Vacation Time!!!

Hi everyone. Just wanted to share some pictures from our family vacation earlier in July to Nags Head, NC. We were joined by both Chris's and Amber's parents and Chris's sister's family (Kamryn, Rob, Landon, Dane, and Brooks). We had a AWESOME time and created so many great memories. Hope all is well and that you are enjoying your summers!

Day 1 - Tanner and Carsyn off to the beach (let the exhaustion begin)...


Carsyn getting a feel for the Ocean water...


Tanner wasted no time hitting waves...


No worries here, Chris and Uncle Rob took their burying later in the week...


Mia Ligetti (Geri) and Carsyn playing in the sand...


Carsyn and her cousin Brooks enjoying a dinner out...


Later that night, we took the older boys to ride Go-Karts. It was a ton of fun, and according to each one of them, they all won the race.


One of our favorite places in Nags Head is the Kitty Hawk Kite Shop. They have a Kid's Day each week where the kids can make kites, get faces painted, and other fun things. Tanner loved his tiger...


Tanner and Carsyn with Grandma Lloyd (Nancy) at the Oregon Inlet looking at the fishing boats...


Amber and her Dad, Duane...


Duane and Chris's dad, Bill, enjoying a beer on the shoreline (2 beers of the 5 cases disposed of during the week. Good job team!)...


Pap Pap, Tanner, Grandma, Carsyn and Amber hanging at the pool, which was a great way to end each day at the beach...


Pop Pop sneaking up on Carsyn in the pool. Oh the giggles...


The other great thing about having the house pool was Tanner learning how to swim without any flotation device before the end of the week...


Our favorite pictures of Tanner are the ones where you can tell he is proud (if you've read this blog in the past, you know what we mean). Well, it goes without saying that his refined swimming skills brought out one of the best smiles of the week...


Another afternoon at the pool (left to right: Landon, Rob, Carsyn, Chris, Amber, Geri, Brooks, Kamryn, Bill, Tanner, Nancy, Dane, and Duane)...


Rob, Landon, and Kamryn doing the one, two, three - JUMP!


And now all three older boys, just a tad out of sync...


And finally, the men (or bigger boys)...


We'd like to extend a special thank you to our Moms and Dads for their tremendous help throughout the week with the kids. While we know they were enjoying their weeks also creating special memories of their own, we appreciate the extra relaxation time and especially our evening out, just the two of us...


While it took some coaxing, Tanner joined Chris in the deeper parts of the ocean a few times. He especially enjoyed getting out far enough "bobbing" over the waves before they crashed on us...


Carsyn had less of a choice going into the ocean. You have to get that sand off your body somehow!


Amber and her "best boy", strolling down the beach...


Tanner and Carsyn with Grandma and Pap Pap Lloyd...


... and with Mia and Pop Pop Ligetti...


Dinner out on the last night...


...our beautiful children...


... and the whole gang...


Finally, we stopped for ice cream after dinner to celebrate Pop Pop's birthday. This is about the best one person could do to keep all five of these kiddos in camera view!


Here are a few pictures from 4th of July in State College. The pictures remind us how great our children are, how amazing a role model Tanner is for his little sister, and how much Carsyn ADORES her big brother...



Carsyn on her first carnival ride, protected by Tanner, of course...

Let the summer begin!!!

Sorry for the lapse in some recent pics. Things have been busy. Summer is officially here as Amber finished up her school year two weeks ago (finally!). We've been enjoying our time with bike rides, pool trips, and as you will see below, an awesome camping trip with Chris's sister and her family.

Father's day weekend kicked off with dinner at a new Mexican restaurant in town. The kids loved it!


Carsyn just looks so adorable with her new pig tails...


We spent Father's Day having a picnic at Spring Creek Park. Even took Brady this time around...


Gotta get Carsyn ready for the beach in a few weeks. Although water in the mid 50s is not really a fair test. Nonetheless, she loved it (including munching on some pebbles)...


Mom, Carsyn, and Tanner all testing the waters...


Carsyn with her Daddy...


I couldn't be a luckier Dad. Thanks family for such a great day!!!


Carsyn and her baby cousin, Brooks, at home with Mia and Pop Pop Ligetti while Chris, Amber, and Tanner went on a camping trip with Aunt Kamryn, Uncle Rob, Landon, and Dane. Carsyn just loves her new friend.


These two are going to be fun to watch at the beach in a couple weeks...


Chris, Rob, and the boys set up camp on Friday night. It got to be a very cold night with LOTS of animal sounds all night long, but it was just the start of a great trip.


Dane, Rob, and Landon by their mammoth tent...


Tanner and Daddy after our tent was set up...


We kicked off Saturday morning with a fishing trip. Tanner was really excited to get the rod back in his hands...


Dane, on the other hand, preferred playing with the worms...


Rob didn't have much luck with the mini SpiderMan rod, but Landon was quite the caster with his big rod. We were all so proud...


FISH ON!!! Tanner showing off the catch...


Landon showing off his catch. Hmm. Looks a lot like Tanner's fish...


Here's Tanner reeling in the second fish (one that was more than four feet away, unlike the first one).


Tanner and Daddy showing off the result of their hard work...


This picture sums up the weekend - the boys just love each other...


We went swimming at the beach area of Bald Eagle State Park. While water was a little...gross, we couldn't stop Tanner from having so much fun swimming...



Kamryn, Rob, and Amber (making sure not to go any deeper in the not-so-clean water)...


Just wanted to post a couple pics of Kamryn's kids at the beach. Here's Landon showing off his six-pack...

... and our Dane-O...

The camp had a great loop that the kids could ride bikes and scooters on. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of Tanner trying out Landon's bike - WITHOUT training wheels. He actually did a great job, except for that whole running into a car thing. No worries, he was OK and no dents to the car. Funny thing is that the owners saw the whole thing!


Of course, the camping trip was only complete when Amber joined us. Can't wait until next year when we think we'll be ready to take Carsyn, and we'll pack all four of us in the tent...


Finally, what's a camping trip without S'mores? From Tanner's favorite movie, the Sandlot:

"You're killing me, Smalls! These are s'mores stuff. Okay, pay attention. First you take the graham. You stick the chocolate on the graham. Then, you roast the mallow. When the mallow's flaming, you stick it on the chocolate. Then you cover it with the other end. Then, you stuff it."