Finn's 5th Birthday Celebration and Camp

The jumping house in the background and Liam, Finn, and Jack playing at the table.

Finn went on a fishing date on his own with Daddy while his brothers were at camp and Aiden and I hung out at home.

Arghh Matey!!  Finn and his Godfather, Kevin

Luke and Liam's cabin at camp!  This is the only update we have gotten in a week.

Finn and his buddies

Finn and his very dear friend, Erik

Finn's gift from another good friend of his, Madeline (pictured is Madeline's mom)

Pirate costume from Finn's godparents

Enjoying his cake

Yum!

Getting ready to depart on the bus for camp

Aiden at VBS with his buddy, Ellis

Three sets of Twins heading to camp!

See you in a week!

Finn and his pirate camp

We have had so many fun things since my last post that I could probably break this up into three separate posts, but I will do my best to summarize the highlights.

Finn celebrated his 5th birthday.  Yes, his actual birthday is on the 29th of July, but we celebrated a few days early because his brothers were heading to camp (more on that).  Finn wanted a "Pirate Party" so we bought a few inflatable pirate swords, some eyepatches, and pirate decor.  We rented a bounce house with water and John smoked several pounds of pork for our BBQ.  Finn loved it and had such an awesome time.  He enjoyed his friends, the attention, the gifts, his pirate cake, etc....

Luke and Liam left for camp on Monday after Finn's party on Saturday night.  This was their first overnight week long camp.  I don't have details yet on what they thought because we will be picking them up this weekend.  They went to Covenant Pines Bible camp about 2.5 hours north of the Twin Cities.  About 15 of their friends also attended camp so I would imagine it was WAY too much fun!!

Aiden attended VBS at our church this week with several of his buddies from school.  He, too, had a great week and it was a good distraction while his brothers were away at camp.

Overall, it has been an easier week in terms of laundry and cooking and other things around the house.  But, I know we are all four very excited to pick up Luke and Liam from camp and hear how their week was.  

Soccer and Golf

A beautiful evening at the golf course

Finn's first soccer practice and first team sport

Last morning tee time for Luke and Liam

Our basketball goal is finally in the installation process!  Mimi bought us a goal over Christmas, but it has taken awhile for it to arrive.  The cement should be strong enough on Friday to put up the hoop!!

We have enjoyed some different sports over the summer and its been a nice break from hockey.  Luke and Liam have golf lessons on Wednesday afternoons and a tee time every Thursday morning since school let out.  They have really enjoyed the golf lessons and have learned a lot.  As part of their class, they were able to play the big championship course one evening for free.  We put together a foursome and they played 9 holes.  It took about 3.5 hours so its a good thing we didn't plan to do 18 holes!

Aiden is also doing lessons and a tee time with his buddies.  He has lessons on Tuesday mornings and a tee time on Thursday afternoon. He is still doing his lessons so I need to get a few pictures.  It a bit less organized with five eight year olds trying to keep track of their golf score.

Lastly, the highlight of Finn's week was beginning his summer soccer.  He is playing on a very recreational league that all three of his older brothers have done.  Its very inexpensive and only two evenings per week.  He loved his first practice and was by far one of the biggest and more aggressive kids out there despite being the youngest on his team.  Should be fun to watch this season!  Aiden is also playing soccer with some of his buddies.  I didn't make it over to watch much of his practice on the first night, but he enjoyed it as well.  

Fun Times in Colorado

Colorado River

Getting ready to ride the gondola to the top of the mountain in Vail

The views were amazing

Bike ride for John and I

Fly Fishing with Grandpa

Celebrating Grandpa's 75th Birthday

Checking out Golden, CO on our way to Vail

Sweet Baby Graham

Finn

The big boys

Grandpa and his grandsons

Checking out the views

Chasing Chipmunks with Calvin

Skating outside in the summer at Beaver Creek

Liam fly fishing

White Water Rafting with our amazing guide, Cash.  Jane took this cool picture from the bridge above where she biked down to watch us float up the river

So fun!

Aiden left for camp the day after we returned from Colorado.  He loved it and can't wait to go back!!

We spent the 4th of July week right outside Vail in Avon, Colorado and had a wonderful time.  My dad rented a condo for the entire month of July so we drove out for a week and met my sister and her family there.  The boys had a wonderful time with their cousin, Calvin, and enjoyed holding their baby cousin, Graham.   We exhausted Ms. Jane and Grandpa with many games of Old Maid, Chase the Ace, and Murder in the Dark.

Despite a burn warning in Colorado, the weather was gorgeous with cool mornings and evenings and warm sunny days.  We did many things for the first time like white water rafting and fly fishing.  We rode a gondola to the top of one of the mountains in Vail and did a little hiking before stopping for lunch and riding the gondola back down.  John and I were able to enjoy a solo bike ride through Vail similar to what we did virtually every weekend pre kids!

The boys LOVED Colorado and we all enjoyed doing some different activities and spending some time together in a beautiful area.