Our Week in Pennsylvania

At the beginning of August, we spent a week at Gramma and Grampa's in Pennsylvania for a visit.  As usual, we had a great time! We had a pretty good week of weather, so we went spent most of our time in the pool, which the girls just love!

 

 Sierra inching her way down the slide

 

 

 Avery showing off going backwards!

 

 

 We even got to swim with our cousin Braden for a little bit

 

 

 We stopped by The Sweesy's for a little while so the girls could jump off of their diving board.  They are fearless!

 

 Even Sierra jumped off without swimmies!

 

 Gramma had heard about a woman in town who breeds Miniature Horses so we went to check it out.  There were over 60 horses and they were so cute!  Avery loved every minute of it!  Sierra was more interested in the numerous cats running around.

 

 We stopped at Great Gramma and Great Grampa's house one day.   This is just a pretty picture of the girls in their backyard.

 

 Stopping for a minute to pose with Great Gramma and Great Grampa

 

 While we were there, the Olympics were going on, which the girls were just obsessed with, so we had all kinds of Olympic Events going on in the pool.  Here are the girls and Gramma racing in the pool.  After that there was an attempt at synchronized swimming that didn't go so well :)

 

 Having some fun with Gramma and Grampa.  The next picture on my camera is of the girls under water after getting dumped off!

 

 We got to spend some pool time with our friends Aiden and Brady.  Here we all are enjoying some delicious watermelon.

 

 A cute picture of Brady and Sierra

 

 

 

One day was supposed to be overcast and rainy so we went to Pymatuning Deer Park where they have all kinds of animals and a petting zoo.  They had so many different animals.  It was a lot of fun!  After that we went to feed the carp at Pymatuning Lake which, as usual, it was pouring rain while we were there so I couldn't get any pictures.  But the carp were as hungry and as ugly as ever!

 The girls couldn't get over this little horse and how fat he was!

 

 Hanging out with a big reindeer

 

 They even had pony rides!

 

 

 

 

 Next olypmic event...Diving.  This was Avery's first attempt!

 

 Then it was on to Volleyball with Grampa and Aunt Jacey

 

 

 We went out to dinner at Quaker Steak & Lube.  The girls loved it because they have all kinds of cars and other vehicles hanging from the ceiling.  It was very cool!  On the way home we got hit with a pretty good downpour that let up by the time we got to Gramma and Grampa's house.  So Aunt Jacey ran inside to get some toy boats and the girls raced them down a stream running across the street from the house.  Apparently, Daddy used to do this for hours after a rain storm when he was a little kid.  The girls had a blast!

 Watching the little blue boat sailing down the stream

 

 And then waiting at the end to catch it before it went down the pipe

 

 Picture time....with Aunt Jacey & Uncle Paul...

 

...and with Gramma & Grampa.

Myrtle Beach 2012

Back in July, we took a Paradise family trip to Myrtle Beach.  We rented a house right on the beach and it was the whole Paradise clan along with Uncle Danny, Aunt Linda, Kacie and Trevor from Texas all staying at the house.  We also had our friends from Florida and some more Aunts, Uncles and Cousins from NY and NJ staying in nearby hotels.  It was such a fun time and so great to see everyone! We spent most of the time at the ocean, jumping the waves, boogie-boarding, and just playing in the sand. It was such good times!

Sierra loved playing in the sand!  She especially enjoyed grabbing fistfuls of wet sand and bringing it up to dry sand, not the most effecient method, but fun nonetheless!

 

 



Avery & Nana riding the waves

 

 



 

Avery catching a good wave all the way in

 

 

 

One morning while all the Dads were golfing we took the kids to Boardwalk on the Beach. It was a huge complex with lots of shops, restaurants, rides, museums, and all sorts of things to do. We walked around a little, had lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, and the kids went on a couple of rides, including the Bungee Jump (it's not what you think...check out the video!).  It was lots of fun but it was also very hot so we couldn't wait to get back to the nice ocean breeze!  



Sierra & Luke on the Motorcylces

 

 



Avery & Jack

 



The Bungee Jump!

At our house relaxing in the hammock.  Check out our fantastic view!

 

 



Of course, you can't go to Myrtle Beach without playing some miniature golf.  Here's Uncle Bobby giving the kids some pointers at one of the courses they played. 

 

 



A cousins picture back at the house

 

 

 

The kids also got to go on a pirate adventure.  They got all dressed up like pirates and got on board the pirate ship. They had to follow the map to find the buried treasure!  Along the way they had to fight off the mean pirate with water cannons.  Then they found the tresaure chest in the water.  They each got a handful of the treasure and some grog to celebrate..."Down the hatch".



Checking out the pirate map

 

 



Out on the pirate ship...they really did have a good time!

 

 



The pirate ship was docked at The Crazy Sister marina, so we had to get a picture

 

 

 

Of course, we had to get as many family pictures as we could!



The kids being silly with Uncle Danny

 

 



The Paradise Family

 

 



A cousins picture with Kacie & Trevor

 

 



Cute cousins on the beach

 

 



Family Photo

 



Another round of miniature golf inside a volcano!

 

 



We made it out of the volcano so it was time for some Icee's

 

 



Jack, Sierra & Avery at their "Spa"

 

 

 

 

One day, a group went out parasailing.  Cory had never been so he went along to try it.  The boat ride was a little bumpy but they had a great time anyway!



 Trevor, Kacie & Cory up in the air (Cory is on the right)

 

 

 

Coming in for a landing!

Some Summer Fun

We have had such a busy and fun summer.  Here are some of the things we did at the beginning of summer. The day after Sierra's birthday party was Father's Day so we had Gramma and Grampa and Nana and Grandpa here.  We all went to Breezy Waterslide Park.  It was a lot of fun even though it was a little chilly, we quickly figured out why it was called "Breezy"!    

 Avery coming down the slide

 Daddy & Sierra

 Swimming in the lake with Daddy & Grandpa

 Then we went back home for our Annual Father's Day Lobster and Crab Dinner, Yummy!!

 Daddy and his girls

 The two Grandpa's and their girls


 

A bedazzled Avery on her last day of Kindergarten

 

 



Sierra & Nana at the playground

 

While Nana and Grandpa were here, they took us to Lake Compounce Amusement Park.  The girls went on a bunch of rides, which was lots of fun.  Then we went over to the waterpark which was great because I think it was the hottest day of the summer!  Here are some pictures of the rides but I didn't get any pictures at the waterpark because Avery had me on all of the waterslides!    

 

 



Sierra and Avery on the bumper cars

 

 



The girls had this little roller coaster all to themselves!

 

 



And here we are on the swings.

 

 

 



The last day of soccer posing with their awesome trophies!

 

 

 

 

For the last year or so, Nana has been asking Avery if she wanted to get her ears pierced.  I think she wanted to, but wasn't quite ready....until now.  And now Sierra was ready, too.  So Avery, Sierra, and Nana all went to get their ears pierced.  They were both a little upset because it hurt getting it done, but now they love it because they can go shopping for earrings!



Avery getting ready

 

 



And Sierra's turn

 

 



The three girls with their newly pierced ears

 

 



Sierra & Avery outside of Camp Marshall, which is a 4H Horse Camp that Avery went to for a week and loved!

 

 

 

The girls and I spent a weekend in Philly at Kailey, Ryan & Brady's for Kailey's 7th Birthday.  The girls had lots of fun playing with some of their cousins.  Once again, it was really hot so they spent a good part of the weekend on the Slip and Slide!

 



Stacy, Kailey & Avery

 

 



Brady did not quite get the concpet of the slip and slide, but all of the big kids waited patiently while he got cooled off!

 

 



A cousins picture! (From the left is Sierra, Emma, Brady, Avery, Stacy, Kailey, Connor, Alex, and Ryan)

 

 



Ryan, Kailey, Sierra and Avery posing in Kailey's new chair