I've been practicing my brush lettering this summer (this one is traced):
Willow tried it out too!
Both kids had eye appointments (we don't want any surprises with Owen!!) and Willow needed a new pair of glasses. We love her choice!
Grandpa came up to watch the kids so I could drive Chris to a few of his appointments. Nana was watching Kim's kids. I'm not sure which is more relaxing for them...full time teaching or "retirement" kid watching! ;)
Grandpa and I took the kids to the "Peter Pan" park to get hot then to the fountains to cool off. Check out their trick with their water bottle.
We met for Round Two of blueberry picking. It was a nice, cool morning!
We've lucked out BOTH times with super easy picking!
Our kids have really been interested in America Ninja Warrior. They made a ninja course in the play area and were even shouting for each other to "hit the buzzer!!"
It's such a beautiful farm!!
Hunter said, "Look at dis one Aunt Kwisten!"
We headed over to Chick-fil-a for Cow Appreciation Day. It's been a fun tradition to enjoy this as a family!
(Owen isn't a big fan of Chick-fil-a and became a bit hangry)
The kids have done great helping make one dinner per week!
Owen made this sign for Chris to have in the living room:
I always love when Willow joins the boys (though it's never for long):
The kids' school gives away free ice cream and books during the summer. We couldn't pass up the opportunity!!
The kids enjoy playing at an indoor playground at the mall. Knocking down the blocks at the end of the slide never gets old!
And they may never out grow these driving toys at the mall???
One of the prizes through the public library's summer reading program were free passes to the art museum. It had been a while since we'd been and the kids had fun!
This mom even feels like an artist when you tell me what to draw step-by-step!! ;)
Someone had drawn this AMAZING dinosaur on the white board!!
One of the exhibits was pop-up art. It was really cool!
This was at the 2nd exhibit. Watch your back Willow!!
Checking out the view from the 4th floor!
Willow has enjoyed bringing some of her own money to the store when we go. I guess she's tired of always being told "no" ;)
We had fun at the local public pool!
We met Hannah and Hunter a few times at the pool near Nana and Grandpa:
Willow had her friend Elena over after going to the $1 movie.
We got two new sprinklers to help cool off in the backyard!
Nana, Kim, and the kids met us at our favorite new park. They enjoyed it as much as we do!
We can't go to the park without going to get bagels afterwards!!
After bagels the kids enjoyed playing with our new sprinkler.
They sure look like they're up to something, don't they?
They enjoyed putting the sprinkler under the trampoline too. Thankfully no bones were broken in the trampoline playing part of their morning ;)
Strike a pose!!
Nana sewed the girls matching dresses!
Hannah invited us to her show (imaginary) at 9:00 that night but unfortunately it'd be past everyone's bedtime ;) so she put on her show before they left. This girl needs a stage!!
It had been a while since the kids had been rock-climbing:
So exhausting!!
Our sweet neighbor Pat gave us a gift bag of sweet things for our anniversary. It included things she said we could share with the kids ;) like these spinning projectile toys. The kids really enjoyed shooting them off (video in slow-mo) and trying to catch them.
The local baseball team was having a Harry Potter night with fireworks. It was a late game but Willow enjoys staying up late. Plus she likes HP and hadn't seen any fireworks this summer. When we came in, Duck Donuts was giving away a free donut to people who answered a HP question correctly!
We got some good seats!!
While Gramps and Gramma were in town, Chris and I snuck away for an early anniversary dinner. We tried out a brewery and it had a great view!
The kids slept over at Nana and Grandpa's for the first time. They had a great time and made us these sweet cards:
A bouquet from our own yard!
Chris gets me hanging ferns for the front porch for Mother's Day and it never fails that the birds find them to be the perfect place for a nest. This year 2 out of the 4 ferns ended up with a nest but thankfully they left soon enough for the ferns to stay alive!
We went to see the new Lion King movie. Here's Owen's review:
While the kids stayed overnight at Nana and Grandpa's, Nana and Willow sewed this dress that my Aunt Linda had sent Willow for her birthday. It turned out great and she's super proud!!
Owen and Canton have enjoyed making blanket forts in the trampoline.
We had a playdate with two other neighbor boys at the local inflatable place.
We met Nana, Kim, and the kids at the pool near their house:
Owen and Chris worked together to make a Checker board!
We've recently tried s'mores with a Reese's peanut butter cup instead of chocolate. S'mores will never be the same!!
Owen and Canton had talked so much about sleeping on the trampoline overnight in their blanket fort. He wasn't able to sleep over but Owen was still excited about it. We found a night where we didn't have anything planned the next morning AND the weather was good, then both kids stayed up to watch for lightning bugs and enjoy s'mores.
The kids enjoyed staying up until it was dark to try and catch fireflies and have a lightsaber battle.
Owen's ready in his fort!
Being alone on the trampoline was over when the neighbor let her dogs out to go to the bathroom at 10pm and they were barking. Then he joined me in the tent.
We were thankful Chris was feeling up to a short hike to a waterfall. We hadn't been for a few years!
Willow went down the "slide" for the first time! She went about 4 more times! Here's a time lapse video.
I've loved that Owen has been really enjoying playing games this summer. (Alli likes joining us for games too!)
Owen has played Yahtzee 6 times and has gotten 7 Yahtzees!!! He's gotten one EVERY GAME HE'S PLAYED!! We keep talking about getting him a lottery ticket!! He doesn't understand why the rest of us end up crossing out our Yahtzee box.
Owen and Chris worked on this checker board and pieces together. He enjoyed making a Stop Motion video of a game and this time lapse video of a game.
There's a new Treetop Quest (aka ropes course) near town that we checked out with our Life Group from church. The kids hadn't ever been on a zipline before or on a course as high as this, so we didn't know how they'd do. They'd enjoyed a little course at the GO Fest so we figured they'd like it, but we were soooo proud of how well they did! They had different leveled courses and due to a friend having to back out of the course we were on, we ended up on a Level 2 course first. The first zipline ended up being the longest one at the whole place and they both did great! There were lots of fun obstacles and tons of ziplines. We went on all the courses once during our time there and one course was 13 ziplines! It was so much fun and we definitely hope to go back!!
If you look closely you might see Willow's red helmet. It gives good perspective to how high we were!
Check out Owen (he's not screaming because he's scared, he's JUST ALWAYS LOUD), Willow (I love her smile at the end), and myself on the zipline (Chris did it too but was the only one with pockets so he became the photographer, a job he's ready to give up!). Here's both kids at the same time.
We were so thankful that Chris felt up to participating!!
