Cool Critters at Sam's 6th B-day

There were literally hundreds of photos from Sam's birthday, so I'm only posting a few of my faves. The kids LOVED the "critter" show.

Katie tentatively pet an African Turtle (can't recall the exact breed)

Grama helped Ben get a handle on this reptilian buddy.

Katie looks on as Sam bravely cuddles with a slithery friend.

I have it on good authority that this is not the same snake that Britney danced with at the MTV awards in 2001, but Tyler still jumped at the chance to hold it.

Katie's beauty salon

Katie delighted in dressing up both Aunt Heather AND this weird robo-cat (who she named Rover). The cat is actually kind of creepy--it purrs and moves and I found myself scratching it behind the ears. Spooky.

Farmer Ben

Ben's obsession with trucks motivated him to race across an open field to get to this tractor. He stayed on it for the better part of 20 minutes.

Parky's Farm

Katie has decided she wants to be a cowboy when she grows up (that's right, a cowBOY), so it was good for her to get some horse-riding practice in at Parky's Farm.

Ben is not as sure of his equestrian aspirations.

Grama, Ben and Katie check out the llama.

This momma hen was sitting on an egg. Katie got a kick out of seeing it up close. We had to keep Ben away as he kept trying to stick his hands in the "nest".

Tyler's non-lazy day

While Krista and the (little) kids chilled at home, Tyler hit Wake Nation, a wakeboarding park in Hamilton, OH. It took him a few tries to get up, but then he really got the hang of it. Personally, I like the bottom picture. If you're going to crash, you may as well go out in a blaze of glory, right?

Lazy Day

Our Ohio vacation was 10 days in length. Two of those days were for travel. The rest of them, we squeezed every bit of fun we could out of each day. Except for one. This picture represents our "Lazy Day". The kids did not get out of their jammies all day and we just hung out at the house. It was WONDERFUL!

Family bonding

Katie was quite chilly after all that splashing, so she snuggled up with Aunt Heather to get warm.

Sam and Katie really took to eachother on this trip. So cute!

Abby, Heather and Katie show us that Princesses stick together.

Eric gives Sam a lift and Abby a push.

King's Island water park

Katie plays Little Mermaid, perched on a rock.

Abby enjoyed splashing around.

Ben was a wild child in the splash park, but loved every minute.

Katie and Sam hit the slides.

Happy Kids

Katie refused to move from this spot until we took several pictures of her. What a change from last summer when she would scream "NO MORE PICTURES!" at us on a regular basis.

If we allowed her to have a Facebook account, this would surely be her new profile pic. =)

Swiper's Sweeper is by far my favorite ride to watch the kids ride.

Following Sam's lead, Katie is finally ready to throw her hands in the air and let the momentum carry her away.

Riding the rides

Grama took Katie and Sam on the viking ship. You can see that she had to hold tight to Katie (who was clearly terrified), while Sam was enjoying it with reckless abandon.

Katie and Gramps on the carousel.

Grama, Ben and Abby.

We just love the Giggle Coaster. Katie and Sam shared the front seat (with a strange girl behind them who brazenly cut the line!) and Ben and Krista in the third row. Ben is not yet tall enough for most of the "big kid" rides, and although Katie is, she couldn't be convinced to ride them. Maybe nex summer?

King's Island

Tyler and Aunt Heather took off to ride the "big kid" rides, but we took a moment to get a family picture in front of the fountains. Ben did not wish to cooperate.

Scooby-dooby-dooooo, where are you?

Ever the careful driver, I think he was even using turn signals.

Katie cruised around the race track.

Here fishy-fishy

Ben and Daddy reel a "big one" in. I'm pretty sure they just catch the same fish over and over again. The poor thing must look like swiss cheese.

I love that Ben is looking at his Dad in this picture. It's like you can tell that this is one of those moments he'll still be talking about next summer.

Chris helps Abby reel one in.

Abby and Katie show off their catch.