Sweet Summertime

Okay, fair warning. This is going to be a long post. But long because I have so many cute pictures of the kids to include. Not wordy long:-) This is what happens when I wait two months between posts, I guess. Anyway, here's a quick rundown of Summer 2013.

Drew took his first trip to the ER back in June. Mady was at swimming lessons in Hospers, which is about 10 minutes from Orange City. Drew was playing at the park and fell on some step things. I'm sure we were quite the sight walking back to the car, him screaming as he walked beside me while I pressed a diaper to his eye, holding Jack in the car seat with my other arm! Thankfully it wasn't too severe, so we drove back to OC, they glued it and he was good to go!

We went to Oak Grove for a picnic one night. We didn't stay as long as we planned due to the massive amount of mosquitoes, but had fun while we were there. This is a good snapshot of personalities. Mady sees a camera and instantly strikes a pose. Drew is usually good for a cheese face, but just wants to keep running!

We spent the week of the 4th down in Blencoe with the Stanislav family. Kendall and I took in an Avett Brothers concert on the 3rd, which was awesome. Dan and Lisa braved watching all three kids for the first time that I left Jack. I think it turned out okay... 

We took in the annual Whiting parade. Grandma Lisa helped the kids pass the time waiting for the parade to start.

Graham was ready for the action.

Drew was happier sitting with Papa Danny. Mady was busy waving trying to accumulate as much candy as possible. She was quite successful.

We did sparklers and fireworks.

Jack enjoyed just laying around with the breeze blowing over him:-)

I'm not sure what Drew was doing, but this picture is so cute I had to include it!

While the girls went shopping the boys went up to Leo's and Drew was in tractor heaven! Old or new, he didn't care.

We went to the Omaha Zoo on the 6th. While the zoo is fantastic, we learned our lesson and won't be doing that again! Holiday weekend + 90 degree weather = less than optimal fun. We definitely enjoyed it, but smaller crowds and cooler temps would be ideal!

The zoo is right by the old Rosenblat(?) stadium where the college world series was always played until the new stadium opened a few years ago. Now there is a mini infield where the stadium used to be. The kids had fun running bases before we even made it inside.

Mady found flamingos. She was one happy girl!

But the heat wore on her. She doesn't normally wear a frown like that! Emily wasn't a fan of the heat either:-)

Graham turned two while we were down there. Grandma Lisa made a valiant attempt at cake popsicles. They were a bit of a flop but Graham still enjoyed himself:-)

Kye turned two a few days later, so we had back-to-back cousin birthday parties!

Jack and Elly were baptized together on the 21st. Drew and Kye were also baptized together so it was special to be able to share that again. My dad is also an elder at Trinity now, so he was a part of it too.

Isn't he adorable?!? (Both of them, actually!)

We headed back up to Okoboji for a few days at the end of July. We changed our original vacation dates from June to July so that we could have some warmer weather. Turns out, it was ridiculously cold almost the whole time we were there. But we still had fun!

Drew and Luke enjoyed the stroller while Mady and Kaylee checked out the baby ducks.

We went to Arnold's Park and enjoyed some rides. Mady successfully rode the mini-rollercoaster on her own. She was pretty pumped!

Did I mention it was cold?

Kye enjoyed the rides a bit more than Drew, but Mady was there to take care of both of them:-)

The carousel was okay though.

Elly!

Lake Okoboji. I've spent many weeks of my life enjoying this place. I love that my kids love it too!

Drew got a hair cut. And loved Kye's mower.

Prettiest girl on the lake!

Mady decided to give tubing a try even though it was chilly. She's 50/50 on it.

Cute kids. Jack's life jacket was a bit awkward on him, but safety first!

Jack keeps growing and growing. Here he is with Grandma Jana at 3 months. He turns 4 months on Saturday. Check Instagram for an up-to-date picture at that point:-)

It didn't rain much this summer, so when it did we had fun playing outside. The rain was no longer coming down, but they were drenched from playing in the down spout.

Mady went to Bible School down in Blencoe at the beginning of August. We didn't know how long she would last, but she went down Sunday night and I didn't see her until the boys and I went down on Friday for the program. She had a ball! And it was good practice for all of us with the impending school separation. I think between running crafts and having a house guest, Grandma Lisa was pretty worn out by the end of the week:-)

And today Mady went to kindergarten. She had a blast and kept describing her day as awesome. We're thrilled that she had so much fun, but it's still a bit surreal that our baby is in kindergarten this year! Where did the last five years go? Drew didn't talk about missing her too much today, but he did about tackle her in a bear hug when she got home. It was pretty sweet:-) 

So that was our summer! Pretty low key, but filled with lots of great family memories. I'm blessed beyond reason and so very thankful for my wonderful family.