The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home...

July seems to be flying by.  I always think we should be spending more time outside, and then it gets hot and I don't like heat so we don't.  

Unimpressed with my hollyhock doll creation.

 Cecily and Emmy caught a butterfly and then proceeded to adopt it, name it Crystal, and included it in all of the days activities.  It played in their room, it played with play dough, and then finally it got to watch cartoons with them for a while.  

 And then Daddy made her release it and she was heartbroken.  She drew a picture so she could always remember her butterfly friend.

 We spent Sunday evening at Bob's parent's house for the annual water fight. Water balloons, squirt guns, slip and slide, sparklers...   

 ... lets just give little kids burning sticks for fun! What could possibly go wrong?! She loved it, of course.

 I was trying to fold laundry and she stole one of my socks and one of Bob's socks and put them both on.

 The green beans are starting.  woot.  I don't like picking beans.  It's almost, but not quite as bad as walking beans.  Ugh.  Dewy, muddy, sweaty, miserable job.  And the added bonus of getting completely covered in aphid goo.  If you wore shorts, your legs would get cut up from the leaves; if you wore pants they would get wet from dew and aphids and mud and feel like they weighed 20 pounds.... and I never got paid...
I found the green beans!

 And I will pile them in the bathroom!?

 The sweet corn was ready so Shelly and I did a bunch together while Mom watched the kids.  

 Five little duckies swimming in a cow tank.  

 It works great (for me, anyway), Mom watches the kids, I make a mess in her kitchen.  

 And we take sweetcorn home for supper.

 Interesting combo of all-of-your-cute-clothes-are-packed-for-vacation and the bow she insisted on wearing like the big girls.  And a pacifier that she refused to use as an infant.  

 Saturday morning we loaded up and headed for Kentucky Lake for Wyss vacation.  The drive wasn't too bad until we hit the slowest moving torrential rainstorm ever.... and we pretty much drove the length of it.  No fun at all.  

 The girls had fun with Parker and Boden all week... although sharing silly putty during church was difficult...

 It was a rainy Sunday so we were playing on the porch.  Cadence was not content until she found a puddle to splash in. While it was still drizzling and thundering.

 Walking up to the main cabin for supper.

 The office kitty came to visit our cabin.  Meow! Meow!

I have the best uncles ever.  (Quasi uncles? First cousins once removed?) Cecily got to go fishing with Bob on Uncle Ron's boat... but there wasn't room for Emmy and she was sad.  Uncle Paul took one for the team and got her fixed up with a lure and fished with her off the dock.  My contribution to the process was keeping Cadence from falling off the dock.  Emmy didn't catch anything, but Cecily caught a small fish on the boat!

 Cecily decided that she wanted to go tubing with Cliff so Ron took us out one afternoon.  She was pretty excited.  Ron kept it pretty tame and she loved it!  When she got tired, I switched with her and Ron was not as nice to me.  Haha.  Totally bounced me off.  I hadn't been tubing for probably 15 years and now I remember why.... I'd rather knee board, or ski, you don't get so much water in your face!

 "It's my first time tubing!"

 We brought the Switch along and Cecily enjoyed playing Mario Kart with my cousins.  And winning.  Ha.  I realize I should not be encouraging her, but it is pretty funny to watch.  :P

 In a moment of boredom I designed t-shirts for them...

 haha. 

 We swam at least once every day.

 And played with Gideon and Jack and their tractors.

 Bob played complicated nerdy games.

 Milkshakes with Jack and poor sick little Gideon

 I like vacation....

 Cadence was more wary of the lake than she is of pools, which was kind of nice.  She went down the slide once when Scott caught her and kept her from going under.... and she went down it once with me and I couldn't keep her up above water; she was not happy and afraid to let go of me after that.    

 Mom brought 3 mowers and they were well used.  

 Cecily randomly decided she wanted a jet ski ride.  Surprising, but whatever, I'm always up for the jet ski.  She didn't like the bumps or when I went fast so.... we didn't stay out long.  Then Emmy didn't want to be left out so she went with Bob and Cliff.  She really didn't like the bumps or going fast either.  Haha.  But they both said they liked it.   

 Vacationing with kids can be... isolating... especially when they need naps and regular meals and bedtimes... it's hard not to feel a little left out sometimes.  Not that it's anyone's fault, it's just the way it is. So one afternoon when Cadence was sleeping and I needed to make a Walmart run I stopped at an antique store and visited my dream couch.   

 And bought this!  It was imported from England soooo....it's an actual English Arts and Crafts style plant stand/stool/table thingy! Haha. There's no maker's mark or anything so I highly doubt it's anything special, but I like it.  (English Arts and Crafts being the start of the Arts and Crafts movement in America, influencing Stickley and Green and Green, etc...) 

 Hanging out at the playground during the volleyball game.  I think they played twice and both games were ended by sudden rain showers...   Cecily and Boden were doing something with the dust... 

 Boden enjoyed our cabin too.  We had cartoons and snacks and toys.  

 And more Mario Kart.  

 Nathan brought some Exit games along and I played one while the girls were making tiaras.  We solved it in just over an hour, just in time for supper!  

 Most of the crowd had gone home by Friday evening.  It was hot, but Gideon had to get the mowing done.  hehe.

Then we packed up and brought our tired grouchy girls home Saturday morning.  

By Sunday Bob wasn't feeling well so I took the girls to church... I subbed in Emmy's Sunday school class with a bad cold. It went fairly well. Sarah was my helper and since she knows how to handle one of the more energetic boys it definitely made it go more smoothly.  Cadence got to come with me and she did pretty well too, she's at least quiet and didn't get into any wrestling matches.  :)    
Sunday evening Cecily had a fever.  Woot.  And today she threw up twice.  And the cold medicine that I took so I could sleep last night has made me feel off all day. And I'm just wondering which kid is next.... 
Can I go back to Kentucky now?
Blessings.   

Birthdays and Vacations and Fireworks, Oh My!

One of our accidental traditions is to get a birthday balloon at the grocery store for the girls.  But we forgot to get Emmy one this year... so they picked out two for Cadence's birthday.  Cadence got a nice, small, mermaid balloon.  Emmy picked out a rather ostentatious, sparkly mermaid.  It's as big as she is.  So they tucked her into bed for a nap. 

 Seriously, this thing will startle you if you meet it in a dark hallway.

 We were in Missouri on Cadence's birthday so we celebrated at home a few days early.  I went simple this time and used up some fondant from Emmy's cake to make a few animal figures for Cadence.  All of my church play-dough skills came in handy!  That and some instructions from online. Two meows, a puh-puh, and a quack quack- I added the pendant bunting because it looked cute.  

 She was pleased.  And wanted to play with them, so it went up high until Bob got home, poor kid.

 "Mom, take a picture of us!"

 In the afternoon I got a filling while the girls played at Kenna's house.  Then finally it was time to celebrate our almost 2 year old!  

 Silly girl didn't actually eat any cake, just chewed on the fondant animals.  Ick.  

 She had a rapt audience for presents.  One piece of paper at a time. Eventually it was a new umbrella.

 I think the Beutel kids have this toy and I was kind of at a loss for what to get her- we have one of almost everything it seems.  It was a hit with all three of them.

 Thursday after lunch we packed up all of our stuff and headed to Mark Twain Lake Missouri for the weekend.  We were the first ones at the resort so we had plenty of time to unpack and explore.  And say hello to the alpacas.  

 ...from a distance... hehe.

 We checked out the pool.  We had to try it out after we ate supper.  It was not a very hot evening so I was cold, but they all loved it.

 The rest of the family showed up and we all went to the beach in the morning.  

 Emmy is trying to fill up a pool in the sand, Cadence is watering weeds.

 Just chilling in our cabin.

 Painting while Cadence slept.

 Fighting over Grandma's lap and reading books.

 On Cadence's actual birthday we had cupcakes and candles.  That sad little face- Daddy wouldn't let her touch the flames!  

 She cheered up.  

 Jakey and Rachel gave her chapstick, which she loves.

 And new sunglasses! 

 And then we went swimming for the third time that day in the evening.  
Saturday was a really hot day.  They wanted to swim in the morning, so we did, but after lunch it was just too hot.  Instead they went to the game room and got ice cream at the office.

 I missed it since I was back with Cadence, who was sleeping.  

 Emmy: "I love Rachel.  (pause)  And I love you."

 And then it was time to pack up and come home.  Emmy especially was very sad, poor girl.  Loaded up and NOT ready to go home. 

I should have been only about a 3 hour drive home, buuuttt.... I made a poor lunch choice and we sat at a tiny A&W for over an hour.  We got there right behind a large group of kids (I gathered they were on a mission trip) and it took soooo long.  And it was crowded so the girls and I were waiting out in the heat on their patio tables.  Oh well.  We eventually got our food and we didn't have any need to get home so it wasn't the worst thing.  

Monday we did laundry and went to lake day briefly.  Cadence and Aliyah enjoyed the swings.

 They were pretty happy to be there.  Cecily was very hesitant about going to the "mossy lake" but the moss wasn't bad this time and she got to swim with Lynelle.

 They were all upset that they had to get dried off early to go to Cadence's doctor appointment.  She's healthy and does not like the Doctor.  It was hilarious.  
So between vacation and just plain not wanting to go out in the heat I have been ignoring the garden. Bob found some beans so I picked them in the humidit and the bugs after 7pm.  Ugh.  And there were some cucumbers hiding on the vine that were really fat.  

 I am not ready to start doing produce.  But I am ready for summer flowers!  

 We didn't do much on the fourth.  It was hot.  The girls and I went to Ron and Kary's for fireworks; Bob panzed on us.  Cadence thought it was great.  She made friends with Aunt Pearl and kept Grandma Lydiann supplied with glow bracelets. 

 Emmy was pretty pleased with her "July shirt" and glowing star headband.

 We brought lots of glow sticks.  Mom was kept busy getting everybody glow sticks. Jack got a red one.

 Poor Shelly had Cadence and Gideon on her lap for a while.  Cadence liked the fireworks... Gideon was not as impressed and did not want Cadence on his mommy's lap.  

 We had root beer floats while we waited for the traffic to die down.  Cadence stole mine, then she stole my cookie. 

 Cecily spent the evening playing on the play set, watching fireworks briefly, then back to the play set.  She made a new friend, but she wasn't sure what her name was.  Haha. Social bug.

It was late so I had them put their pajamas on before we left and we looked for fireworks out the windows on the drive home. 
Blessings.