Randomness

So, I looked on my camera's memory card, and I have a lot I haven't shared.  Here is the catch-up post!

First up...bounce house birthday!  We went to our friends, Soren {4} and Kelton's {2} super hero, bounce house birthday party.

   The kids had a blast!  Nora was a little apprehensive about the bounce house at first.  I got in with her and held her while I jumped and after that, she was jumping with the big kids! Ethan is in orange in the top, left picture with an Iron Man mask on.
They also have some pretty cool hammocks in the back yard.  The kids thought they were swings...

Up next...bubble baths!
It's always a treat for the kids to take a bath in our big bathtub.  {It's takes too much water to fill up, to do it often!}

I know...we have cute kids :)!

Last up, playing outside.  We've been doing a lot of this lately.  A couple days ago, Ethan asked me if we could "open up a small circle in the rocks to see rollie pollies and bugs".  {How do I say no to such a cute request from a cute boy?!?}

See his tiny circle of dirt! How cute?!?

Oh, how I love this boy!

And this girl!!

Sweet, genuine smile :)

And, a real smile from Ethan too!

Nora at No. 9

My favorite kids...EVER!  {Just picture Ethan with the 'real' smile from above}

There you have it...now we are caught up!

Zoo Fun

We love to visit the zoo.  A couple weeks ago, we met some friends there.  I only took pictures in the petting zoo, but we saw the whole place.  Penguins are coming soon to our zoo, so I'll be sure to take some pictures of that!

Brennan and Ethan petting the goats

Excited about seeing some bunnies!

Nora loves the petting zoo! 

Museum Camp

A few weeks ago, Ethan went to a day camp at the Children's Museum.  It was Monday- Friday, 9am- noon.  He loved it!  It was called "In the Drivers Seat," so they learned about all kinds of transportation.  There were many guests that came to speak to them, including police officers, firemen and pilots.  They talked about water safety, bike safety and stranger danger.  And, came home with a billion pounds of paper and crafts!  But, again, he loved it all!  I didn't stay with him, so I don't have very many pictures (a couple are taken from the museum's facebook page).  We will definitely look into signing him up again next summer.  He was sad when camp was over.
He went with a friend, Brennan.

Brennan and Ethan ready for the first day!

Getting started

These next two photos are from the museum's Facebook page.

Silly faces...Ethan is in the right corner {not looking at the camera}

With the Firemen and firetruck {Ethan, in green on the left}

With his mounds of crafts and papers :)

Fireman hat and swimmer goggles!

MIA

Sorry for the blogging hiatus. I've been pretty lazy lately...and we haven't been doing too much out of the ordinary. Here is a bit of what we've been up to. (Sorry if you follow me on Instagram, you've seen all these before).

Cooking with some delicious, garden fresh veggies (compliments of my wonderful in-laws)!


Bean snapping helpers.


Climbing on houses...


Enjoying some beautiful pool time!


Going to the zoo with friends!





Playing in the park.


Riding bikes.


Getting some quality daddy time in.


Making cookies.


Hopefully I will snap out of my blog laziness soon. Have a great {almost} weekend!!

Visit from the Newly Weds

This weekend, Dustin and Amanda came up for a visit. Amanda coaches a softball team and they had an all weekend tournament in Mattoon. She made several trips back and forth, and I felt bad about how early she had to leave, but it was still a great weekend. The only pictures I took were on my phone.
They brought Ethan a pretty cool sticker Lego book. He loves it and has done most of the pages already. But he will still love looking at it. (Just looking in the Lego isle, is his highlight of any trip to Walmart or Target).


Nora loves her Aunt "Meana".




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Pool Party!!

Did I mention, we love our small group?!? Last Sunday we got together at one of the houses for a pool party. The Brooks family graciously opened up their {awesome} backyard which includes a pool. We didn't have everyone there, but there was a pool full! I forgot my camera, so phone pictures will have to do.
This girl is a fish! She loves the water...and her freedom.





So does this boy!! He has quite the belly flop technique!





This is the best we could get of all the kids. We were missing 3 kids from our group!


These crazy boys were splashing away!!


Nora's just relaxing a bit after a fun swim :)



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Dora!!

First, let me say, I love our small group! Some of us moms and kids got together last week and headed to Sullivan to The Little Theater on the Square for their performance of Dora the Explorer. This was my first experience at The Little Theater and we will be back! It was so cute and all the kids loved it. Even Nora (the destroyer) stayed interested the whole time.


Ethan and Brennan ready for the show!


Nora's ready too!


This is the best I could get after the show...


Afterwards, all the characters were out front for pictures and autographs, Ethan wanted no part of it!
But Nora and I could pose with the Pirate Piggy :).


This is the best we could get of the kids and we were missing a few. But I'll take what I can get!


It was a great time. And we even got a coupon for free ice cream at the local Mickey D's!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Water Day

Last week, our church was supposed to have its annual water day.  The kids love it and look forward to it all summer.  It rained.  Stormed, actually!  Ethan was pretty bummed about it being canceled, but our neighbors (who were planning to go to water day too), decided to have our own water day.  So, the next day, it was bright and sunny and hot.  They got out their slip-n-slide and the blow up pool, and I brought our hose with the crazy sprinkler over.  The kids had a blast, Nora included!!

A good day was had by all!

Photo Friday...Week 40

I know, I'm a bit behind on this series...hopefully I can get back on track :).
Nora has been working on her colors and this has been a favorite toy lately.

Playing with a favorite toy, with your child