OBX 2010

Last week we had the opportunity to go on vacation with Nate's family! We took a trip to the Outer Banks, North Carolina. It was a wonderful week away, very refreshing in so many ways!

Lots of photos... I'll try and keep the comments brief!

Here is Toby as he heads out to the ocean for the first time. A little excited!!
Taylor catching some waves on her wave board!
Taylor had a lot of fun in the private pool, especially with her cousin Lincoln!
A shot of Taylor off our 3rd floor balcony.
This was our first morning. Nate and I got up each morning for some quiet time on the beach, and to enjoy the sunrise!
(Ok... no comments about this one... I said it was EARLY! )
This is a view of our house from the sand dune. We had a pretty short walk, but some days it was a Very Hot Walk!
Here is our house for the week. Toby called it the "Big House" :)
Drew having fun in the pool!
And Taylor and daddy playing catch!
It's a little hard to see, but the second morning, we had the honor of getting a show from the dolphins. I couldn't get a good shot, but you can can see about 2/3rds up on the right is one!


We celebrate Matt's birthday, Grandma Debbie's birthday and Mer and Michael's anniversary while we were there. We got grandma an ice cream cake! She was surprised!
Some of the guys hanging out in the game room!
We also had family photos taken on the beach. I may have more of these to share when we get the files from the photographer, but these are ones taken with our camera.

Grandma and Grandpa with all 10 grandkids.

Some shots of my babies!




Toby played in this sand hole the entire final day at the beach. I love this shot, he clearly wasn't expecting the "cool" water! I'm sure it was refreshing though!
This is what Drew thinks of vacation!

Drew and daddy riding the waves!


Toby got a Wonka bar!! He was REALLY hoping for a golden ticket...
On our trip home, we stopped off in Lexington, Virginia so Nate could get his Civil War fix. We visited Stonewall Jackson's House.

And Lee Chapel
This is a great photo Nate took of the Jackson memorial. He doesn't have the camera in his hands often, but I thought this was a GREAT shot!
All in all, a wonderful time, and much needed R&R for the Mills Family!

God is Good!

Post Parade Activities

This year, I figured we'd try and have a camp out with the Mills/Moser Cousins after the parade!! It was kinda a last minute thing, but it was so much fun! I grabbed some hot dogs and S'more stuff, some firewood (wonder where I got that!) and got the tents out! After fighting traffic to get out of Orrville, we all made it to our place by around 9PM or so.

We quickly found out that Lincoln had never had a hot dog over a campfire!! WHAT??? We couldn't believe it! He said he enjoyed it, while texting of course! I think he's fighting with his bun in this photo, but his phone was never far away! Teenagers, right?

And the S'Mores! Oh My Goodnes!! Have you seen those HUGE marshmallows at the stores? My wonderful Sister-in-Law decided those would be a great idea! So she brought a bag along! They were wonderful, but messy! Especially for my 5 year old! As you can see, Toby (or Woody) was covered! By the time he was done, he had graham cracker STUCK to his hands, and could not pull his fingers apart, they were rather glued together! Derek and Averie enjoyed the fire as well!

They all did a great job once they fell asleep, around 1 AM!!! They all slept through the night! They started staggering into the house around 8 AM and were very hungry! We made a nice big breakfast then they took turns playing Playstation and Wii. It was rather entertaining!! These kids are so funny!

After a little while of that, I pushed them all out the door! They played some in the tent!
And played a little baseball and basketball! Taylor, Braden and Lincoln played pig! I think Taylor did pretty well...
Until Lincoln layed this one in!! :) I won't tell you what the hoop is set at, I'll allow Lincoln to disclose that if he wants!
It was a wonderful time, and got us all very excited about our upcoming family vacation to the Outer Banks!! Love them all!!

God is Good!

The Grand Old Parade

What would July 4th weekend be if it weren't kicked off by the Orrville Fireman's Parade? Once again, we had the opportunity to join in on the Hummel Group float! We had lots of candy to throw out and the kids had a great time interacting with the people. I wish I had a recorder of all Toby's comments. He was cracking us up! Here's a photo of us waiting, and waiting,

and waiting... for our float to get moving. One BIG parade as always! And the weather was beautiful for it. Some even had sweatshirts on!
I like to try and snap some photos of our friends and family along the way. I don't always get everyone, especially those on the second half of the route... guess I'm getting too tired by then!

But here is Melanie and Lincoln with her friend Shauna and her husband. Avery was in the parade, and Derek was just out of the shot! Please ignore the folks in the background... I guess they've had a little too much candy already... and they are NOT related :)

Here's Aunt Debbie! I don't think she saw us until the last moment of this photo! Don't think she wanted her picture taken! Love you Aunt Debbie :)
And the Youngs! Got them all in this shot, including Grandma Debbie!
It was a great time, and we got out of town pretty easily, which is not an easy task, I might add!

God is Good!

Taylor's OLO Performances!

This summer, Taylor was honored to accept a role with Ohio Light Opera. Due to Copyright issues, I can't get photos of her on the set, so here are a few photo's before Tuesday's performance of the youth cast warming up vocally with Karla. Karla has been one of Taylor's mentors since they worked together at OLO 4 years ago in Sound of Music! They keep in touch throughout the year and she has been such an encouragement to Taylor. She is also in Gypsy this summer!


A quick run through of their dance routine before they head backstage!
Of course mom made her pose for a photo with her hat before she took of! I'm so mean!
And as soon as she got back, I made her keep her HOT Uncle Sam costume on so I could get a shot of it as well! I wasn't able to get a photo of her Newsboy costume, since she only has it on for a few moments... actually, most of it is under this Uncle Sam costume!
It is already going by so fast, with 3 performances under her belt, she's about half way through! This year has been different in many ways, some good and some bad, but she is making the most of it! If you get a chance to attend, let us know! The kids aren't staying for the curtain call, but Taylor would love to know she has supporters in the audience!

God is Good!