Hallie Dawn

Today, I got to do a little photo shoot of my new niece Hallie.

 

And my kids got to hold their new cousin!

She is seriously so sweet.

5 Days

So this is my book of choice on this trip. I was reading the first chapter aloud to Shaun when I had the perfect opportunity to practice the first principal of the book -- say it once, turn your back, walk away. Well, I couldn't really walk away but I could ignore him for a few minutes. 

After a few minutes Gage settled down and it was the first step in helping him realize that he needs to listen to what we say the first time we say it. I helped him move on to a different activity: drawing!!!

A few minutes later, he proudly displayed his picture of me with a frowny face and told me I need to be nice. 

It could be a long 5 days!!!!!

Everyday is an Adventure

Can I just say I have some pretty fun kids? We have had so many fun adventures this summer. I try to get them out of the house every day. We've been pretty successful at it so far. But as I look through these pictures I've realized that my kids are weird. Who wants normal kids though? That would be boring!

 BBQ

 Maisey and I rode our bikes 2.2 miles to our church building. Her peddle fell off twice! A really nice man pulled over and helped us put it back on.

 We went on a family date night to feed the ducks and eat dinner.

 We can never take a normal picture!

 Maisey and I stayed up for a girls night. We watched the new American Girl movie together and just snuggled on the couch. It was perfect! I'm really good about planning fun things for my kids, but I'm not great about one-on-one time with them. After this night, I realized how important it really is, and that is a new goal of mine!

 In our ward primary, Gage stood up as a visitor and the primary went along with it. What a goof ball!

 We've been getting in a lot of water park time, and this girl doesn't complain one bit. Cutest girl ever? I may be biased!

 We met cousins at the water park on this day. Gage had fun playing with "his boys"

 Remember when I said my kids are weird? It was in the 90's and they are wearing fleece bathrobes and slippers. You think Gage's bathrobe is a bit small? 

 This is what your baby looks like when she is left to fend for herself outside, while the mom tries to weed!

 Mannequin wanna be!

 Silly breakfast boy

We hit up a different water park and Miley loved it!

Like I said, everyday is an adventure with this crew. But I am so glad that we have had all summer together to make fun memories. 

We are about to embark on a 2.5 week long adventure tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Our Garden

 Maisey's sunflowers

 Gage's forget me nots

 My carrots and beans

 and my lettuce

And Shaun helps with the berries

Our garden has been good to us this summer!

Water Slide Wednesday

It has been pretty warm here lately, so we've been trying to find ways to stay cool. I had this grand idea to invite some friends to an inflatables place for water slide Wednesday. And of course it happened to be on the only cloudy/overcast day of the last month!! The kids still had fun though!

 We played inside for a bit first. The kids love the giant slide and the obstacle courses.

 The water slide was having some issues inflating, but my kids didn't mind waiting. They were obviously intrigued by the workers!

  It got up and going and the kids had a lot of fun!

 

 Gage was hilarious! He would make sure to stop himself every time so he wouldn't get very wet. The water was pretty chilly!

 And this little thing thought it was rough stuff just having to watch. Maybe next year!

iPhone Udpate

 We had a few hot days earlier this month, and we spent most of them playing in the water outside. No complaints from these kids!

 Triathlon training is getting pretty old to this babe! I'm running out of ideas to keep her busy in the stroller and bike trailer!

 This kid loved the library. Mostly because I found a stack of train books for him!

 We've been enjoying a lot of salads with lettuce from our garden. Yum!

 Who sleeps with boot slippers on in 90* heat? This kid does!

 I used to smile just like this, when I was like 3! Much cuter on a 1 year old, love her!

 This is what I woke up to one morning, because who doesn't eat cheetos in the buff? At least he put a towel down!

 Picked tons of blueberries.

 The big kids went to swim camp all week! They had a lot of fun and I got a lot done! Win Win!

 I just told Maisey today that she gets to go to the American Girl doll store when we are in Denver! She looks disappointed, huh?

Where's Mi Mi?

4th of July Weekend

 Our 4th of July weekend actually started on Wednesday the 3rd. We were constantly on the go from Wednesday-Saturday! And I realize that Independence Day is not Thanksgiving, but so many times during the weekend I realized how grateful I was for several different things:

1) For our freedoms. The fact that we could go and do all of the things that we did over the weekend with out having to worry is amazing to me.

2) The old people that sat next to us at the baseball game. They were so kind and patient with our rambunctious group. But as we were leaving, they told me over and over again how great my kids were. It helped me realize that at their age, I am going to miss my babies!

3) My kids. Yes, I know they are wild at times, or whiney at times. But they are mine. I know they better than anyone else. I know how to calm them, how to negotiate with them, how to comfort them, and how to have fun with them. 

4) Our friends. Seriously, we have the best friends in the world. I love the conversations that the adults can have. I love how we can joke and be a little crude with out anyone being offended. I love the big kids that our friends have. They are so kind and sweet to my kids. They include them in their activities and they never complain about them tagging along. I also hardly held Miley anytime they were around. They love toting Miley around and I appreciate that. I also love the little kids that our friends have. They shared candy at the parade, and they are just all around good kids and our good examples to my kids. There were several times over the weekend that I was almost in tears over how my kids idolize their friends. We are so lucky to have them!

5) My husband. He totally understands when I need a break and happily takes the kids. He knows when I am overwhelmed and gladly works harder around the house to help out. He knows when I am on the verge of a breakdown and says just what I need to hear.

Ok, enough of the mushy gushy stuff. Here are the pics from the weekend!

 First time playing at the splash park

 We met up with a friend who moved to Utah last Christmas.

 We went to a Volcanoes Game

After our camping experience, we decided to leave Miley home with a babysitter. I felt bad a first, but I am so glad we did. It was such a fun night with the big kids.

 We went to a 4th of July parade with friends

 Being silly before the parade started

 Gage's favorite part of the parade

Only in Molalla - A driving port-a-potty!

 This girl was on cloud 9 with a sucker in each hand!

After the parade, we headed to the local Catholic church for a chicken lunch. It was delicious!

 Then we headed to the Molalla Rodeo. Our seats were in the shade, which was so nice.

 Miley slept for the first part

 Then she was up and ready to party!!!

 Maisey hung with the big girls

 That night we headed to Mt. Angel for the fireworks show. Miley was enjoying all of the freedom outside!

 Maisey met up with her friend from school!

The kids really enjoyed the fireworks. I wasn't sure what to expect with Miley but after the first few she relaxed and laid back to enjoy them! It was fun to snuggle with her.

 On Friday, I headed to the outlet mall to take advantage of the awesome weekend sales. I completely outfitted Maisey for school!!! It's nice to not have to worry about that for the rest of the summer. It was also nice and relaxing to walk around the mall.

 On Saturday, our friend got baptized. After the baptism everybody headed out to his Grandpa's property for a BBQ and some fun. Gage and Shaun fished for most of the time. Gage wants to catch a fish so bad. Hopefully sometime this summer!

 Gage took a little break from fishing to go on a tractor ride. 

 Miley roamed around, always with food in hand!

 After the BBQ we headed to the drive-in movies. This is one experience that we will probably wait to do again when our kids are a little older. I ended up walking around with Miley the whole time and missed the movie.

This is the "popcorn in the mouth" picture! After about 10 minutes, the novelty of the popcorn wore off and the kids got really restless.

By the time Sunday came around, we totally crashed! 

Happy Independence Day!