Summer Fun at Last

With so much rain there has been little opportunity to play outside. Either it is raining or it is muddy. Today was great! The ground is starting to dry out, the sun is shining and the kids spent some time being kids outside!

I am not sure if it is a good or bad thing that all the little neighbor kids are boys. Works out well for Ethan, and Emily doesn't seem to mind (this is the part that concerns me). I guess for now they all just have a great time together.

I am glad I had a stock of CapriSun in the fridge, running around, climbing trees and playing "shark" under the tree house makes kids thirsty apparently.

Mommy Meeting

Some mommies don't want to work, some think work is a necessary part of sanity. Regardless we all needed a little adult conversation. Several of us got together this past Friday and had a nice time visiting. The kids played inside because of the rain, and this went well with one minor experience. The one year old decided to see how effective Eucerin(lotion) was on her entire body, and the carpet and the dog carrier and the gate and the back of her mommy's shirt! We were so surprised and her mom was so traumtized we forgot to take any pictures of the white mess. All ended well, everything was cleaned up and the one year old....well she is baby soft!

The older children enjoyed taking turns holding the newest little friend. Emily seemed a little too comfortable holding the baby. MANY, MANY years in the furture she will make a sweet little mommy herself.

Just Kicking Back

With everything that we have been doing this summer there are times when it is nice in the evening to just kick back and do nothing. Sometimes we have to sneak a learning activity in there just to keep the kids little minds on the right track. We wouldn't want them to lose everything they had learned this year.

4th of July

This year for the 4th of July we had our family get together in our new home! It was so much fun having everyone there. This was the first get together we have had since moving in. Most everyone had not seen the house all "put together". There have been several stages of completion but by Wednesday we had most of the painting done, the yard looked nice, despite all the rain, and the new living room furniture came in on Tuesday.

My children had fun playing with their cousins in the tree house, and my grandparents, aunt and uncle and sister and brother in law just spent time laughing and talking and of course eating!

Swimming Party

After days and weeks of rain we finally got to have some fun in the pool. We celebrated my niece's birthday with a Hawaian theme pool party. What a blast! The kids turned into little fish, spending almost as much time under the water as they did above the water. Even the littlest had a great time, sliding and splashing.

Grandma Came to Visit

Grandma Charlotte came to visit this week. Of course there had to be some serious tree house and trampoline time. Having Grandma around always makes the day fun!

Tree House

This afternoon we came home and daddy had finished a brand new tree house.

Ethan - "It is cool. I like to sit under the branches and cool off in the shade."

Emily - " I like it because it is in a tree. My favorite part when you shake the branch the dogs will be scared and bark."

Daddy - "My favorite part is that its done."

Mommy - " I like that the children finally have a tree house, something they have been asking for since they were little."

Sold Sign

That sign has got to be the coolest, scariest sign in the world, especially when you are the one buying it. The kids are excited about the new house and have already made a few new friends.

Living Life in London

Don and I fell in love again when we spent time in London. Not only did we fall in love all over again with each other we fell in love with London and we will return.

Living Life at Disney

This winter we made memories that will last a lifetime. We spent a wonderful week together at Disney World. The magic came alive for Princess Emily and Prince Ethan (at least that is what everyone called them while we were there!)
Emily's favorite memory was breakfast with Cinderella.
Ethan loved his Mickey Mouse sun glasses, but they got left behind on the roller coaster.