Summer Days

We dove into swimming lessons and bible school last week. It was hot.  Cecily had a great time in the pool.  You can kind of see Emmy in the picture with Betty dipping her toes in and making footprints... then she fell in.  Ooops.  Hehe.   

Cadence was 'pushing' Emmy in the stroller.  She's starting to walk around holding on to things and taking a few steps on her own.

 Bible school went fairly well.  Christy and I had 12 fairly well behaved preschoolers.  It was kind of funny- one of them walked in the first night and asked when they got to do the craft.  Because that obviously is the most important part of the week.

 These two were troupers at the pool in the mornings.  It was rather hot and they were very patient.

 Have I mentioned it was hot and I didn't feel like being outside?  So I sewed in the cool basement instead.  I made myself a shirt from this fabric awhile ago and they wanted shirts too; of course I didn't have enough fabric, but I cobbled together some tank tops for them.

 They wanted to swim in their little pool and Cadence kept trying to drink out of the hose... and doused herself in cold water everytime.  Hehe.

Busy little bee.  She's fond of getting into laundry, it was awfully nice of me to leave it out for her.

Ah, bible school.  They made bird feeders for their craft, one night they made Samuel's "listening ears", and we had a sponge Naaman who washed his leprosy spots off in the soapy Jordan. So glad it's over.  

 I have a cookie!

 We spent Father's day at our house.  No plans.  Bob requested Halibut for supper, so after two grocery stores I finally found some.  The girls got fish sticks because halibut is expensive.  Ha.  It was a delightful quiet evening after a busy week.

Look at me!  I'm soooo big!

 Oh Cecily... she ran into a tree.  Now she has a "egg goose bump."

 Our dryer quit.  So we were using the clothesline and they were being very helpful... Or not.  

 We found a nest of baby bunnies in the playhouse.  Huzzah.  Cecily wanted to feed them, Emmy was afraid of them, and Cadence would have loved to squeeze them.  Bob took care of them, poor bunnies.

 Our second to last day of swimming lessons was cut short by a brief thundershower. When it keeps threatening rain we stay inside and build a fort.

 Last morning at the pool!  Emmy worked up enough courage to dip her feet in the water, and she ran up and down the grass hill.  I'm glad it's over for the summer, but it was fun to hang out at the pool with Betty and Sarah and the other moms.

 I wish this picture wasn't blurry.  It would be even more hilarious.

The dryer repair guy came on Thursday and got it fixed.  Hooray.  Do you ever feel like you're hemorrhaging money?  Between getting estimates to replace the shingles, fixing the van air conditioning, fixing the dryer, fixing the house air conditioning, I feel like we're just waving goodbye to our savings... haha.
 Take a picture of me in my new boat shoes!  (At the top of her lungs, of course.)

Chalk... Mario and a strawberry.

This is Mario and Luigi.  Not bad...

I made sausage and German potato salad for supper and this little missy was the only one who ate it without complaining.  *sigh*  Seriously, it's not like I forced them to eat sauerkraut (which I love).   If they don't like my grandma's amazing German potato salad, I have failed.

The girls got to play at Kenna's house on Friday, which they loved, and I got to run errands alone in Pekin.  It was delightful.
A lovely evening...

 Emmy happily playing with the hose, Cadence watching bemusedly from her swing.

 I bet you couldn't resist this little face either; even if it is almost bedtime.  She wanted to make oreos for her snack in her little oven. They were delicious.

 Sunday was the Sunday school picnic.  Life is good, Emmy Marjorie.

It was almost cold, which was amazing!  The girls had lots of fun at the playground, and their favorite part was "the pool full of pop and juice!"   

Blessings.

North or be eaten!

Or just North to Michigan.  Although, North! Or Be Eaten is an excellent book (part of the Wingfeather saga by Andrew Peterson) that I would highly recommend.

We went with my parents and siblings for a long weekend... if I'm completely honest I really wasn't all that excited about it... haha, sorry family.  It's been eight years since I've spent that much concentrated time with them, plus I have three little kids who require constant monitoring and vacations are neither vacations, nor all that fun.  I mean, one morning I got them all breakfasted, dressed, and hair combed just in time for them to decide they wanted to go swimming so we had to change to swimsuits, sunscreen, and life jackets.  It's exhausting.

Anyway, it was fine, and we had a nice time.  The weather was perfect.  I did not take many pictures due to the aforementioned children and the pool that was not fenced from the patio. 

Squishy mostly liked the pool when the sun wasn't too bright.

 Emmy like Jack's float better than he did.  Cecily spent one afternoon giving us all mermaid names.  We had "Seahorse Merboy," "Flower Merboy," "Waterspout Mermaid," "Whale mermaid," "Turtle mermaid," "Father King Mermaid," "Bubbles mermaid," ad nauseum, and I got to be "Stripes mermaid."  She's something else.

Emmy and Jack liked the trampoline.

Cecily was soooo excited to play Mario Kart with Grandpa, and Uncle Matt, and Uncle Nathan, and Aunt Lena.  Mostly because she wins all the time and she likes beating people.  

 Emmy and Jack played Mario Kart RPG style in the garage with strollers (and no pants.  Why, I don't know.)

 The drive home was hot.  Our van air conditioning has not been working well and it was not keeping up with 90 degrees and clear skies.  So miserable.  Thank goodness for cartoons, water bottles, and naps.  And ice cream when we got home.

It's hard to come home from being spoiled on vacation (and somebody was going through Mario withdrawal) so we got the bubbles out.

Bubble guns make everything better.

We went to the library for the first time in a while.  They had a special summer story time and Emmy is finally old enough to go.  They got to plant seeds in pots and decorate them; they were so excited.

She got all wet and dirty trying to eat dirt out of my flower pots so I stuck her in the turtle to rinse off.... apparently all that dirt and grass makes her thirsty.  

This past weekend was the long awaited Turkey Fest.  Thursday morning we walked up to the festivities down town.  They colored pictures for the coloring contest, ate lunch at the community center, got flavored ice things, free cookies, and balloons; pretty much it was the best thing ever.  Although, Emmy just sat in the stroller clutching her strawberry ice and smiled at it.  

Thursday evening is buddy night at the carnival.  Bob worked late every night last week (ugh) so guess who got to take them.  (Hint: the parent who despises carnivals, rides, and all manner of such insipid amusements.) The sacrifices I make for my children.  Anyway.  They were sooooo excited.  Emmy was a little bit unsure, and since I was also pushing Cadence in the stroller I couldn't help her get on a horse.  She ended up just sitting on this bench completely stone-faced the whole ride.  

The cars were a hit.

And the motorcycles...

And then they decided they both wanted to ride the dragon.  

It was a little bit more intense.  O poor little Emmy.  She was holding on for dear life and had this terrified expression on her face the whole time.  And it just kept going.... I could tell every time they came back around she was hoping they would stop.  

She said it was her favorite ride after she got off.... the next ride was much more her speed.

The very slow train that didn't go up or down.  Hehe.

Cadence was perfectly content as long as I kept handing her goldfish.  The big girls were enthralled by the ride that went upside down...

Another pink car, of course.

So a good time was had by most and we went home and made milkshakes to round off our fun filled day.
Friday we walked to the park and ate lunch.  They were mostly interested in playing on the playground.  Those older boys were playing on the slide and the younger kids were avoiding it.  Except Emmy, who is on the stairs in this picture after marching up there to tell them to get off the slide.  I really don't know where they get it from!

"Cecy, I told those boys to stop being funny!!"  

Then they had to stick their heads in the turkey.

She was making faces at the passersby.  

A show!  AKA a Photobooth to the rest of us.

So after splitting a strawberry shortcake and smoothie we walked home and thus ended our turkey fest adventures for the year.  

I got them a slightly bigger pool.  She was going to fill it up for me.

It was getting dark and not that hot, but they wanted suits on while we filled it with the hose.  It was freezing! Crazies.

They swam in the sunshine for a little bit the next day, and dried out with their lemonade on the porch.

The van is at the dealership waiting on a part to fix the air conditioning and some other issues. They gave us a loaner- a brand new Jeep.  It's super fancy and has a push button start and it's also super tiny.  The three girls are squished across the back and we look like a clown car getting them in and out. 

Saturday evening we went to cousins night at the 3T's.  Trent was not there and Emmy was very concerned.  "When is he coming home?"  Cadence and Adelaide mostly got along. 

They both took off across the lawn... who's watching them anyway?

Troy brought out his drone.  It was a beautiful night- and look at that view with that lovely farmstead off in the distance....

Little miss demolition expert eating Aunt Di's lavender. 

She appears to have an ornery streak.

Today was busy.  We went from swimming lessons to a science teacher meeting, ran some errands while we were in Peoria, got back home in time to meet an insurance adjuster (for the roof- we'll see what happens there), ate supper and went to bible school.  *Whew*  I'm teaching Cecily's class.  Only slightly begrudgingly.  Hehe.  We made it through the first night!  Woot woot!  
Blessings.