Lake Day with Friends and Family

Thursday morning we headed to our family friends' new house at the lake. Since we had been there last year, their old house had been knocked down and new one was built. We've gone up the last couple of summers, so Analise knew what to look forward to. This year though, was different. Peg and Danny were able to join us (yeah) and also my good friend, L, who was always like an older sister to me. With our families being such good friends, we grew up together. She now lives 24 hours away from me, and I haven't seen her in years. She told me back in Feb. when they were going to be home this summer, so we chose to come home so we could see them. Her husband, G, is also an engineer from CU and a also fisherman, so he and Brandon have a lot of fun together. Their kids are close in age to ours, so that was fun, too.

G took Analise and L on the jet ski.

 Aunt Peg and Analise had fun in the water together.

Sadie sat on the dock and kicked her feet in the water.

Maisie finally got in and walked around. See that white float? I remember playing on that when I was a kid.

Analise jumped off the boat into the water.  Fun!

Brandon borrowed G's kayak and took each of the girls for a ride.

Me and L

It was one of the those days where I was so thankful - for good weather, good health and sweet times with family and friends. I didn't want the day to end. I know if we lived closer, we'd be spending lots of time together. And we vowed to not let so much time pass before seeing each other again.

Vacation Begins

We left the morning of July 5 for our long journey to IN. Thankfully the day went smoothly, and the girls were great travelers. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel for dinner, since we were making good time. Brandon ordered chicken fried chicken and took a couple of bites and realized it wasn't even cooked through. Eww! We got to our hotel late enough the girls didn't have time to swim, which is what I was secretly hoping for. We got to bed late enough as it was; we didn't need swimming to make it later.

We got to my parent's house early afternoon. Yeah! We hadn't seen them since Christmas, so it was good to be together again. And it wouldn't be Grandmom and Pop's house with taking Minnie for a walk.

Analise and 16 year old Minnie

My parents had a bike just the right size for Sadie. She was thrilled!

These sunglasses provided lots of laughs!

Got to love my dad. :)

July 4 weekend

Goodness, the 4th seems like ages ago. A brief summary - Friday night Brandon went down to the cabin to go night fishing. I stayed back because I didn't feel like packing everything (esp. since I would unpack to pack again a few days later), and I knew he could really enjoy it without having responsibility of kiddos. I got the girls to bed early and then wasted my time watching a movie. The next morning we were up and at 'em and headed down to the lake and tried to get there so rest of the boaters weren't waiting on us. Mission accomplished; most were just getting up when we arrived at 10:30.

We had fun on the boat with D and S, and then we enjoy supper together. I  have no pictures since I forgot to pack the camera.

Sunday went went to church and then celebrated Sarena's and dad's birthdays with a big family dinner. Lots of good food and laughter!

We thought it would be fun to get Sarena a pinata to celebrate the big 3-0. And we knew the kids would love it. It was lots of fun!

Naturally, each kid had to take a swing.

 Monday we stayed home and packed. Well, I packed while Brandon cleaned the vehicles. Not the most exciting 4th, but it was nice to have the day at home. We did have some special guests, but that will come in another post.

 We let off a few fireworks. It must be a girl thing, but they don't get too excited about fireworks. They enjoy from a distance. And Sadie Lady didn't like them at all this year. Bed time was rough with all the noise outside.

Brandon and his dad at the bday celebration

Fab Fishing

Back in middle school and high school, Brandon and his mom fished almost every Sunday night. It was their special time together. They still fish when they can, but it's usually on the boat with others around. So  for Mother's Day, Brandon wanted to take her out, like the good ol' days. He took her to our friend's pond, and let me tell ya....they had a BLAST! They haven't caught bass like that for years. I'm not sure who was beaming more when they came back to the house to clean the fish.

Summer

Here we are half way through summer, and I am still waiting for my chance to slow down and relax.

At the beginning of summer vacation, we made a family list of things we wanted to do over the summer. I should pull that out again and see how we are doing.

I have learned that though I would much rather sleep in on summer days, I am a much better mommy if I am up before the girls. So I am going against everything in me and getting up early to exercise (by myself) and to be showered before they are up. In the month of June, sleeping in was 6:30. I am sure my mom's mouth just dropped. :)  However, I must say it feels good to exercise. Some mornings I do the Wii Active, and other mornings I go run/walk in the cemetery. I enjoy being outside, and I listen to Focus on the Family or Family Life podcasts on my ipod, and I feel like I am engaging my mind, too.

With softball and tootsie rollers two mornings a week, groceries on another, swim lessons three nights week, library visits, Bible study on Weds. nights, and planning Kid's Camp (our VBS), and other things like maintaining the house and meals, I feel like the summer has flown.

 At the beginning of the summer, I started responsibility charts for both Analise and Maisie this year. Analise thrives on this, and I never have to remind her to do anything on there. Maisie on the other hand, only had her responsibility chart for a week. After that I gave her a new chart - an attitude chart. It's very simple. On one side of the paper is a picture of her with a happy face; the other side has a picture of her with a grumpy face. Ten stickers are in the middle. When I ask her to do something, and she responds joyfully and immediately, she gets a sticker under the happy face. And well, I am sure you can figure out what happens when she grumbles and complains. This chart has been wonderful! She is excited about getting more "happy" stickers, and I am thrilled to have fewer fits. (And the stickers are on wax paper, so we just reuse them!)

My garden is nice and green, and we are already enjoying some of its harvest - zucchini and grape tomatoes already. I love my summer salads with all these fresh goodies in them!

Unfortunately my strawberries didn't bear many fruit this year. So sad.

This second half of the summer I look forward to a little more down time, having Brandon around for some extra days (though I know he will still be working "a little"), and really getting to enjoy some things WITH the girls and not just FOR the girls.

Ponytail Softball

Analise had so much fun playing softball last year, we decided it would be good for her to play again. And this year one of her good friends was on her team. That made it even more fun!

We had it on Monday and Wednesday mornings from 8:45-10. While she practiced, I took the other two to the park to burn energy, and then we would walk over to her field to watch her play.

Her team was called "The Green Jalapenos."

 We had a couple of nice days, but it seemed that most mornings were chilly. One day they played in the drizzle and rain.

It was fun watching her learn and improve. Plus, just watching 6-7 year olds play can be quite entertaining. Daddy was able to come watch a game, Grandma came to a couple, and even Twin 2 came to watch. Fun times. :)

Right after t-ball, Analise and her friend, A, had Tootsie Rollers with another good friend. She loved this class, too. She did some tumbling things that we've never done at home before.

Maisie and Sadie were troopers those mornings of being the constant spectator. It helped when they got to play with their friends.

And the Fun Continues

Warning - 18 photos

As if the Beth Moore conference with friends wasn't enough, the weekend only got better. Brandon brought the girls to town to meet up with me. We met at an exit in town where I told my friends goodbye and said hello to my family. It's always nice to see the girls so excited to see me. First stop - Kohls. :) Brandon had more luck there than I did, but it was a successful trip.

We then headed to the hotel where we were meeting up with two dear cousins of mine (sisters) and their families. I haven't seen them in four years! We spent time hanging out at the hotel, ate dinner at Fazoli's and then went back to the hotel to swim. I played the role and put my suit on, but Brandon was the better parent because he got in the COLD water to swim with the girls. I took care of getting towels for every one. :)

The next morning we headed to my favorite zoo. There were four adults and nine children under the age of ten. But honestly, I think the adults were looking forward to the zoo just as much, if not more, than the kiddos. :)

It was a cool and cloudy day...not what I had hoped or packed for. However, I think it was in our favor. No sunscreen needed and no sweat dripping in our eyes. And I think the cooler weather encouraged the animals to be more active.  We were there from 9:30-5:00 and still didn't see everything!

We started in the aquarium where we had so much fun watching the penguins!

Sadie isn't quite as tall as an Emperor Penguin

 They kept swimming right by us. So fun!

 I took this picture for you, dad. You always loved these monkeys. If you look closely, you will see the twin babies in her lap.

 Walking through the jungle.

Analise took this picture of us...much better than the other two she took. In the first one, she got a close up of my ear. And the second one she zoomed in on just her daddy.  

 And here is the crew. And in my opinion, they are ALL sweet. :)

 When we were younger you could tell there was three years between each one of us...not anymore. We all look 25. :)

 One of the lions was roaring as we got over there; I told Brandon it was because they thought Sadie was a zebra.

 This tiger was pacing while waiting for dinner.

 Sadie's favorite color is orange, so when she spotted this orange tiger, she was beside herself with excitement.

 The sleeping Sunbear looks so sweet.

 They all loved petting the goats.

 It was fun watching and listening to the seals.

 I admit...orangutans have been one of my favorites since I was a kid. When we got to their area, one was busy playing, but then he came over to the glass right in front of me. We were face to face.

 After a great, great day we made the drive back home. This is how the sky looked, and Analise told me I should take a picture. I am glad I did.