Painting the yard

and themselves...

And then he found mud...

Best Buds

Emma got to accompany me on a photo shoot one evening since it was with the family of one of her Kindergarten friends.  They had some playtime afterwards.

This was the first time Emma had ever ridden in one of these toy cars!  Here she is driving!

 Emma & Ava, best buds

Park Day

We met some of our home school friends at the park for playtime and a picnic one day.  We had a blast and as a special treat-- the train was running so we all had a ride!

Free kid's meals from Subway for participating in the summer reading club!

 Life is better with friends!

Christmas in July

As July came to a close we had one day where we celebrated Christmas in July, just because... well, just because we could.

We made Christmas cookies and Christmas cupcakes, hung socks (just like in Little House on the Prairie) in the playhouse for a few small surprises, and watched Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, of course!

How to train your dragon Day

We have done these theme days in the summer the last two years, so the kids were really eager to do a few more this year.  I had to limit them to TWO days though as the summer was rapidly passing us by!  The first day they chose was How To Train Your Dragon Day!

Nathan was Bork the Bold

 Sweet Viking gal, Astrid

Hiccup, of course

 Lucas wanted to be Toothless in Samuel's old dragon costume.  No one cared that Toothless is actually black.

 We made swords and shields

Food is always a highlight for the kids on these fun days.  

BREAKFAST

LUNCH

 DESSERT

 NATHAN LAUNCHING THE CATAPULT HE MADE FOR OUR SHEEP

 Lucas could not contain himself.  While the rest of us were distracted, he grabbed all the remaining "dragon food" (gummy fish), hid under the table and ate them.

DINNER

 Bork the Bold shared many stories

 Stoic the Vast and Valka

 We had dragon races, with painted faces of course

It was great fun!

Patience

29:52 Patience

Are you serious?

Samuel reading

Samuel and I have been casually working on reading this summer.  Last week he read his first "Bob" book...  He was SO proud (and so were Daddy & I).

Lucas video

Imperfect

28:52 Imperfect

Michigan

We had a weekend visit with my oldest sis and her family in Michigan last weekend.  It was perfect!

The kids loved hanging out on their wooden property...

Samuel even took Squirt for a walk

We had yummy ice cream at Captain Sundaes of course!

Uncle Tim's was the biggest!

Cole, Samuel & Emma watching Lucas and Uncle Tim dump water out of the boat

A little basketball between cousins

 The big deal was going to the beach for several hours on Saturday.  I think our kids could've stayed there all day!  The water was a bit chilly, but not as bad as we thought it would be.  We had a wonderful time!

Daddy entertaining the kids by running in

Aunt LuAnne buried Nathan

 Sister beach selfie

 And Wes, of course