Swimming!

I officially now have three swimmers on my hands!  :-)

Not all completely independent...
I tried to edit this so nothing private showed...
but it is too funny and cute to not share!

[editing didn't work...i will try it again and update post when I can!]

So...we take him swimming and he loves it!

He crawls in...and keeps going!

Is it bravery? ignorance? adventurous spirit?

Not so brave here, but she is overcoming obstacles everyday!

I am so proud of her!!!

Too much fun...

Happy birthday!!

Gramma Mae turned 95 so we celebrated...

of course!  :-)

She loves having this kids around,

she LOVES babies too!

Liam lets her hold and tickle him...

And it's also fun to hang with cousins!

Gabby and Sadie are two peas in a pod!

I'm keeping this photo for when they are 16 

and driving away in their own cars!

I told Gabby I wanted to see her teeth...

I laughed (Sadie...)!  Goof ball!

P.S. A day or two after this party Gramma Mae went to live in a nursing home.

She's been sick, has fallen, and is not safe on her own so many hours of the day.

We will be sure to visit as often as possible.

Camping with...

Grampa!

And gramma was there too--

We drove down to the Dells for one night and had some fun:

I didn't take a lot of pictures, but we rode bikes,

swam, had a fire, played on the playground,

played on the big jumping pillow, 

played minigolf...

and of course...some good food was had too!

Thanks for inviting us!

Wish you were closer!

Back to school!

I better catch up!...and keep up!

Yikes!

This little girl starts pre-school tomorrow!

She is so ready!  I am so ready!!!!!

I smile.

My little princess, my little reader, my little sweetie pie who is so capable and independent!

Yep, this is the same one...watch out world!  Here she comes!

And this one...STARTED SECOND GRADE! 

He only let me take pictures at home.

When we got to the bus, he told me not to get out of the car.

And definitely no pictures at the bus stop!

:-)

And, same story, this year is way better than last year!

"Second grade is much better than First grade!"

And each day has gotten better!

His teacher asked me for information to help her get to know Owen.

I can't help but tell her how sensitive and nurturing he is.

According to the world, he may seem weak, but I think he is quite strong.

He takes his responsibility as big brother seriously,

and never complains when I ask for help with Liam.

So, when it comes to football, am I surprised that he may not be the toughest kid?

#3 by Coach Dad...He loves football, but we may need to train him to be QB...

Furthest to the left...he's running in the right direction...

he knows strategy...

Sigh...he loves it and we've got time.

:-)

more...

Liam was up on all fours by 51/2 months and 

was crawling before we left for Family camp at 61/2 months.

The kids love watching him grow and develop!

Liam looks at Roger like he is the greatest person ever

and Roger just eats it up!

Roger just has to cough in another room

and Liam gets distracted from what he's supposed to be doing

(usually eating...)

and looks for him...

The cracks Roger up!

And makes me smile too.

We did a week of VBS with the LuLu girls...

They too ate up his smiles.

Owen had his end of the "season" baseball tournament.

So fun!

I got a kick out of his catcher's stance...

you can tell he hates it when his turn is up to try on the gear!

But he'll deal and go along with it.

This summer Liam also was so intrigued watching us eat.

I'd give him something to chew and he can pick things up...

so, we started big boy food!

He's not the best at it yet, but it's a start!

So much to see!

So much to hear!

So much to experience!

So much to take in!

He amazes me everyday in all he does,

all he wants to do,

and all he learns...each day!

Summer began...

I normally have a tough time adjusting to summer

because our schedule totally changes.

I'm used to school routine and 

the kids are used to structure.

The thing to love about summer is 

the freedom to not be structured...

But that does not work so well with Owen.

Since he was one we have struggled 

through our first few weeks of summer.

If you look back at other summer posts,

I talk about wanting to be good at staying home,

but it is a tough adjustment and I can't be something I'm not.

I have to give myself a break...and have some fun!

This year we didn't have that trouble until this past week--

the second week of July!

Why?

Well, June was full of activity and we were so busy 

doing or planning the next big thing!

Owen was driving me nuts saying 

he wanted to have a lemonade stand...

I was trying to get a baby on schedule,

it was hot,

we didn't have any lemonade...

ugh!

So, I told him he had to do all the work...

He dragged a table to the end of the driveway,

set up a chair, made a sign...

At that point I felt bad.  

I baked some cookies for him to sell

and found some freezies to put in a cooler.

I'm proud...

The next day he convinced Gabby to join him...

I'm guessing they made a deal:

I'll play what you want if you do what I want...

Hence,...

Owen had to play "babies" with Gabby one afternoon!

I smile.

Now that's companionship!

Liam once again is asked to go along for the ride:

soccer practice, games, playground fun, etc...

He's such a good sport!

I have a feeling he'll be my comedian!

We were watching the cutest soccer player ever!

Well...she doesn't really play.

She just follows the pack and watches the ball go by.

But she sure enjoys the Popsicle at the end!

Last days of FL vacation!

There were problems with this upload from my phone 

so I had to wait til I could edit here...

Here are the last of the Florida pics!

We made sure to have a good breakfast our last day there 

because we were headed to the beach!

Now this was not my idea...too much work

all by myself...Owen suggested it and I knew the boys would love it.

So...

we loaded up, headed out, and had a blast!

We often make our children do things that don't sound like fun,

but perhaps they do the same to us.

And in the end...it's worth it!

Owen made a friend immediately and had quite the adventure.

Liam crawled around on the blanket

under the umbrella while I relaxed.

But his favorite was the water and waves!

He'd pat the water and put his hands in his mouth.

Salty! And he liked it!

He fell asleep while I was holding him in the water;

must have been the motion and sound of waves.

It also must have been the reflection of the water

that caused his face to turn pink!

My poor little guy!

But the next day the pink-ness had mostly subsided

and we were off for Wisconsin!

Once again my little travelers did better than I did

and Owen had to remind me to relax and stop stressing.

We made our connection (barely) and got back in good time.

A bit more fun...

We've had quite a bit of fun with the neighbors. Especially Owen, he's befriended the little girl next door. Her name is Eleanor and she's only 3 1/2, but she has a personality that is as large as life! They've invited him over to swim a couple times and she's come over to bug hunt and frog hunt with him too.

Yesterday we all took a swim!

Even Liam! He loves the salt water and he licks it off his fingers.

Matt enjoyed watching Lori relax. And he did a commentary...

When we headed back home, matt and Lori took Owen out on the pond in the boat. Owen wanted to row…

We feel so lucky to be able to spend so much time here! A beautiful home, beautiful people, and wonderful times had together! I can't wait to visit again...and we haven't gone home yet. The boys and I might attempt a trip to the beach tomorrow! Wish us luck!

Disney day!

The day was vey sunny...and HOT! So...we were sure to do the things we came to do:

MAGIC KINGDOM--

A new hat!

The castle!

A parade!

Seeing characters!

Dumbo...but, what kind of mother am I? Owen didn't even know who dumbo was! :-) the ride was great because the wait included a sitting area and playground (inside! With air!) until it was your turn! Loved it. And then...the barnstormer: the biggest roller coaster Owens been on!

We rode a train!

Had ice cream!

And tried to cool off...

We were then ready to get back to the pool at the hotel, play in the arcade, play on the playground, and bury Owen--boys! :-)

Liam and lori were ready for bed by 7:30...

Owen and I stayed up a bit together, reading and talking to gramma...
A great day...not too much, not too little...how do people do Disney for a whole week???? :-)