Family Fun Friday!

Yesterday we headed to the Arboretum to enjoy the beautiful weather we were having and take a much needed break from the house. Daddy declared a half day of work- enough was enough, so he came, too!! We ate a picnic lunch (during which we found a bird nest, which Daniel measured, and then upon closer look, also the tiniest dead baby birds- so sad) and had the best time all afternoon, and as seems to be the case lately, we were there longer than I thought we would be! The kids just loved all the climbing and water activities as usual. It all never gets old!

This picture reminded me of this picture when they were little (taken June 2012, about 4 years ago to the day actually)...how can my kids be this big and this leggy??!!

Father's Day Fun!

Father's Day was filled with home-made cards, breakfast at Grandma Cheryl's, Legos at Brickworld (so many Legos! So fun!), Lego building at home, and dinner with Grandma Mary Kay and Grandpa Larry at Portillo's complete with dessert there, too!

Happy Father's Day, Ben- the kids are super lucky you're their daddy!

Family Fun Saturday: Children's Museum!

We'd been meaning to get to the Children's Museum and finally grabbed a hot Saturday to go and enjoy the air-conditioned indoors there! We had a lot of fun and the kids were busy busy busy the whole time! We hadn't been since the museum was flooded over a year ago, resulting in much damage and much lengthy remodeling, so it was neat to check out how they redid it all. It was a really fun afternoon! We were there longer than I thought we would be, which I took as a good sign that everybody was having fun.

And since we were in town, we took the opportunity to head to Lou Malnati's for dinner. I was absolutely tickled that Daniel brought a book to read while we waited for our food!! It was such a sweet sight. We went to the bookstore next door after that and had a lot of fun looking at books, and treating the kids to some new books, too! Heck, if Daniel will read while waiting for food- I'll buy him any book he wants! Ice cream was our next stop- yumm!

So, it was an all around fun Saturday!!

Summer!

Soaking up summer! We've been keeping busy. I'll let the pics tell the stories!

Memorial Day Weekend kicked off our summer- the kids were officially out of school! Hooray! That Monday, Daniel finally put together a Tinker Crate Bottle Rocket and of course we went right over to the field to test it out! It worked so-so. We were less than impressed. It was still fun to try, and then of course we played frisbee and launched our stomp rocket, too!

That same day, it was pretty hot, and after baking in the sun at the field, we decided to get the sprinkler out and let the kids have at it! They had fun!

The city came and put marks in the street in front of our house, right at the base of our driveway, a long while back. We knew that meant they were going to tear up the street right there in front of our eyes and the boys (yes, both young and old!) were anxiously awaiting the day just so they could watch the trucks! That day finally came right after Memorial Day weekend and they came and went in a couple hours. We watched from the driveway and then from the safety of our garage during the HUGE downpour that started as they were finishing up. So many fun trucks to watch!

My friend Patricia sent me this timehop that same day and it was just too cute to pass up on sharing here! Look how little they all are! (Here they are now!) Oh my goodness.

Daniel took a one-week Science Camp through our school district and loved it! He did all sorts of cool experiments in different science fields. I know this because of the packets he'd bring home every day- thank goodness for those! Kept me in the loop! Annabel was keen to make the oobleck he'd done one day and she loved it!

Daniel made a spaghetti and marshmallow bridge one day and brought all the pieces home to show me. You can see he's got an envelope filled with pennies to test the bridge's strength. So fun!

Daniel's Science Camp Group Picture- can you find Daniel?? I just loved that they emailed us this picture after camp was over. It was such a fun, nice, relaxed, community-like camp- I loved it and Daniel said he would consider doing it again next summer. I think Annabel would enjoy it, too! It was just the perfect fit for us!

(Hint: Daniel is on the top of the slide on the left)

We have been having weekly play dates with some new friends from school. Manny was in Daniel's class, and like Daniel, he was new to their school, too. He and Daniel were close friends from early on, and I finally hooked up with Manny's family right before school got out, and we've been meeting at the park, doing drop off play dates (how am I at this point already??!! Annabel LOVES drop off play dates, as well you can imagine, with her rush to grow up!), and even meeting up at the water park all summer long. Manny has a sister, Abby, who just turned 6, is going into 1st grade, is a sweet doll of a girl, and she and Annabel have had the most fun together. It's been so nice to find a family with kids the same ages as mine, who live around the corner, and are all just the nicest people. We just all enjoy each other, kids and moms alike! Looking forward to more fun with these friends this summer!

My library art finally arrived a couple weeks ago! It's amazing!!!! I notice something new every time I look at it.

Grandma Mary Kay's sweet neighbors gave us this big bike for Annabel last summer. Thankfully, Grandma had room for it in her garage, so it stayed there. I actually thought it would be a couple years till Annabel would be ready for it. Annabel, of course, proved me wrong, and has been riding it all summer long. She's been begging for us to bring the big bike home so she can have it here. So we said goodbye to the Minnie Mouse bike she learned to ride two wheels on (well, not total goodbye- that's at Grandma's now, so she has something there for our weekly visits!) and switched with Grandma. Annabel LOVES having her big bike here now! She is one very proud little girl! (Daniel is still on training wheels and has no interest in getting them off...all in good time, though- whenever you are ready, buddy!)

Water balloon fun!

Annabel worked very hard at blowing up balloons for a while and she finally managed it! She was pretty stoked!

We went to visit Aunt Christina last weekend in preparation for taking care of her cats while they go to Iceland. They had this tray of little Legos that of course caught the kids' eyes and she was all oh they can play that game (Lego Dimensions) when we're gone. Umm- can. of. worms. opened!! Whoa baby were the kids excited!! Aunt Christina let them try it then and there, so they would know how to play it, and they had the most fun. It was so cute to watch them, because their bodies kept turning when they were trying to turn their guys, or Annabel kept walking forward when moving her guy forward. At one point, Daniel said "Annabel look behind you" (he meant in the game of course) and she totally turned around like she was doing in the game. It was hilarious to watch them! So, needless to say, the kids can't wait to take care of Aunt Christina's cats now! Daddy just has to come too now, because this isn't Mommy's thing!

You can see what I mean by how Annabel kept walking forward- you can see how close she is to the TV- we kept having her move back and then a minute later she'd be up there again. Too funny.

We had quite the game marathon the other day! So fun! Here's our game stash for that day!

I love watching the kids play Twister- it's a hoot! Annabel has excellent balance- it's impressive.