Girl Scout Family Day at Fort Rapids

The kids were super-duper excited to be heading to Columbus' indoor water park Fort Rapids on Saturday for the Girl Scout Family Day. This was our first time at the water park, and the kids loved it! They spent most of their time in the kiddie area and exploring the large play structure, which is central to the water park. We lazed in Cowboy Creek and took Kyrie down the big water slide (there are multiple, but she was still too short to go on all but one). We spent the entire afternoon in & around the water and had a lot of fun! 

This large play structure is the focal point of the water park. It has 2  small water slides and 2 larger slides. A giant bucket on the top fills with water and dumps out about every 10 minutes. 

When we weren't in the water, we were resting up in the lounge chairs. Mid-afternoon, we grabbed a large pizza (the best deal a family could get at the water park) and filled our bellies while we rested in the sun. 

This is my new Thirty-One tote! I got it specifically for swimming, and it is awesome. I got 8 towels, 4 swimsuits, a life vest, toiletries and extras and still had a bit of wiggle room. Love it!

Back In Time

We headed to one of Kyrie's favorite spots: The Ohio Historical Society. It was a great day! The kids most enjoyed dressing up to play and visiting the Ohio Village. I was able to snap these super-cute photos! 

Our First Backyard Campout

Last weekend, we had our first backyard campout. We started by putting up the tent and having dinner over the campfire. I am a fairly capable cook, but opted for an easy meal of hot dogs and beans. The kids got a kick out of our rustic dinner. They also loved playing in the tent, which was filled up with sleeping bags and pillows. The cats also enjoyed having us out in the yard and headed straight to the tent for some napping. We ate dinner and had s'mores and then the kids ran around the yard as night fell and the bats began to swoop across the yard. We settled into the tent for a late bedtime. 

A little IPad time around the campfire after dinner.

We had a beautiful fire!

Darren & the kiddos made it through the night! We kept a small hole open in the tent for the cats to come visit. They thought that camping was awesome and were in & out all night. I was up early and started the fire so that I could make breakfast. We had pancakes, bacon, eggs and toast. The kids had a great time, though it was definitely a bit of work for Mom & Dad! 

Garden Update: June

This is the new, little garden patch that Darren built and then expanded. The plants are doing nicely, and we added a bird bath to complete the space.

These are are the garden beds. We have started to pull strawberries, spinach and radishes. Darren added row covers to help with our critter issues. They have worked, but when we remove the covers the crops get eaten down to the nubs. We are debating solutions. In the photo below you can see our potato bed in the back-center. This is our first time planting potatoes. 

The upper photo is our asparagus patch (which we won't start harvesting until next year), radishes and the bushes behind the fence are raspberries. In the photo below, we have lettuce starting and a bed of zucchini. 

Brutus enjoying the yard!

Darren planted another flower bed in the front of the house this year. He planted a lot of bulbs, including calla lilies, which are my favorite flowers. 

Girl Scout Daisy Potluck & Bridging Ceremony

Kyrie has had another wonderful year being a Girl Scout Daisy! We ended her year last night with a potluck and bridging ceremony. The girls started the awards & bridging portion of the evening by reciting the Girl Scout Promise.

Kyrie and her friend, Mia, were the top cookie sellers for the troop this year! Darren & Kyrie spent a lot of time going door-to-door selling cookies, and this award was well-earned! Thank you to all our family & friends who also purchased cookies! 

Kyrie also received her My Promise, My Faith award, which I posted about previously. 

This is the troop's last year as Daisy Scouts. Next year, they will be Brownies. Though Brownies are actually mischievous elves, the troop had fun playing on the concept of Brownies. Our leader made an oven that the girls passed through where they "baked" into fresh Brownies. The girls got a real kick out of this! After each girl passed through the oven, they received their Brownie pin (to be worn upside-down until they complete three tasks to become official Brownies).

Our new Brownie Scout!

The girls preparing to present end-of-year gifts to our leaders!

The ceremony ended as the girls have ended each of their meetings: with a Daisy circle, friendship squeeze, song and turn-out. Thanks to our fabulous leaders for a great year of Daisy Scouts!

Kyrie also received all her cookie sale incentives at last night's meeting. Including a t-shirt, shirt ties and this little stuffed pup!