The Malone Family: September 2011

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

4 Year Old Preschool

Today my little boy heads off to "4 year old Preschool" as he calls it! He's so excited for his big day and has been counting down for weeks. I know he will do fantastic because he's been blessed with the ability to make friends quickly & feel comfortable in new situations. He is our little sponge who just loves learning. I know he will come home with a wealth of knowledge every day!

Good Luck Ethan!

Ethan with his biggest fan!

Tanner couldn't wait to go pick him up at school after his first day!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Labor Day Camping

We have been wanting to plan a big group camp-out for quite sometime and finally over Labor Day weekend we headed up into the mountains for some overnight fun! Quite a bit of planning went into this adventure and it was well worth it. Of course, yours truly was the "tour guide" for the weekend...ha ha!...meaning I sent out the e-mail to coordinate.

Chris had Friday off, so we headed out in the afternoon, van packed & ready to go. We stopped at the Wolf's house, which is on the way to the Peaks of Otter in Bedford, VA, to prep our dinner. Our two families were in charge of dinner and we went all out! We made Kabobs with steak, chicken, & pork and delicious veggies and cooked them on the grill top over the campfire. We also had rice and yummy fruit, provided by the Greers, which made for an amazing dinner. It worked out perfectly that we were able to make it up to the Peaks early that day so we could set up camp, get the fire started, and dinner cooking so as everyone else was rolling in after work...dinner was ready!

That evening we had amazing Smores (thanks Brent & Hannah!) complete with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups...if you haven't tried it, you have to! You'll never go back! We also made a Peach Cobbler in Chris's brand new dutch oven, AMAZING! As the kids started crashing, the adults decided to play Mafia. It was my first experience with this group game, and turns out, I'm not so good at lying. Good trait i guess, but bummer for me cause I'm not a big fan of losing!

Slept great, including Sydney who did awesome in her pack and play we set up inside the tent. Woke up the next morning to a fantastic breakfast of Bacon, sausage, eggs, & pancake provided by the Wights & Shorters, delicious! We know how to camp, huh?

One of my favorite things about camping at the Peaks of Otter is the Saturday morning Fishing with the Rangers. The park rangers provide simple fishing rods & worms for the kids and help them fish at the lake. The kids all loved it and we didn't mind too much besides the gnats which are enough to make me crazy! After our hike back to the campground, we started packing up camp while the kids continued to explore and play. By the time we ate lunch and were loaded up, the kids were exhausted and slept the whole ride home!

Can't wait until the next camping trip!