Lily's Birthday Celebration

Note to self: This is the way to do birthdays.

Since I'd dropped the ball on Lily's birthday, we had a day in early Aug that she could invite friends for a girls day.  She got to pick all that we did.  This really was one of my most favorite days of the summer.  I could focus on ONE thing: having fun with the girls.  It filled my tank.  They know how to have a good time.  There was so much laughter & joy!

Everyone is loaded in, we're ready to go!

 We had an agenda:

1. Splash Pad

 The girls spent a lot of time just sitting and being close to each other on this turtle.  They would take turns sitting in the front and touching the water spout.  Then a few minutes & they'd rotate.  Cute.

They played hard on the playground.  

Lily & Natalie were thrilled to do the monkey bars over and over.

 2. Chick-Fil-A

3. Nail Polish

 4. You guessed it, Sweet Frog!!

It was sweet to see how they stepped out of their natural bents to love and care for each other.  

Happy belated Birthday to our capable, determined, sweet, thoughtful, strong-willed, strong-bodied Lily Bug!  We love you so much and are so proud of you, so happy to have a front seat in seeing you grow and become....

River Week

At the end of July, we headed south for some river time.  First, we went to a family reunion.  

We'd done tie dye t-shirts that previous week so we debuted them at the river.

 The second and third cousins range in age from Ben to 18 (below).  It always surprises me how all of the ages blend and enjoy each other so much.  My first cousin's child, Logan, here also got the tie dye memo.  Oh, how Lily loves her and she is so sweet to Lily.

 My first cousin wins Ben over as he moves and pours bottle caps from one cup to another.

 Here is the spread of cousins that stayed til dark (a few others left earlier).  They played and played til we pried them off each other.  I enjoyed the chance for my kids to play with older kids.  Each year, it is such a fun day!!  This year the weather was warm, not hot, and breezy- it just felt like a perfect summer day.

 After that, we headed to the river house for the week.  Mike and Peter went sailing on Sunday with our friends, Aaron & William.  How fun is that?!

 The kids and I stayed on for the week while Mike went back to work :(.

On Monday, we took Paw with us to Busch Gardens.  Maw kept Ben! 

We zoomed through BG & had the best time. 

 It wasn't all kiddy rides- Paw & Peter did Mach Tower.

Paw then enjoyed some roller coaster while the kids and I moved through other parts of the park.

 Peter and I finished the day off with the LochNess Monster.

 The kids still enjoy these rides while their imaginations are still in full swing.

 It was special and unique to get this fun day with Paw!!

I'm pretty sure Benny and Maw had a good ole time too.

 Another day we boated over to an island nearby.  Ben (& all of my babies) have almost always slept on the boat.  They just can't hang with the sound of the motor and the rhythm of the waves and succumb to sleep!

 We arrived by boat to this restaurant for lunch.  How fun is that?!  This whole week just felt like childhood summer fun.

 There was another day of tubing.  My parents have this ski trainer, that the kids love.  They can sit down or stand up.  They rode once together but we thought was more safe to do separately.

I only have this one pic that doesn't adequately portray.... Lily is a beast on this thing.  She couldn't be tired out.  She only got stronger and braver and more daring.  I feel sure she will be ready to water ski next summer! 

Ben loved watching! 

Also in there was a day of fishing for Paw & Peter while Maw and I took Lily and Ben to the outlets. 

Mid-Summer

In mid-July, we did our usual VBS (at the church that isn't our home church) and then a week of a county camp.  We did both of these with several other families who are our closest friends.  So I loved the two weeks of childcare and knowing my kids were with friends.

  As they shared their excitement over the anticipation of cookies and lemonade, Mike shared his excitement that they may learn truths that matter for eternity.

  This year's theme was "Everest".  They had a great time and loved every minute of it.  It's always sweet to see them singing such great truths at the end of the week presentation.

Aren't they cute?!  Oh, the transformation over the years!

And a few pictures from home:

snuggles with these three

This kid LOVES, LOVES, LOVES some sensory hand play!  And what is most readily available at our house?  Cat food!  He loves the canned food, grabbing it and squeezing it and smearing it.  Good thing we have our old goodwill quality couch.  And good thing this mama has spent years appreciating the skill that this really is. 

He also loves the dry food and water bowl.  There are endless possibilities here of scooping, pouring and mixing.

Sitting like a big boy at the little table that is much too small for my big kids now.

 Goo has taught Ben the finger play song "Two Little Blackbirds".  We only do the first verse of the video (but now will have to try the others!) and we use "Peter and Paul, sitting on a wall".  Ben has picked up on it quickly and loves to show us his blackbirds.  Here he is only doing one pointer finger but can now do two.  It is beyond precious.  We all love seeing his little mind learn new things.

I also think that song is why he so often walks with his hands behind his back.

Appropriately, he reminds us of Old Mr Bunny in Benjamin Bunny.

I can't kiss him enough! 

 Library time!

 Water table time! 

 Our next door neighbors moved across the country. :(

We were so sad to see them go.

And we now have kids living next door- very similar ages to ours!  Woohoo!