Life with 4 Krupp Boys.....

The boys got to finally go camping this summer. We took them with Dave & Marianne this past weekend. It was such a blast! We went up to Buffalo Creek—it took us awhile to find a spot—who would think nature had such limited space?

On our venture to find a camping spot, we took a lunch break next to the creek. Kevin just loved it…he was like a little explorer, wondering up and down the creek. We found a couple of dams and lots of cool mini-rapids. I even lost my shoe, and my little explorer saved the day when he found it floating down the creek!

Thomas enjoyed the creek as well—he splished and splashed (himself as well as all of the rest of us). He was very brave and not at all fearful of the running water. Apparently only big bodies of water intimidate him. Lucas, on the other hand, was quite apprehensive. He did get in and get his little tootsies wet, but he had no desire to tromp through the water like his brothers did.

To top off the creek experience, we got the boys’ fishing poles out, and they got to try their hand at catching the nonexistent fish with their play-fishing poles. The odds were obviously stacked against them, which is probably why no fish were caught…but much fun was had by all!

Eventually we found the perfect camping spot. We quickly got settled in, then we went on a nice little hike. As soon as we headed back to camp, we had chicken and hot dogs on the grill. We decided to start preparing for the camp fire, and Thomas just had to be right in the mix of all. He picked up the largest log he could find, and actually carried it quite a distance to put it in the fire.
He is such a little tuffy! Then Kevin and Lucas joined in the fun and the three of them stacked every piece of firewood that we brought into our fire pit. Needless to say, had we lighten it, we
would have had quite the bonfire!

We look forward to many more camping excursions! Here are some pictures!

A Camping We Will Go!

Lucas is ready for the fun!

Kevin is relaxing while he can!

Thomas, looking innocent

Creek time with Mema and Papa!

Lucas is keeping his distance from the water!

Kevin's on a mission!

Paul and Lucas

Papa Dave & Lucas

Hiking fools (Papa Dave, Kevin, Thomas, and Paul)

Sweet little Lucas

Kevin and Thomas going exploring!

Kevin, standing atop a large rock in the creek

And now jumping off that rock

Splish-Splash Thomas loves a good wet mess!

Mema and Lucas

Fisherman Kevin

Papa Dave helping Lucas fish

Paul and Thomas fishing away!

The Krupp Men Fishing

Paul & his little water boys (Kevin and Thomas)

Papa Dave being a duck (by putting two Pringles chips in his mouth) and the boys just cracking up laughing at their silly Papa!

Thomas....aka The Incredible Hulk

Doing his work

Who knew a chair could be so much fun

Leave him alone, Thomas' got work to do

My hard workin' men

Ready, set, throw! Little Lucas is doing his share!

Kevin, contributing to the pile

Kevin gleaming at his lovely firewood stack

Thomas screaming about his proud accomplishment

My dirty little Lucas

Me and Lucas

I cannot believe how quickly this summer has flown by! I guess it’s true what they say, “Time flies when you’re having fun!” Anyway, these past weeks were no less full of fun than those before!

We joined Isaac for some water fun at Papa & Grandma’s. The boys just run and play like there is no tomorrow! Linda brought some Toy Story character towels for the boys in which they put on immediately and played with all day long. They were so cute being Buzz and Woody. They even ran through the water in their towels (and were then mad that their towels were wet…go figure!)

2 weekends ago, we made the trip out East to go to my Grandma and Grandpa Carneal’s family get together. The boys had a ball. There were tractors, golf carts, basketball, volleyball, swings, fooseball, and great company! Kevin and Lucas could not be kept off the golf cart. And it was really cute because Kevin was pretending to be a trash man and would ride on the back of the cart and tell the driver to stop every so often so that he could hop off and pick up trash. Thomas was actually afraid of the golf cart and tractor…I was surprised, but I have decided that perhaps it is a good thing that he does actually have some fear within him. Lucas loved the golf cart—he would sit right next to the driver and every now and then, he would even help steer the cart!

What else? The 4th of July—while it lacked in fireworks, it made up for it in a hail storm. It was a crazy storm that has left most Woodland Parkers with significant hail damage to both cars and roofs. We had a nice 4th of July picnic at the park and then the next day, my mom and I headed up to Fort Collins to visit Uncle Ryan.

Now that was a fun-filled day to the max! It consisted of swimming for 2 hours, Chuckie Cheese for 2 hours, and then playing at the park for about 3 hours! We wore those kids out nice and good (and they wore us out as well!) The boys did well at the pool. Thomas was pretty timid at first, but after he started to push Ryan into the pool, his confidence seemed to build. By the end of the swimming time, he was in the pool playing like a fish. Kevin was very fish-like the whole time. He and Ryan had a great time surfing (Ryan would have to push Kevin around). Lucas got into the pool right away, but was attached to me like glue. He took a nice break and then when he decided to get in again, he was a whole new kid. He began jumping into the pool and have Grandma Traci catch him, and then he even rode around in his little penguin. The whole day was awesome—the boys still talk about how much fun they had on their “vacation” to Fort Collins.

We also took the boys fishing for the first time this summer! They were so CUTE! Thomas was super excited right off the get-go. I haven’t seen him that pumped about something! They all did really good—Kevin was able to cast his little pole all by himself! Thomas actually had a pretty hard time casting and reeling since he seems to be left-handed (and his pole was not). Lucas tried his hardest, but tended to just hit the water with his entire pole—I think he like the splash!

We sure do love summer!