A night at the races!!!

Keagan has always wanted to ride his quad or bicycle down at Riverfront Park. So, with Hailey being gone this week at camp, Brian checked into it. After a few minutes browsing online, Brian came to me and said tonight (Tuesday) in about 30 minutes the back track will be open to little kids. We were both very excited to share the news with Keagan. In a mad dash we all got ready, loaded the quad and grabbed a few snacks. We stopped at Taco Bell on the way to grab some dinner.

As we arrived at the gate, we were disappointed to hear that Quads are only allowed on the track the 1st Wednesday evening of every month. Keagan was very disappointed, but we were able to talk him into spectating for the evening while we ate our dinner. It was so much fun! Every hour on the hour, the adult riders would exit the track and the kid riders were allowed to ride on the track for about 10-15 minutes. It was breathtaking to watch how high these little guys would fly into the air after jumping the hills. Talk about a mother's worse fear! These kids were between the ages of 6-10. This was right up Keagan's alley! Even Bethany enjoyed every minute. We were so proud of Keagan for being bold enough to walk up to another boy about his age and introduce himself. They talked for about 30 min. about how old they were, what school they attended & how long they've both been riding. Before we left Keagan was able to watch his new friend ride on the track. What a super fun night and a great experience for the kids!!!

Bethany's idea to take this picture. How sweet is that!

Watching very intently!

This is an adult rider. The little guys would get more air than this!

Oh, the excitement!

Our photogenic girl!

Content just being me.

Summer Camp!!!

Diamond Arrow Christian Camp-

This morning Keagan, Bethany and mom drove Hailey and friend Amaris to camp. This is Hailey's 3rd year and Amaris' 1st year. Hailey started talking about church camp back in the early spring. She wanted to go regardless if her friends would be going. That's just our Hailey-fun, out-going, independent, and carefree. We can't wait to hear all about her week!

Hailey's junior counselor, Michaela.

Not an ounce of fear in their bones!

Goodbyes are a breeze when you have so much to look forward to. He probably wouldn't admit it, but I think Keagan is going to miss his sister.

Bethany on the other hand-She has her own room for one whole week!

It is always our tradition to walk Hailey to her cabin, meet her counselors, make up her bed and take one family snapshot. This year was no exception. Hailey is a bit sad that next year will be her last eligible year for Discovery Camp. She just digs this kind of thing!

If anyone would like to send Hailey a letter the address is as follows:

Diamond Arrow Christian Center

15742 N. Bloomfield Road

Nevada City, CA 95959

*All letters have to be mailed by Tuesday in order for Hailey to receive them in time.

Bridgeport-

While dropping Hailey off at camp we ran into a good friend, Jennifer Horton. I was so surprise to see that her oldest daughter, Elise & cousin Madeline were old enough to attend Explorer Camp (a 3 day camp for 2nd graders). Having our two girls at camp together will be very special!

Jennifer extended an invitation to join a few other moms for lunch & swimming at Bridgeport. I had no idea where Bridgeport was; but, hey I am always up for an adventure! The day turned out to be so much fun! What a beautiful swimming hole!

Bethany saw her very first dear along the trail to the swimming hole!

Bethany and Keagan could not resist climbing on the biggest bolder. Come to think of it, I was also about 3 months pregnant with Hailey when I climbed down the Little Grass Valley Dam.

Keagan just had a ball playing with Dominic or should I say trying to keep up with him. Dominic is a fearless water bug!

Next time we will be more prepared with our bathing suits and life vests. Sometimes last minute plans turn out to be the best.

Dominic just loved to run from the sand into the water followed by one BIG forward leap.

It's so good to be with friends!

A cousins summer sleepover

Mya spent her first night in California at Uncle Brian & Aunt Angie's house along with Cousin Claire & Cousin Landon. Just for the readers, we had a total of 6 kids all under the age of 10! Brian and I made a great team along with our "Big" helpers, Cousin Hailey and Cousin Keagan. The next morning the kids still had smiles on their faces and joy in their hearts, we would call this a "successful mission" at the Warta house.

Hailey playing the violin for Mya...

Everyone slept good that night. I don't know what it is about our house, but kids sure do sleep well. Maybe it is the freedom to roam every square inch of 3 1/2 acres.

Doing a bead project...

Resting with a little bit of Tinkerbell...

Dinner time! Oh yes, Keagan's friend, Cameron joined us for dinner too; which gave us a grand total of 7 children. (Mom, I don't know how you did it!)

Playtime with Uncle Brian while the girls took a bath.

And then there is feeding the goats. Mya wanted to know if we were going to feed the goats a bottle of milk. I was amazed that she remembered doing this with Hailey 2 1/2 years ago at the age of 2. That girl has an amazing memory!

Bare feet never hurt anyone.

Playing in the playhouse...

"Spiders are crawling up your back... to bite you, bite you" This has been Bethany & Claire's favorite thing to do to one another.

Can't forget about dress-up!

(Keagan helping Mya with her wings.)

I just love this picture of the girls. You can tell that Mya is still a bit jet lagged.

The trampoline is always a hit!

The girls had fun playing ring-around-the-roses.

Hailey found a very cute & fuzzy baby killdeer. The kids had fun holding or should I say squishing it. Hailey rescued the baby just in time.

The tree fort...

No visit is complete without a few quad rides from Uncle Brian and maybe just a little bit of racing. (Shh! Don't tell mom and dad.)

Uncle Brian even took us to the blackberry bushes for a mid-morning snack. To make the trip a bit quicker, Landon rode his quad and Brian piled on Keagan's quad sandwiched between Claire, Mya and Bethany. (I missed that picture!)

Both days Hailey did the Easy Bake Oven with the kids. They made chocolate cookies and pretzels.

Landon just couldn't resist... he just HAD to smell it!

I did not know so many activities could be crammed into 24 hours. I think Brian and I had just as much fun as the kids. I will be honest...we were all completely exhausted AND our house seemed unusually quiet by afternoon.

Thanks everyone for sharing your kiddoes with us and letting us spoil them with our love!