Butterfly House

Today we took Riley to the Butterfly Farm for a little adventure.  The kids really do have fun here, there are hiking trails, a log playground, a learning greenhouse with stream table and a spiderweb playground.

Dawson has a high level of frustration and for the first ten minutes he was walking around crying "the butterflies hate me!!!"  He eventually got the knack for being gentle and moving slowly and he was able to hold a couple.

Get back here Butterfly!!

Ava was our little butterfly whisperer.

This butterfly hung out in her hair for at least ten minutes.  I had to get it off her hair so we could leave, and it wanted to stay on her hair!  After three attempts it finally flew away.

Carter also had a great time with the butterflies.

He cracks me up because he needed to bring his entire bug out pack with first aid kit, ten foot camo tarp, deer whistle, deer antlers and who knows what else!  I told him he could bring it, but he had to carry it the entire time.  And sure enough he did!

Riley girl had a great time rubbing sugar water all over her arms so that they would land on her.

We love having Riley at Summer camp!

Cousin Fun and More!

We have had such a fun time with Riley so far!  She is such a genuinely happy and sweet girl and really helpful.

We had a girl's ice cream date, check out the size of that cup!!

A camo tarp from Home Depot has been one of Carter's favorite items lately.  We made one awesome fort in the playroom that could fit six kids in it!

We also used it to make a bed fort for everyone.  Riley, Carter and Ava are on the floor and Dawson is in his bed.

We have also begun the process for Carter's expanders.  He really likes to visit the office because they have free video games to play.  As you can see Dawson likes it too.

I am really enjoying these lazy summer mornings.  The kids are sleeping in, we don't have to rush out the door.  It's nice to have a quiet hour almost every morning.  I love snuggling the first one up every morning, and it's usually Dawson.  We have decided to save our TV time for the afternoons and books and board games have filled that void perfectly.  We've been so spoiled with this quiet time.  

Fantastic Festival Fun!

Over the weekend we went to the Community Festival.  It was quite the memorable event because the kids really ventured out of their comfort zone and rode a lot of the bigger, faster and scarier rides.

Daddy also ventured onto the scarier rides, like the Ferris wheel.  But seriously, thank you Mike for taking one for the team.  My motion sickness rears its ugly head during long van rides, so I can't imagine how I would react to some of those rides.

He took Riley on the drop zone.  Later on, Ava rode this ride!!  She was so brave, and Dawson was really sad that he was too short.

But he did get to ride on the Ferris Wheel with Daddy.

Merry Go Round with the Girls

Carter and Ava both really enjoyed the Festival.

Here is the picture of Ava on the drop zone.  She said she liked being up high and going so fast.

Dawson really loved the rides, the faster and scarier, the better.  Of course, this shocked no one.

But he enjoyed the smaller rides too.

Initially Carter was a little hesitant to try anything too scary, but he did enjoy this superman ride.  I was surprised because it went pretty high up in the air.

Ferris Wheel Selfie

Thankfully the rain held off until later, but it was pouring a cold rain during fireworks.  We watched for a little while from the car, and then left.  This crazy weather, we kept laughing that it felt like October instead of June.  A fun night enjoyed with family and friends!

Lemonade and Sea Shell Stand

The kids have been really interested in doing a Lemonade and Sea Shell stand.  I encouraged them to donate the money to Refuge of Hope.

It's funny we were all still in our shirts from VBS that morning.  I have to say Carter was the very dedicated and he spent most of the time manning the table and yelling at every passing car.  

Dawson made sure to sample the lemonade.  Wouldn't want to sell bad lemonade!

Neighbors kids dropped off a bird that repeats everything you say for them to use as a "mascot."  I was cracking up because Dawson was getting in a fight with the bird because it kept calling him dumb.  Only this kid.

Can you believe these kids turned a two dollar container of Lemonade into $42!!!!  Hooray!!  It took us about three hours, but they were having so much fun they didn't want to come back in.  I think we lucked out with a prime lemonade stand location.

VBS Fun and Memories!

This year was a special year at VBS because we were joined by Meme and Riley.  I taught the four year old class with Dawson (Rosaries), Ava and Meme were together with the kindergartners (Stars), Carter was an angel and Riley was in the fourth and fifth grade class (scrolls).  The theme was Jesus was a little child, a little child like me.  

I was so grateful that Meme was able to stay with Ava.  She felt so much better having a family member with her.

I had a blast with this little four year old and the other preschoolers.  One of my favorite memories is having a wet sponge battle with him and another little boy.  He was the wettest kiddo!

Dawson playing with the dreidel rocks.  We played the dreidel game because as a Jewish child, Jesus might have played with a dreidel.

I'm so mad because on the last day at the concert I intended to take a few pictures, but I left my phone at home.  I was so happy that Riley seemed to have a great time with the group of kids.  Carter adored playing the dreidel game and asked me at home over and over to play with him.  It was nice watching Ava spending time with her Meme at church.  It was fun watching Dawson in a classroom setting and I always enjoy my brief return to the teaching profession.  And again,  Little Miss Ava left Vacation Bible School with tears in her eyes because she didn't want it to be over. 

Our Avaroo Lately

The face of a tired, exhausted little one

This past weekend we ran the kids hard: the stayed up until 10:30 or 11 each night and walked for hours at the Air Force Museum.  By the time Sunday came and we were at the Air Show, Ava was done.  But I have to say, her pouty face was still pretty adorable.

Her vocabulary is just exploding and it is so funny to listen to!  Recently Shadow was whining and Ava told us "the dog is weeping."  Also, Ava was describing an activity we had just come from (I forget the activity now) and told me "I was astonished that......."

What a smart little cookie!

She is in heaven right now because big cousin Riley is visiting.  She adores Riley, and I know it's going to be hard when she leaves!

Air Show Fun!

I was so happy that the weather finally cleared and we were able to go to the Air Show on Sunday, Mike really wanted to do this for his birthday.  We didn't get there until around one, but it was plenty of time for the kids.

Daddy snuggled Dawson in his lap to watch part of the show.

Ava and Carter checked out the helicopters together.

Pilot Ava

Checking out the insides of large cargo planes.

Another fun fact: Brendan is as tall as Mike now.

Carter did push ups to get himself an army lanyard.  Then he came back and did more for his sister who claimed she couldn't do a push up (I think she was scared/intimidated.)  What a nice big brother!

Cuddling on our blanket

Dawson and Carter were pretty interested in watching the show.  Although Dawson did spend a lot of time playing with the warm tar in the cracks on the concrete.

While Ava decided that oral hygiene was more important than the planes.  Yes, that is floss hanging out of her mouth.

But the air show must have made an impact on her because when we left she couldn't decide whether she wanted to be an art teacher or join the Navy.

A fun day together!