Smiles from our Lake Day

Today we visited a lake near our house for a beach day.  We were there for three hours, and the loved every second of it.

Lots of digging

They loved exploring the lake, using goggles to look underwater for tiny fish and plant life.

They spent so much time digging for interesting rocks and shells.

The beginning of a what became a very elaborate maze in the sand.

His tractor floated, and he was determined to ride it in the water.  Didn't happen exactly as he hoped.

Thank you to my wonderful family for all the giggles and smiles today!

Lazy Days of Summer

Do you know what I love about summer?  Changing out of our pajamas at noon to put on our swimsuits.

I love catching the quiet moments between siblings.  Ava will read to anyone who will listen!

I love watching Carter learn to cook!  Lately I've just been overseeing the process, while he reads from the recipe, finds the ingredients and proper measuring utensils and I've eve let him do the actual cooking.  He has used the griddle to make pancakes, the oven to bake a cake for his cousin and the stove to boil water for macaroni and cheese.

I love spending time in the sun!  The kids turned their rafts into a very comfortable lunch spot.

I even love this very grumpy face.  He was not happy that he couldn't go to twilight camp right NOW!  Unfortunately, twilight camp doesn't start for another five hours.  He is loving camp with archery, bebe guns, obstacle courses, soccer games, paracord bracelet crafts, and so much more!

I love watching the play schemes they come up with.  On this particular day we had a shoe store set up, then a bike wash, and finally they got all the muddy boots out and washed them too!  Thanks guys, that was really helpful!

I love corn beards, and my messy little eater too!

As an aside, Carter had his expander placed today.  He has surprised me because other than a little funny speech he is doing great!  No complaints of pain or discomfort, and he has brushed his teeth after every meal (I think he's just excited by his new tools).    

Zoo Day!

Today we went to the zoo!  It's funny because Carter, Mr. almost 8 year old, was less than enthusiastic about going to the zoo.  He used to love it! and today he was kind of meh.  But Ava and Dawson made up for his lack of enthusiasm.

It's funny because there are spots we always take pictures at, and the kids rush to the penguins every time and ask for a picture.  I guess it is appropriate because Carter's favorite animal is always the penguins.

It always surprises me, but they really love to watch the ducks and swans swimming around.  I usually blow right past them, but today we stayed and lingered.  

Ava through the aquarium glass, and a sliver of Carter's head too

This was an exhibit demonstrating a nest made by a monkey.  Carter ran up to it and said "yup, Danny and I could make this."

There is a new rope ladder for kids to climb

Today was the first time they were all allowed to ride the train without me.  Although Dawson's train obsession has waned, he still was very excited about riding the train.  He began begging to go on the train as soon as we set foot in the zoo (unfortunately for us, it's in the back of the zoo.)

Another must have zoo picture, Ava always likes to cuddle the baby bear at the foot of the statue.  Even if it is made of wood.

Another Ava favorite:  feeding the goats.  She finds the littlest one and feeds it all her food.

The flamingos were very active today!  It was funny to watch them flapping around in the water.

Dawson loved the hyacinth macaws.  He giggled and giggled at their squawks and squeaks. 

Thank you so much Meme for the ice cream money!  We made sure to make a quick stop on the way home from the zoo for birthday cake (Ava and Dawson) and cotton candy (Carter.)  

Heard around the House and a Relapse

Last night as I was freshening up his mohawk Dawson and I had this conversation:

Dawson:  Do rock stars give themselves mohawks before they go rock?

Me:  I guess they can

Dawson:  maybe they just go to a haircut place

Me: or maybe their mommies do it for them

Dawson:  No, rock stars don't have mommies

I just had to laugh and then explain to him that all human beings have Mommies.

And as you can see we've had a relapse.  He no longer cares about bribery and prefers to sleep on our floor every night.  Oh well, at least he hasn't wandered around the house.  Mom said that a certain sibling of mine slept on her floor until high school, so we only have about ten more years to go!

Love you little guy!  

Fishing with the Scouts

Just some pictures from the Cub Scouts Fishing Outing.

This kid did not care that it was raining a cold icy rain.  He was dedicated to being patient and catching a fish.

The pack supplied worms and tortillas for bait, and Dawson was dedicated to eating the tortillas.

Carter's first fish that he caught by himself!  If you squint, you will be able to see it.

Ava really wanted to catch a fish with the orange net, but alas they were a little too elusive.  

A fun evening spending time with my family!

Chuck E. Cheese - Thanks Summer Reading Program!

 We've been participating in our summer reading program.  Every five days that they read, they get a new coupon.  So far we've enjoyed a frosty from Wendy's and kid's meals from Chipotle.  But these three were most excited about the Chuck E. Cheese coupon!

Reason 546 that Carter loves Chuck E. Cheese: they have Gatorade as a fountain drink, a very rare treat.

Dawson loved playing in the laser room.  They had to sneak over and under laser beams to push flashing buttons without getting caught.

He just seems like such a big kid when we go there.  He no longer needs my help to explain games or figure out how they work.  I rarely saw him the entire time we were there!

I just had to giggle because once again when Ava went to play ski ball she tried to throw it overhand.  She has done this on more than one occasion, so I demonstrated how to roll it.  This girl really wants to use her softball arm!

A fun afternoon with these guys!  Can it just stay July forever?!? 

Summer Fun

Pictures of just some of our summer fun!

Poor Shadow.  I just had to laugh because Ava wrote this sign and stuck it on her while she was sleeping.  Boy, we need to work on those reversals!

When Meme visited she told the kids how we used to sit in the garage and watch thunderstorms.  Sure enough for the next thunderstorm they remembered, so we camped out in the back of the van to watch the storm.  I was sitting in a lawn chair next to the van, and as soon as the thunder got too loud they ended up sitting in my lap or standing close to me.  

We also went ice skating!  It feels so weird to bundle up in pants and sweat shirts when it is 80 degrees outside.  Dawson and Carter have been begging to go, and the ice rink has a really inexpensive lunch skate during the week.

Ava was skating really well without any help.  She didn't need to hang onto the wall at all.  We are still going to work on step, step glide.  Carter was racing around the rink, but the poor guy took a spill right onto his knee.  We've been making him feel better with ice and tylenol, and he enjoyed the extra Minecraft time.

I can't believe that the summer is half over already!  It makes me so sad to type that!

Refuge of Hope

After we had our successful lemonade sale we took our money down to Refuge of Hope.  I really wanted the kids to see where their money was going, and the director gave them a little bit of information about the homeless shelter.

It is Christian shelter (our church gave donations from VBS to them) and the only men's shelter in Stark County.

We had a big jar of coins sitting around the house that we also took to a coinstar and altogether we donated about $70.  Ava always impresses me with her generosity, as we were leaving to go to the shelter she ran up to her bedroom and got $7 out of her piggy bank to donate.

Afterwards we talked about it, and I think it made an impression on them.  The director mentioned that the dining room is always open to anyone, and is usually pretty full in the winter.  The kids were a little surprised by this.  They are already begging to do another lemonade stand to get more money to donate.  Love my little guys and I plan to do more of this in the future!  

Fun on the Fourth!

We spent the weekend at Meme and Bob Bob's House to celebrate the Fourth of July.  Here are all our pictures:

Thank you so much to the city of Sidney for turning their road into a construction zone.  The kids had a ball playing on gravel piles and looking at all the equipment.

Ava recently earned a new toy: a kid's camera.  She has had a ball with it.  Look at her taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.  I printed out some of her pictures, they are hilarious.  The camera will add graphics to pictures, and my favorite was a picture of Ava's head in a hot dog.

Daddy got some golfing time and we were able to enjoy the pool.  Popsicles for everyone!

The kids have such a great time.

I love my little swimmers.

Frozen deserts for everyone!  It always feels like you are on vacation!

The kids love the diving board, we spent a long time there.  You can tell Carter is starting to do different jumps, like a can opener.

Last year, even though she could swim, Ava would only go off the diving board with swimmies or a noodle.  This year she was jumping off and swimming to the side by herself.

Dawson even jumped off the diving board with no swimmies!  Although he usually jumped to parents or Brendan.

As you can imagine the kids were pretty wore out after a full day of swimming, but we did have time for sparklers.

Don't forget the s'mores!

Don't you love how Carter marked his seat?  He is still carrying his beloved bug out bag wherever he goes.

Thank you Mom and Dad for a wonderful weekend!