Independence Day Party

We got to go back out to our cousins' house today, but this time for their annual Independence Day party!  Jaime knows how to throw an awesome party, and this was no exception!  Kate and Gabe kept running back and forth between the pool and giant waterslide while my mom and I spent the party chasing Grant all over the place!

My Aunt Deanna with Kate, Gabe, & Grant.

Grant wasn't sure what to do with all these other little people.

He is used to only being around older kids like his brother and sister.

The Grand Finale!

My cousin Dean bought lots of awesome fireworks to shoot off after dark.

Goodbye Madeline....

Gabe's very first friend Madeline is moving away to Hawaii with her mom.  These two were such sweet friends from the moment they met.  We sure are going to miss you!!!  Come back and visit soon!

Gabe ♥ Madeline.....through the years.

Pool Playdate

I love that the kids have cousins who live nearby and that are all around the same age!  I hope that Kate, Gabe, & Grant will always remain close to their cousins Hannah, Zane, & Peyton!  Well, today we were excited to go out to Zane & Peyton's house, because they have all the cool toys!!!  :)  Thanks guys for letting us come over to swim!!

My little mermaid loves taking underwater pictures!

The rest of the gang!

Avery, Gabe, & Stephen

Grant isn't too fond of this float but he also doesn't like to be held...Mr. Independent!

Cousin Zane & our friend Gavin

After a fun morning in the pool it was time for yummy pizza before heading home!

Lemonade Stand

This morning we drove out to our cousins' house for a little photoshoot and playdate.  My cousin Jaime designed this adorable lemonade stand and I was so excited to get some pictures of the kids with it!  Most of these pictures she took, but then I decided to play around with them a bit, turning the grass super green for a whimsical feel.  Not sure how well it worked, but it was fun.  :)  We'll see what they actually look like when I print them...  Thank you Jaime  for letting us come play today!

Our friend Gavin came with us too and took a few pictures for his mama!  :)

Cool Kids

Another fun day at the Aquatic Center with these three super cool kiddos!!

Super Moon

Tonight just before bedtime Jon and I drove the kids to the waterfront to see the SuperMoon, "a full moon coinciding with the perigee (the point closest to earth) of the moon's elliptical (oval-shaped) orbit around the planet."

  It was a bit overcast, but still the moon shone brightly through the clouds.  Unfortunately, I hadn't charged my camera in a few days so I was only able to take one blurry picture before my camera shut off.  :(  Thankfully though millions of others took and posted great pictures.  And according to one website, "This super full moon is not only the closest and largest full moon of the year, it also presents the moon's closest encounter with earth in a long time."  Not sure if that is accurate, but it sounded good and made us decide to let the kids stay up a little late for a good view of the super moon tonight.

My blurry picture....

Happy Birthday Ava!

Today we celebrated with one of the sweetest little girls I know!

Happy 5th Birthday Ava!!!

Ava had a pool party...so of course all the kids were very excited!

Gabe and his "best girl" Riley!  I have to admit, they are pretty cute together!!!

The had so much fun trying to synchronize their jumps.  It took about 10 tries, but they finally jumped at the same time!

Cuddle Bugs

My sweet little cuddle bugs!!

These two are wild and crazy from the time they wake up until they go to bed at night, but right now they sure do look so calm and sweet.  It's not often that Grant gets to sleep with his big brother or sister, but I think he would if he could!!

Sleepy Boy

After a fun day swimming we came home and I was in my room folding clothes while Kate and Gabe were playing upstairs.  Grant was playing in the living room and then all of a sudden it got really quiet.  I went out to see what he was doing and this is what I found.....my sweet boy had collapsed over and fallen asleep!  Guess it's time for a nap!  :)

Tooth #8

Today we set off for another fun day at the aquatic center!

This place may not be huge, but it's still lots of fun and only five minutes from home....perfect for a summer afternoon!

Kate decided to play with Grant most of the day.  He is pretty good at doing everything himself in the kiddie splash area as long as he is wearing his float, but who wouldn't rather have a big sister tag along for even more fun!

Wheeeeeeee.....

I really didn't know if Grant would like the water slide or think he was drowning, but he LOVED it!!!!

Gabe and Stephen waited and waited for this moment....and they got it!

A giant bucket of water dumped on your head, what could be better?!?

We also ran into Jack Jack today....such silly boys when they are together!

Towards the end of our day at the aquatic center I let the kids get a snack from the snack bar.  They both chose the giant soft pretzel...their favorite!  Just before Kate finished she got this strange look on her face and said, "My tooth is gone!!"  What???  You see, it's been loose for a while, but I didn't realize it was that loose!  We looked all around, but the only thing we figured could have happened was she swallowed it with a bite of pretzel...or it will turn up in one of the pool drains. : /  Whatever the case, we couldn't find it.  Kate decided to write out a special note to the tooth fairy when we got home explaining what happened in hopes she would still come and leave a special prize!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my amazing dad and even more awesome PawPaw!!

We love you!!

Since the boys let us go out for a special "girls only" brunch on Mother's Day, we decided that for Father's Day we would surprise the guys with a "boys only" date to the movies!  My dad, Jon, and Gabe were very excited to head off to the theater to watch "Man of Steel" today!

Adventures in Wal-Mart

Grocery shopping with kids is never my idea of fun....Grocery shopping at Wal-Mart with kids is sometimes torture.  But, especially in the summer I often find myself in this unfortunate situation, shopping with all three of my babies.  Don't get me wrong, I love them like crazy and enjoy doing almost anything with them....except shopping!  :)  Kate inevitably starts a game of chase or hide and seek around the aisles despite my threats and warnings.  Life is a game, an adventure, to my fun to the core wild child.  Gabe is a follower, especially when it means following Kate on a fun adventure!  They have a blast in the store...all while making mama crazy!  Then there is unpredictable Grant.  One minute he is perfect just sitting and smiling at other shoppers, then he decides sitting is no fun so either I strap him in and he screams through the store or I juggle pushing the cart and holding him standing in the basket.  Then there is today!  I decided to shop on a Saturday so I could leave my two oldest monkeys at home taking only Grant.  Well, I must have timed my trip just perfectly because he fell asleep soon after we arrived and slept through my whole shopping trip!!!  I am certain I bought extra things today just for once being able to browse extra aisles!  :)

Storytime

After spending the morning at the Aquatic Center, we got cleaned up, picked up our friend Griffin, then went over to the county library for a cute puppet show and storytime!  We really need to come here for their events more often, but they are usually so crowded with daycare kids that I have to be up for that and ready to tackle the craziness!  We got here early today though so the kids had great front show seats for the show!