And then I realized that I hadn't posted anything on the blog since the weather warmed.
Oops.
I'll keep the run-downs brief and the pictures plentiful- deal? Put your feet up and take a tour through our summer's happenings.
JUNE
Where we left off, I took the kids down to Granny & Gramps' house while Daddy went to be a student. Everyone is happy about this arrangement from youngest to oldest....
We played in the water, had adventures with Bella (the dog), and did TONS of swimming.
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| Gramps was a swimming instructor extraordinaire |
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| Dive stick hunting |
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| Proud! |
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| Greta's cheering section |
Let me be clear- my Gboo who started the spring off afraid to put her head in the water began retrieving dive sticks in the deep end at G and G's pool. Awesome.
We celebrated Father's Day with Gramps,
we rode on a train at the Helen Keller festival (=Wessy heaven),
and Greta got to see a brown horse up close and personal (=Gboo heaven). Not bad eh?
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| Wes liked the tractor until the motor started. |
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| Greta, however, LOVED riding on the tractor. Thank you Mr R! |
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| Copper...a visit highlight for sure. |
We got to see family and spend lots of QT together.
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| Wes trying to fill Gramps' shoes |
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| New favorite book...nice work Granny |
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| Birmingham family! |
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| Checking out the koi |
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| The deck...the weather was PERFECT |
And the boat rides....
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| Who knew that both kids would enjoy swimming in the lake just as much (more?) than swimming in the pool? |
Yeah. It was a great visit.
JULY
And then it was July. Which in general made me feel like this:
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| He slept like this for more than an hour before we finally put him into bed. |
Mostly because VBS was coming. But first...4th of July!
First there was a parade. A hot, hot parade.
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| Gboo and Gma seeking out the shade |
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| Papa pointing out the horns to Wesser |
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| Wes, still obsessed with cousin Noah |
And in the evening we watched the fireworks with friends in the backyard!
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| The A-K girls look so tidy next to mine. |
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| Aside from the mosquitos, they loved it. |
And then VBS rocked our world.
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| Wes liked to help Daddy MC. Not a bit afraid of standing in front of 150 people. Oh my. |
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| Greta and one of her VBS counselors. |
It was a great week. But mommy needed a break so we snuck away for an overnight (or 2...) to the North Shore. Our family trip had 2 objectives: see a light house (Greta) and see a train (Wes). Ok, maybe a 3rd objective....mom and dad hoped to relax via camping (not quite met....)
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| Greta and her lighthouse |
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| The scenic view |
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| The kids loved helping daddy around the campsite |
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| Leading each other down the path. |
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| A family shot...the best we could manage with the timer! |
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| Greta LOVED camping. She brought a journal and did some mad coloring as she got ready for bed. |
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| A-hem. Wes took a different approach to winding down. |
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| Gooseberry Falls....VERY early the next morning |
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| A TRAIN! |
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| Twain Twacks Together |
The camping trip was a mixed success. Objectives 1 and 2 were met...but it was not a super restful camping trip. Greta can sleep anywhere so she's a camping champ. Wes...well he was a bit of a challenge to sleep in the tent. He played musical pillows all night so we were all a bit groggy for our trip down to Duluth the next day (notice there are not alot of pictures from this portion of the trip....). But it was still a fun getaway and I think next summer Wes will be ready to go on the camping front.
We got to spend a day at the Zoo with Aunt Kebbie, Uncle Peter and Noah
Like many, we had Olympic fever. Here's Greta's depiction of our family in the Olympics.
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| We are frowning because we are concentrating...just in case you were curious. |
My garden was beautiful, despite an attack of the stinkin Aster Yellows that killed off ALL my coneflowers. I'm not bitter. Really. But I do want to knock on the doors of my neighbors to tell them what their coneflowers are afflicted with...Tyler tells me to mind my own.
AUGUST
Hurray for August! Another busy month...but most notably the Haggstroms came for a visit!
Granny, Gramps, Uncle Dan, Aunt Maureen, Evelyn and Amelia were all here. It was big fun.
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| First communion for first cousins |
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| And we cleaned them too. |
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| Spaghetti head |
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| We clean up alright |
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| At the dinosaur exhibit...a TRex size hit. |
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| This group shot...a bit more constipated than we intended |
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| In the chicken house at the zoo. Looks like we had a turkey rather than a hen. |
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| More family time...with MN family too! All our cousins in 1 spot. |
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| We like each other. It is a good thing. |
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| Our future master gardener. He looks more like his dad here than he always does (which is alot). |
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| One last smile with Granny & Gramps |
We spent part of our time together up north at Gull Lake and part time tooting around the Twin Cities. The big girls had a ball together. You can really tell they are growing up and enjoying each other in a whole new way. The younger two were quite happy trotting after the oldest two or playing ponies/trucks so they could define their own play desires ;). It was a lovely week together.
We found another opportunity to sneak away as a family to a friend's cabin up north. It was a great couple of days. We fished, hiked, ate, swam (BRRRRR) and enjoyed each other. Greta asked our host if we could come back next summer. I think that means they had fun.
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| Easily my favorite picture of the weekend. My heart. |
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| Mornings were cool. Yes that says 47. |
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| Greta caught this fish all by herself! |
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| Me and my girlie |
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| Wes likes fishing nakey. Now that was predictable. |
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| Yeah, I'm partial to them |
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| How many ways can you say ADORE. |
So what else did we do in August?
Can you say Renaissance Festival? Yes m'lord/lady....
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| Oh the pony ride. "Mom, we REALLY need a pony. Our backyard is big." |
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| The rocking horse...also too big for our backyard. |
General silliness...of course...
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| Sings all the time....newest hit: "Taaaaallll maaaaaaannnnn." |
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| I'm a lion of course. |
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Mowing in a pull up seems perfectly normal to him.
That's about the size of it.
Except maybe the biggest thing of the summer
The end of it...and the beginning of Greta's life as a kindergartener. Better ready the tissues. It really is too much to believe.
Be still my heart.
Getting OFF the bus (Yes, we followed it to school. Go ahead and talk about us.)
With her sweet sweet daddy
With her mommy that is still NOT crying (I waited until she got on the bus).
I can't feel my mouth anymore mommy. Are we done with pictures?
I cried. A lot. She's happy. A lot.
She's already counting to 10 in french.
I'm getting used to the bus concept.
I'm proud of how bold and confident she is every day when she goes to school.
I'm impressed with how she thanks her bus driver everyday...and means it. So thoughtful.
I like how she drew her self portrait today with arm hair even though some of the kids thought it was weird. It is weird, and I love it. Also, she IS hairy.
I'm amused that she's the last to get off the bus because she becomes engrossed in her sticker book with friends.
I just really love who she's becoming. Really really.
I'm overwhelmed that this day is possible...and normal. What a completely normal day. There was a time when we didn't know if there would be any "normal" days. Thank you God for the everyday-ness of this major milestone. Now, if we can just reign in our questions so we're not giving her the 3rd degree everyday when she comes home. We'll get there.
OK. Now you are caught up, or I'm caught up, or both.
There is sure to be some craziness afoot at the Preacher's house. We'll take pictures and share them with you.
Happy Fall! |
