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!!

Summer fun and Father's Day 2016

Matching bucket hats...cuteness.

Madelyn!!  You are so amazing and this has been such a fun age with you.  You're super clumsy, you trip fall, scrape your knees, and flat fall on your face very often.  You also have a word quota that you need to meet daily, I have NO clue what the quota is, but I do know it is a high one.  you're always telling a story, or just giving a play by play of exactly what's happening at any given moment.  When you wake up we ask you if you had any dreams, and the answer is always the same, "I had a dream about Milo."  You tell us you played ball or ran with him, and then you go on to say, "I was a baby last night."  You like to tell us that you played with Colin's toys, or sat in his high chair, it's pretty amusing. 

Colin's first time swimming!!! He was not too impressed when he first got in, but we put him in a little boat and Madelyn towed him around the pool and he loved it!

Mr. Colin enjoying a nice tow around the warm pool, thanks to your strong brave sister with NO FEAR in the pool!

Family tree!!! Making use of that mini van, look at all that space!!! We were going to have a tree delivered but, we have a van!  So we loaded that Autumn Blaze Maple in the back of the van, and set up the awning and kids pool so we could play and swim and cheer daddy on as he dug a hole for our family tree. 

You're fantastic at riding your bike Madelyn, you have a bike with training wheels and your fancy stride bike; you tend to lean towards riding this...I wonder if it's because it's all pink...judging by this picture I think it's clear to see pink is a color that you like...riding around the court you're known as, "The Pink Blur."

I had a bow on too.  Madelyn insisted we all put on a bow after nap, how could I say no?

Adventures with the kidlits; there are so many fun places to explore with these kiddos and we see a lot parks.  We have our favorites and this is one close to home where we can walk and duck watch.

"Do I have something on my face?'"

Mr. Colin tipping the scales, just kidding, you're our small fry Colin, but what you lack in size you make up for in strength, you are unbelievably strong.  We have caught you crawling on a coffee table, you can get yourself off of our king size bed on your own, and you are already walking with your walkers, and with things that are not walkers, like boxes, laundry baskets, etc.  It's pretty incredible to see how you get around, up the stairs faster than me sometimes!   My favorite quote, "The days are long but the years are short." 

Colin's first train ride at the zoo!

6/9/16 This pic sums it up Madelyn, SUGAR.  You love your sweets; in the mothers day survey you took when asked, "what does your mom say to you all the time?"  You answered, "do you want a cupcake or cookie?"  This is NOT true, those are not things I say all the time, you wish!

Working at the CAR WASH!  We all can remember drinking from the hose as a kid, and washing our family car.  I can say it's still just as fun if not more seeing my kids do it. 

Since moving to our home in Lake Orion we have probably walked around our block 300 times.  Days off we usually do a walk every morning, and sometimes again later in the day!  Always something new to see and with our commentator Madelyn there's never a dull moment. 

The Hergott Men

June 15, 2016 A special visit to Great Grandma Bean which needed a special dress and lots of showing off from Madelyn, singing songs and playing with her princesses.

June 18, 2016 our family, total happiness on Mama and Daddy's faces because we love you guys so much.

Happy Fathers Day!  Breakfast in bed from this girl, she spent time in the kitchen making this while Daddy got to sleep in a little then surprised him with quite a spread.  Daddy is so loved in this house and had a special day with the kiddos hanging around the house enjoying a beautiful day watching the kiddos in their pool and a bbq with the grandparents.

Best pic, I said, "look tough,"  Colin took that as, "look adorable," and Madelyn took it as, "be a silly goose."

It is very special that we are able to enjoy fun summer bbqs with our parents and kiddos and was a fun fathers day celebrating with all these great Dad's.

Mothers Day 2016

Mothers Day 2016, brunch at The Myth where Mommy and Daddy got married!  Could my kids be and cuter or husband be looking any more handsome??? I think no.  Brunch with two kids = eat as much as you can in approximately 1 hour and 15 mins. 

Just over that bridge...where our family started..

Hanging with my crazy crew for mothers day was all that I wanted and I had a perfect day of adventures outdoors, jogging, bike ride, nail painting, kite flying and playing chase in the yard, my heart is so full of love; thanks Madelyn and Colin for making me a mama, and thanks to your Daddy for making me feel so special.

Madelyn and Colin playing dress up!  And don't worry, it's not, "poor Colin," he loves the attention and getting to play with his big sis.  9 months and he's already mastered crawling up the stairs!

Trip to the farm, Madelyn got to milk a cow!!!

Happy 9 months Colin! You're quick and getting much more playful; you love playing in your play kitchen with Madelyn and riding on your little red car!

You love the water!  I filled up your little pool and water table and after 15 minutes you were putting your tiny foot on the side and carefully crawling in!  You love to splash around.

Happy birthday Grandma!  Cousin pic on Gmas swing!