Camping......agian!

This was a short camping trip but we took it because we might not have another chance to go as a family before school starts! Grandpa and Grandma Hallenberger met us up there on Friday and only stayed until noon on Saturday, but we enjoyed them while they were there!

Aaron found out at the last minute that he HAD to be to church on Sunday so they were just going to drive up for the day. Heidi said, "well maybe we will bring up some donuts!" I said, "You better bring donuts and they better be Krispy Kreme....for a peace offering for not staying longer! So they did and just in the nick of time too!

Grandma taught me and the boys how to play Mancala and we were addicted, or should I say Ian was addicted and REALLY good at it! I think I only beat him once!!!

Heidi and yours truly in all our glory!

These three were just being silly and I thought it was cute enough for a pic!

Ahhhh the warm springs!!! They were PERFECT and just what we all needed!!!

Good job getting into the picture Honey!

Not sure how she got so dirty in an hours time but she did so she got a bath in the sink!

Elijah is a goof like his momma!

Lakeview Water Park

We love going to this water park because it only costs 6 BUCKS!! Oh and it is fun and just right for my kiddos! We had been a few times this summer but I didn't take pictures because I have soooo much fun too! Heidi, Rebecca and my friend Emily came too!

Gwendolyn loves the splash pad and when I make these spouts of water really tall so she can run through them. That is her little friend Gretchen on the side.....

My boys like to hang out in the deeper end of the pool and go down the slide, that is Austin showing off his muscles!

There is this one part on the splash pad that lets out quite a bit of water, Adeline says she is taking a shower....

Gweny was sitting here and Emily got my attention, the water was spraying out and it totally looked like she was peeing....ahhh if she only knew!

Adeline and her cousins would count to 3 and run and jump off the edge...they did this for a good 30 minutes! The life guard said they were so cute to watch!

Goodbye water park we will see you next summer!

Swim Lessons

The kids took swim lessons the first three weeks in August and they did great!! I took Gweny in a mommy and me class, but she was sooo used to the water that she didn't really benefit much from the class, she was actually pretty bored! She did like the teacher to race her after her ball in the water, and jumping off the edge was about all she enjoyed, she mostly wanted to be in the kiddy pool going down the slide.

Adeline is now blowing bubbles with her head all the way under the water and can swim under water without holding her nose! She loves jumping in and going under water...my little mermaid!

Elijah is doing great and gaining more confidence in the water! He does really well on his different strokes and just has to practice on turning his head to the side on his free style!

Ian is doing great now too! He took his swim test again this year to see if he could get a yellow ribbon which means he can go down the big slide now!

Not sure what they are doing, but they are still cute!

Fun Filled Day

Most of our SUMMER mornings start out like this! Then we head off to the gym....

Today after the gym we headed over to the pond to feed the ducks and the geese and the swan.....but first we had some lunch!

Adeline and Gwendolyn lookin' so cute!

The geese were not shy today, if you had bread you better hold it up high or throw it fast because they would eat it right out of your hands. In the far picture Gwendolyn is telling the geese goodbye.

Look at Adeline's mouth in the middle picture....she was holding her sandwich in her hand and I told her she better eat it quick or a goose will get it.....shoved the whole thing in her mouth! The goose on the end would follow you around and hiss at you for a piece of bread...the kids though he was funny!

Dad has been working A LOT lately and hasn't seen the kids very much so we stopped off at work to visit for a bit.......(not exactly sure what Ian is doing in this pic!)

Then off to Grandma Hallenberger's house to hang out for awhile. Adeline made a bracelet, we had some Popsicles and the boys played some chess...fun times! Thanks for having us over!

Later that night the girls were being so cute so I had to get a pic!

Fun with pillows

This is one of the kids favorite past times and we hadn't done it in a while, this time I got in on the fun too! Ian was full of all different moves. Adeline's were all the same but I had to take a picture of then ALL! Gweny does jump off the couch but she wouldn't tonight.... =(

What a mess!

This is what happens when the children are all getting along and I am working on my photography or my blog! The best thing was, was that when I was all done I said ok time to clean up and there was no fuss! They all helped!! A dream come true so I had to blog about it!!

And if you are thinking this is not a mess..........is for me!

Out of the MOUTH of MY children!

The other night at dinner I asked what the kids wanted to be when they grow up and this was their reply:
Adeline: "I want to be a cowgirl like Jesse in Toy Story!"
Elijah: Thought about it for a minute then said, "I want to make lots of money so I can take care of my family so I will be a teacher like grandma."
Ian: "I want to work at the movies....you know those guys that take your tickets when you go in?.....ya that's where I want to work....then he thinks a bit.......all excited he says, "Or I could work at WALMART, I bet they make 5 bucks a day!" LOL yep that's about right Ian! LOL

Gwendolyn comes up to me, "cookie please....mommy cookie please" How could I refuse...so I grab her one cookie and she says, "No two cookie...please.......say waaaaa did my 20 month old just ask for 2 cookies?! So I hand her another one just to see if I heard her right and she holds them together and says, "Ya two cookie, taynt tou"

Ian was all up in my space the other day and I turned to him and said, "Do you mind?" He said, "Nope." I had to laugh at that, it was hilarious!

Way to End the Month of July

Another day trip to the river.....this time we came prepared with lots of bug spray.........still didn't work!! Anyway we had another great time!!

Elijah found lots of stone flies....fish love those!!

I just thought this was cute!

A little fishing!

Adeline found this rock and said it was for me because it looked like a heart!

WOW check out that tuuuuude on Addy's face! I told her that wasn't a very pretty face and she said, "Well I kind of like that face!" LOL

My Cuties!

Building sand castles! Ian has been sooooo good with Gwendolyn!!

He was proud of what he built........me too Bud good job!

Elijah was building a damn....really  worked too!

They were starting to get bored so I yelled WATER FIGHT and this was one of my captures! Love it!

The girls had their own water fight...........with themselves...............LOL!

Gweny kept dumping water on her head and laughing.......it was so funny!

July has come and gone............

But not without some more fun first! Grandma and Grandpa Thomas surprised the kids with a visit!! I had a REALLY hard time not telling the kids but to see the look on their faces was priceless and well worth the effort it took for me to be hush hush....

We had fun and kept it low key..........the Grandparents watched the kids play in the pool......

Can't get away from Grandpas whiskers!!! HAHAHAHAHA

We also went shopping for school supplies.....wow gettin' spendy!! Then on Friday night we took the parents out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants as a family.............Chinese Grand Buffet! On Saturday morning my mom and I went garage selling and scored some great stuff! An awesome bike for Elijah, some dress up clothes for Adeline and Gweny, A time out chair!!! LOVE THAT!! Pics of that later and lots of other goodies! Thanks for coming and playing with us! There is nothing like a grandparent!!! The singing and stories at bedtime will be remembered always! We love you!