The Rest of July

Here's a little recap of the rest of our July. Katie is still growing by leaps and bounds. She and Abbey have now become buddies. One day I caught her covering up Abbey with my dish towel. She thought it was hilarious. Me too.

She also discovered the boys' chef outfit and would not take it off. She was serving up cookies all afternoon long. We've had a busy month. I guess it shows. She didn't have the energy to finish her lunch on this day. I'm pretty sure I have a similar picture of each of the boys doing the same thing. Love it. Our good friends stopped through this month on their way back from Florida. They have 4 kids, so when we get together, it's quite a crowd. How cute are they? It wouldn't be a visit from the Smiths if there wasn't some sort of Mario Kart tournament going on. Usually, it's between the Dads, but now the kids have stepped in. We have an almost identical picture of Rick and Matt playing Mario Karts in college. Oh how I wish I could find it right now. Rick took the boys on their first camping trip this month. Boy oh boy did the boys have fun! They went with a couple of their friends and their Dad. They pitched a tent, went hiking, roasted some hot dogs, made smores and pretty much had an all out good time in the woods. Talking about nature reminds me of a little friend that came to visit our yard. Check out this caterpillar. It was HUGE! We measured it it and it was 3 inches long. Ryan was happy to hold it on a stick. Kyle, on the other hand, thought it was better on Ryan's stick.

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Pennsylvania, JULY 14-19

We left for Pennsylvania the following week. Grammy and Papa joined me and the kids on this journey. The kids and I went to visit my best friend Kristin and her family back in my old home town, while my parents visited several of their friends in the area. It was fun to be back and is was so much fun hanging with her. Just like old times... except we now have 5 kids between the two of us! It was the first time the kids have gotten together and they just had a ball. We always talk about Aunt Kristin, Uncle Bob, Lorelai and April, but now the kids can put a name with a face. Here they all are playing in the pool!

Oh, I almost forgot. This is so worth mentioning because it just makes me giggle every time I think about it. They had a pool cleaner, you know the kind that just wonders along the bottom and up and down the sides. Well, it was black which kind of made it look like a manta ray or something of that sort. Well, Ryan did not like it. He did not want to be near the thing. So, the one day we were sitting at the table, watching the kids, and I noticed that the cleaner was getting close to Ryan, but he was still going about his business. So I waited (nice mom, I know). You should have seen that boy's eyes when he realized what was beneath his feet. He shot out of that pool so fast. I'm laughing now as I type this. Priceless. Sorry Ry! Anyway, thanks so much for having us. The boys keep asking when we can go back. I told them when Uncle Bob jacks up the air conditioning :)

Maybe I should mention that this was a record setting week. It was nothing short of HOT, HOT, and HOT. You know the kind of weather you just sweat standing still.

After spending a few days with Kristin and her family, we headed up to Lancaster to visit with my Grandmother. We met up with my Aunt and Uncle, my two cousins Jenny and Chris and Jenny's daughter Natalie. Natalie and Kyle get along like two peas in a pod.



We all had brunch at Grandmas and then hit the pool.



Believe it or not, Kyle kind of had a break-through in his swimming while on vacation. He was able go down the slide and swim across to the ladder all on his own, over and over again. So proud of him.



One of the days Grammy, Great-Grandma and I took the kids for a ride on the Strasburg Railroad. It was a pretty ride through all of the farm fields. Ryan thought the whistle was a little too loud, but he loved looking out the back and watching the engine hook up to the train. Katie loved it too!









After a few days at Great-Grandma's we went to spend our last day at my Aunt and Uncle's farm. I grew up coming here, so it was nice to come back and visit with the kids. The boys got their fill of tractors. Uncle Richard even let them drive one up and down the road! Can we say two happy little boys!





The boys also got to pick their own corn out of the fields. Unfortunately, it's feed corn so they couldn't eat it, but they still thought it was pretty cool!



Unfortunately, the cows were out in the pond cooling off, so they didn't get to see them up close. It's funny the things you remember as a kid. I remember letting a cow lick my hand and discovering that their tongues are as rough as sand paper. I was hoping they'd get the chance. Maybe next time :) Did I mention it was hot? Even the cows were seeking refuge in the pond. Staying at the farm means no air conditioning. However, the kids and I lucked out. We got the one room with a window air conditioner. At least we were able to sleep comfortably.

The next day we headed for home. Thanks to my Aunt and Uncle for having us. We all had such a great time on this trip. It was so much fun seeing old friends and family that we don't get to see as often as we'd like. Hopefully we'll get to do it again next year!

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DEEP CREEK, JULY 1-7

We started off our summer fun with a trip to Nana and G-Daddy's for 4th of July weekend. We always look forward to hanging out at the lake, but it was even more fun this year because they got a new boat, a super nice pontoon that was fit for the entire clan and more! I'm so glad they finally took the plunge. They've been talking about it for years, but thought owning a pontoon somehow signified the end of their youth. Heck, I'd consider a pontoon for myself. Lots of room, some nice shade, and no wakes to spill your drink :) The kids just loved it. The boys took turns being Captain and Katie let the wind sweep through her hair!

Of course, while we were there we got some tubing in. The boys can't help but grin from ear to ear when they get out there. I love it!




Rick got a chance to take the Sunfish out. He'd stay out there all day if we'd let him!



And we also got plenty of chill time in. The boys got new bug catchers and were desperately seeking their first specimens.





I think this is the best specimen of all!



....or perhaps this one?



Well, it was time to head home, but this time it wasn't the boys that were sad. It was me. We left the boys to spend the week with Nana and G-Daddy. I was a little nervous and sad to leave my babies for a whole week, but it turned out great! No one got homesick and I actually enjoyed some quiet time to myself only having to care for one child.

They had so much planned for the boys, I knew they'd have a ball. They rode horses, went to the rodeo, ate ice-cream, saw fireworks, hung with the dinosaurs, played games, ate junk, went to the library, rode the mountain coaster, hit the playground, took bubble baths, and went hiking. And that's just the things I can remember.



















Thanks Nana and G-Daddy for a fun weekend for us all and a super fun week for the boys!

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Happy Father's Day 2011

Father's Day was on June 19th this year. We were lucky enough to have Nana and G-Daddy in town to celebrate with us too. We decided to make it a little interesting this year and make Daddy search for his present. The boys drew him a treasure map and proudly followed him on his quest to find his treasure.

No digging required, but he successfully followed the map from the house, through the trees, and out to the shed. Lucky him, he scored himself a new Garmin bike computer. Now he can immerse himself in more data/graphs, as if he doesn't get enough of this at work. A true Engineer :)



We didn't make G-Daddy search for his, but we got him a sailing lesson so he can sharpen his skills and some super cool cutting edge HD Aviator sunglasses. Yes, you've probably seen the infomercial! I hope they work :)



And here are the Dads and their boys....Happy Father's Day!

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Goodbye Tonsils and Adenoids

Kyle has had way too many ear infections over the last year, so it looks like the culprit might be the adenoids and possibly the tonsils. So, the week after school ended Kyle had both out. The Dr. said he had the largest tonsils he'd seen in a kid his age. I guess that was a good move on our part to get rid of them, seeing as we might have run into problems later on. I must say this was a rough surgery for us all. The recovery was just way more difficult than I had imagined. He enjoyed the numerous slushies, but I'm sure he'd say it wasn't worth it. He really was in a lot pain for a good week and it just broke my heart. Once he could eat normal foods again, we had to stick to soft stuff for 30 days! Not fun when you have to tell your kid he can't have any chips, cookies, crackers, etc. for 30 days! He was definitely a trooper through it all and we were so proud of him.

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Special Agents in Training

Meet Special Agent Kyle and Special Agent Ryan. They are currently training for their next mission.....Mission Impossible. The boys decided to have some fun with a ball of yarn.

It was funny....Ryan started to wreck it and Kyle was getting upset. Pretty standard around here. Anyway, then Ryan decided to twist himself in the yarn and voila, it was fixed. Kyle came running in the kitchen saying, "Look mom, Ryan is a genius. He fixed it." Sure enough, there was Mr. Genius who I later had to free using a pair of scissors!

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Pool Time

Ahh...the weather is warm and it's time to hit the pool! Lucky for us, we just have to walk next door and jump in. Check out our little Katie. I'm gonna miss those chubby little legs one day.

She's a little fish in the tub, so I knew she'd love the pool this year. She's quite a splasher and she's quite fearless which makes me a little nervous.

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