TOTALLY TURTLES
Jacob went to a camp this morning called "Totally Turtles". It was held out at Hartman Reserve in Cedar Falls. He said that they went on a LONG hike to a pond where they looked for turtles. They didn't find any, but had brought one along to release back into the wild (which he thought was way cool). He said after the hike they had turtle shaped cookies & gatorade, made a turtle craft, played turtle, turtle, tortoise (duck, duck, goose) and learned A LOT about turtles. A fun morning for him & his buddies. Next week, he goes to "Frogs & Toads; A Warty Good Time"

His friends are left to right: Jakob C., Carter N., Brock, Jacob G., Carter B., Hudson & Luke.

MORE FAMILY VISITS!!

I love having family visit. There is just something fun about having company around. Today, Mandy, Ben & Mom came up for the day. They got to see both kids play t-ball and then we went to the waterpark. Mandy took the kids down tons of slides while Mom & I kept and eye on Ben in the baby pool. He ended up falling in love with one of the slides at the treehouse and of course he loved the Lazy River. I took him around the Lazy River while Mandy had Jake on the big slides and Ben decided he was NOT going to get out. He went limp on me and I had finally DRAG him out kicking & screaming. It was a RIOT (because he's my nephew, not my son). After a long day in the sun and water, we said our good-bye's until their next trip to Cedar Falls, which sounds like it will be for Allie's waterpark b-day party (along with Kim & Michael).

AUNT KIM'S VISIT

Kim left this afternoon. We had a great time at the waterpark and shopping. Last night we went to kid's night at Texas Roadhouse. The kids got their faces painted and got to meet the Texas Roadhouse armadillo. Both thought that was really cool. Today, t-ball was rained out, so they were disappointed that Kim couldn't see their games. However, they each got to pick out a new toy from Kim while we were shopping and they've been playing with them ever since she left!




On Thursday we welcome Mandy, Ben & Nana. We're watching t-ball games and going to the waterpark. So far the weather looks good for their visit!

WATERPARK WITH AUNT KIM

It was supposed to be a HOT and HUMID day today...a perfect day to lounge at the waterpark ALL day long. It wasn't HOT or HUMID...rather slightly cold! We still had a great time. Kim was the biggest kid of them all going from slide to slide and then freezing in between!! A fun day was had by all and we managed to get down the majority of the slides...tomorrow after t-ball we are shopping!

More pictures tomorrow night when I have more time!

COMPANY

It is going to be another busy week here. Tomorrow morning, Kim is driving up. We'll spend the day at the waterpark and the weather looks as though it will cooperate. On Tuesday morning, Kim is going to go see the kid's t-ball games, unless they are rained out, which is what the weather forecast shows. On Thursday, Mandy, Ben & Mom are driving up to see the kid's t-ball games. After the games, we are going to the waterpark. Hopefully this time it won't be too cold or rainy like the last time that Mandy & Ben were here.

We spent today running errands. We finally found headphones for Jake's Game Boy. Of course Game Boy makes certain headphones for their stuff...unlike Allie's Leapster, which just takes any old set of headphones.

Scott is waiting for it to cool down a little so that he can mow...the kids are actually playing nicely...I wonder what they are up to????

I added another old picture of the kids from Allie's b-day in '04. Hard to believe that Jake was 4 1/2 and Allie was just 3!!

JAKE IS GETTING SOOOOO OLD

I realized on Thursday that Jake is really starting to seem old. I took him and 4 friends to t-ball (we carpool) and the boys were watching the movie High School Musical on the DVD player. They all started singing along to one of the songs. After it was over, they started talking about Troy, the cool guy in the movie and how they liked him the best. They then starting singing that old song from my childhood "Jake & Julia up in a tree...K-I-S-S-I-N-G..." Then they would laugh & laugh and move onto the next friend.

Today, I again realized that Jake is getting older. He and Brock went down the Kiwi Coaster slide at the waterpark. You have to be 48 inches tall to go down it and they are tall enough (which means he can ride ALL of the slides with no parents). He had so much fun hanging out with his friend and not having his mom in line with him...time has just flown by!

SPA DAY

Jake & Scott spent the afternoon on the golf course where they decided that Jake better go back to golfing left-handed. Every year since he started golfing, which was when he was still in diapers, he switches back & forth between right & left handed clubs. We now have 2 sets of right & 1 set of left handed clubs and ALL are too small for Jake! Anyway, he is hitting much better with the left handed clubs despite their size.

Allie and I couldn't decide what to do while the boys were away. We contemplated basking in the sun at the waterpark or shopping 'til we dropped at the mall. Then Allie decided that pedicures and eye pads were the answer. So, we soaked our feet, painted our toes and I massaged her little tootsies with foot creme. She was in heaven & we had a great time.

HOMERUN

Jake had 2 home runs yesterday at t-ball. The first one was hit over the shortstops head and into outfield. He ran as fast as he could and made it around all of the bases. Once in the dugout, he gave me a "thumbs up". The second home run was a grounder between first & second base. Since Kindergarten boys don't field the ball well, it was a homerun. He was SO proud of himself.

Allie got 2 base hits at t-ball yesterday. She got out at 2nd both times because she waited too long to run after the batter hit. She hasn't quite got the concept of running to the next base down. When she was in the outfield, I noticed that she had her glove on the wrong hand...she must watch Jake closer than I thought since he is left-handed!

Next week looks to be busy again. T-ball, family visiting and of course the waterpark!!

TOOOO MUCH 4th of July!!!



I forgot to post these pictures of the kids taken on the way home from fireworks. The place that we watched fireworks from was only about 1-2 miles from home. They both crashed on the car ride home! Jake slept until shortly after 9:00 this morning & Allie slept until about 8:15 which is late for both of my kids.

FOURTH OF JULY

The kids and I made a flying trip to visit my family over the 4th. We left on Monday morning and returned home on Tuesday afternoon. We went shopping, golfing, had a waterfight, saw 2 parades, visited lots of family, grilled out, did sparklers and so on. Last night we joined our friends for the fireworks and they were great. Here are some of my favorite pics from the past couple of days. There are also more with descriptions at the bottom of this post. Off to the store then the waterpark...GO, GO, GO...

SPARKLERS, SNAKES & FIREWORKS

We made it home in time to grill out with Scott and head over to Sophie's to let the kids do sparklers, snakes & watch fireworks. Lots of fun!!

BEN, JAKE & ALLIE

Here are a couple of pictures of the 3 kids together over the past 2 days.

GODFATHERS

We met up with Scott's sister Tracy & her family at Godfather's on Monday. We ended up spending about 2 hours there. The kids were SO good and just played with the video games and talked to each other. Rob's family lives near my family & sometimes it works out that we can see each other. We hadn't seen them since December, so it was great that we were both in the same area at the same time!

WATERFIGHT

In preparation for the "interactive parade" that goes on in my hometown, we filled about 200 water balloons & 3 Super Soaker Squirt guns. Michael, Mom, Dad & the kids went to the street with the supplies and a garden hose. Allie protected herself with a garbage can lid and the rest used dad's old truck for protection. Once the parade started, a GIANT waterfight began. Everyone that opted to be off of the front porch was SOAKED. The kids LOVED every minute of the waterfight & Jake insists that next WILL be spent seeing that parade!

FIREWORKS

We went and saw our first batch of fireworks this season. The kids loved them for the most part. Both were really tired from a long, hot day at the waterpark. Jake started to fall asleep during the show. Allie slept on the way over and the way home. Good thing that the show only lasted about 20 minutes!!
The kids are really ready to do sparklers. I promised them we'd get those out on BOTH Monday night & Tuesday night. That was good enough for them!


No big plans for tomorrow while Scott's home. Maybe we'll get few things done around the house and grill out???

PAST FEW DAYS

It has been a slower week here compared the first several weeks of summer that is. We pretty much just went to the waterpark & t-ball. It was nice! The chaos starts again next week!

Tonight we are heading out to see some fireworks after grilling out with Scott. The kids are pretty excited. They also are looking forward to celebrating the 4th...spending time with family & friends, grilling out, seeing parades and fireworks are on the agenda.

Here are a couple of picture of Jake, Allie, Brock & Abbie at the waterpark the other day. The dorks ended up in the same swimming suits!