July 4 and Jack C. visit

The boys were so cute... they had the idea to create a library a couple weeks ago.  I was resting in my room and when I woke up, I went out in the hall and they were so proud to show me their library they had made and then I went outside and saw the sign below on the front door.  So cute!! :)

 Cooper and Jeff asked Cole and Craig to the Sporting KC game the weekend of the 4th of July.  They had such a great time and saw a very good game!

 Collins Park Parade in Topeka!

 Later on the afternoon of the 4th, we went to Wamego for a carnival, yet another parade and the biggest firework show in Kansas!  It was a really nice day and not too hot, so we enjoyed relaxing in the park while the boys played catch and played on the playground.  They really liked the carnival games, but didn't want to do the rides.  They got even more candy (between both parades it was pretty much like Halloween!) and then we stuck around for the 10pm firework show.  It was really spectacular, but a little intense for the little guys (and me).  It was pretty much a 30 minute (maybe longer) show of straight grand finale fireworks... unbelievable.  The boys were covering their ears the whole time and wanted to leave after about 15 minutes, so we walked back to the park with Poppy to play until Craig and GG finished watching the show.  We had such a fun weekend!

 Beanboozle game with GG in Topeka... they think it is so fun and funny to see and smell the yucky jelly bean flavors.

 The boys are proud that Murphy lets them hold him now...

 Another lost tooth (laffy taffy did the trick this time)

 Jack C came to visit this past weekend and we had a wonderful time catching up with them.  Whenever we see them, it feels like no time has passed.  We did Deanna Rose, the pool, a BBQ, Jack spent the night.  Then on Sunday we went to Coco Key for a belated bday party for Jack and saw them this morning for a little bit at our house.

 Creating their own comic books, so sweet!

 Playing United States bingo

 Coco Key Day... they absolutely love that place!!

Jack and Jess brought donuts this morning and we enjoyed them on the porch.  We sure miss our great buddies!!  We are so lucky that they still come visit us and we hope we will get to go see them in MN again at some point soon!

June: Biking, Father's Day lake, Dabramo visit, 1st swim meet, blueberry picking

We had a fun end of June!  After Cole's bike ride with Reid, he wanted to show Max and me the trail and where all he had been.  We BARELY fit our 3 bikes in the car as you can tell!  At least we didn't have far to go...

 Cole loved this dirt bike trail back in the woods

 This cute little gnome house was at the park where we started biking

 Date morning at Fluffy Fresh with my big guy while Maxy was at VBS.  This is his favorite donut, the chocolate long john.

 Poppy went to Vegas to play in a poker tournament and told the boys he would buy them basketball cards if he won, so Cole made him this good luck picture.

 Maxy had the idea to make a Father's Day card for Love Puppy's dad.  It was so cute because he was really excited about it and spent a long time working on it.  You can see love puppy in orange in the middle.  The funny thing too was that after working so hard on this card, he didn't really feel like making a card for Craig... but he did.  ;)

 Father's Day!  The VanErem's invited us to the lake with them on Father's Day and we had such a blast!!!  They are such great friends and we miss seeing them frequently.  We had a great day together and the boys were in heaven at the lake with their buddies.

Our favorite Beyers got to babysit for a couple days!  Swimming with Wes, Grayson and Shelby

 Cousin Ben, Aunt Donna and Uncle Mike came for a visit.  We had a really great time with them!!  We went to Char Bar and played croquet.  The boys really loved having Ben spend the night at our house and they got along so well and had an awesome time together.

 We took them to the ice cream train since Ben and Mike are big train guys.

 Coach Daddy!

 First swim meet!  Cole did SO great and had a fun time.  I could tell he was really, really nervous but I was so proud of him for being so brave and he was such a fast little swimmer!  He did the time trial that was a meet just for our club.  He swam the 50 freestyle.  He has learned so much this summer and has become a much stronger swimmer!

 Cal, George and Cole - swim buddies

 Annual blueberry picking with GG and Poppy - wouldn't miss it!!  The berries were not as plentiful or good this year.  The season was early so we hit the tail end, but we were still able to get plenty of berries.

Maxy learned to dive this summer and is doing such a great job! He is one determined little guy!