had a feeling you would walk before turning 1 and you proved us right!  You're fast, you don't move your arms when you walk you keep them tight to your chest for a few toddles, then shoot them up in the air as you dive forward into our arms, a bean bag, chair, or just the floor sometimes.  
 Madelyn had an exciting 6 weeks at fairy ballet where she learned all 6 ballet positions, and perfected her courtsy.  Parents all watched through a window and when one girl would look over and wave, "HI MOM AND DAD," all the girls would then turn and wave to their parents, pretty cute!!