Random pics

Challenge: Can you find the 19 videos that were added to previous posts tonight?

We rewatched "Finding Nemo" before going to see "Finding Dory" in the theater. Owen noticed that if you flip the movie upside-down, it's awfully close to looking like "Owen!"

Sometimes you've just gotta sit on a porch swing with a good book:

"Sharing" iPad time:

Mama's summer project:

We've had fun getting together with a few friends this summer:

We've enjoyed completing fun activities on the library's summer reading BINGO board. The kids got a prize for their 1st and 2nd BINGO and are currently working on their "black out." One activity was to draw and write about their favorite part of a book. Willow chose to write about the BFG, which we read together before watching the movie in the theaters. We both loved it!!

Owen enjoyed writing about Star Wars, of course:

Week in PA

 We enjoyed our biannual week in PA visiting Gramps and Gramma. The kids did great on the ride up and back - truly getting easier every time. There were some fun 4th of July events in town, so we enjoyed seeing Clydesdale horses, the town parade, and fireworks from the church. Some family and friends came over for a cookout on Monday and we got to spend some time with the Shannon family. It took a while for our kiddos to warm up to their girls, but they eventually did, as always. Chris had to do a couple days of work while we were there so the kids got to see the BFG movie again (they were not opposed!!), play in the basement, play outside, have a tea party, go to the park, pool, etc. We enjoyed canoeing down a 7 mile stretch of the Allegheny River. It was calm water, perfect weather, and the kids had good attitudes the whole time! Woohoo!! Hopefully there will be more canoeing in our future! (Pictures below are not in chronological order)

We did see some wildlife. Here are some ducks:

We also saw a bald eagle:

Can you see it? Neither can I. But it really was there!!

The kids each gave paddling a try:

7 miles of river in 2 hours, with dry bodies and smiles at the end!

Looks like a perfect spot for a teaparty??

Ice cream treats to help us through the last couple hours of the drive (I promise Owen had ice cream too!):

Enthralled with their new Lego set upon arrival:

The Clydesdales were HUGE and very well cared for! We got to watch them unhook all the horses and put them in the trailers. They have a well-run system!!

Willow had fun staying up for her first fireworks show (starting at 10pm!!!). She had fun running around in the field with some other kids until it got dark:

Owen was pretty sensitive to loud horns/noises at the parade and spent most of the time like this:

The kids lucked out with quite a bit of candy. This shows the difference in how Mama (and most people) eat a lollipop vs. Owen, who chomped his way through the whole thing. Mine sure lasted a lot longer though!!

It will be fun to watch these two play together more as they get older. Logan has grown up so much even since we saw him last at Christmas!

Willow was pretty determined (as you can see on her face!!) to climb to the top bar of the canopy that Gramps and Gramma set out for when friends come over. We worked soooo hard for a solid 20 minutes before figuring it out. 

Owen didn't want to feel left out:

We could tell Owen had gone to the bathroom (haha!):

Jumping over Gramma turned into a fun pool activity (even for a random girl who joined in!!):

Time for a break:

 We kids loved throwing darts at the target! Here they are in action.

The kids have always loved playing on the typewriter when we visit Aunt Linnie at the hospital:

He fell asleep in the last 10 minutes of the ride:

Alli made out ok being family-less for a week. Her only casualty seemed to be a broken claw in the carpet (that'll teach her...right??).