Let the games begin!

 On the last day of school, I borrowed an idea from my lovely friend Lisa & made a little "trail to summer" of sorts for the kiddos.  They each had a popsicle stick with their name on it stuck in the front lawn with a seriously long piece of yarn woven all over the yard.  They had to follow their path & find their prize at the end.

We laughed so hard & I think they were much more excited about the dollar store kites they found at the end after working so hard for them.  :) 

 So, an hour later we headed out to the park with friends to fly their new kites, picnic, play, & hike.  It was a fabulous start to hopefully a fabulous summer!

Last tastes of summer

 We've really been going for it the last few weeks, trying to catch up on all the summer fun we put off while enjoying our sweet little Sarah's arrival.  I've forgotten my camera most of the excursions to go skating, playing at the children's museum, & enjoying numerous parks & libraries. 

This last week while Darren was in San Francisco we also hung out with cousins,

 redeemed some summer reading coupons, (check out those blue tongues!)

 flew kites, 

 climbed "mountains,

 got up close & personal with some elk, 

 checked out the fishies,

 gave Sarah some serious stroller time,

& explored the prairie.  I think we're doing pretty good.

Here comes school!

Sunday Night Concert at the Park

Spray Park Sprinkles

 We spent the morning at the spraypark with some friends.  We unfortunately forgot that it didn't start spraying until 11:00, so we had an hour to play beforehand.  But, this park has a very unique playground so it wasn't too difficult to keep everyone happy.

 "Mom, look how high I am!" shouts Andrew.

 Sarah enjoyed a breezy, sprinkle-filled snooze in the stroller.

 "Mom!  Look how I am now!"

 Not your standard horse or duck to ride on, huh?

 "Mom!!!  I'm up so high!  Look!"

 "Now I need a shower after all that climbing."

 With our new friends Isaac, Abbi, & Augie (who's hiding).

Summertime fun!

First weeks of summer

 Since we only have a few weeks of summer before baby is born, we decided to have as much fun as we could.  It's been a busy couple weeks!

 Besides all of the walks, Legos, zoo, & playing with the neighbor's puppy, we've also...

 went out to the lake & then out to dinner at Dairy Queen.  It was here that I went up to the counter to ask for a fork & a 3 year old little boy remarked,

"WOAH!  Does she have a baby in her tummy or what, Mom?"

 Excursion to Morrill Hall

So much more fun with friends!  Thanks, Jakubs.  :) 

 Inspecting every tree for baby birds & nests

 Enjoying the "new" pages of their scrapbooks as I frantically try to get caught up before I need to make another one

 Playing in our pool

 Fun at the park & library

 With a full week of Totus Tuus & VBS we didn't have to do too much to fill the rest of the time.

Just a few more days to go.  Come on, baby!

Navidad en julio

 July has been HOT.

So to cool us off a bit, we decided to think frosty thoughts & had a Christmas in July party!  The kids did a lot of decorating. 

 Andrew thought we should hang out the stockings just in case Santa might stop by. 

 Our Little People Nativity grew when they added in lots of other animals, fences, & food for them, too.

I tried out these two Pinterest projects...

the mint tray for goodies on the left is made out of melted peppermint candies

& we painted the snowman faces on those cups for friends to take home. 

I forgot to take any pictures after people arrived, but just believe me; it was fun.  I highly recommend making your summer a little more cool .  

Artsy afternoon

 I took advantage of Teresa (& Daddy) napping last Sunday afternoon to take the big kids over to a festival at a local art studio.  I had never been there before & I was really impressed!  The kids made these neat marble papers, tie-dyed t-shirts, buttons, pictures of Nebraska, & origami bugs.  FOR FREE.  We ran out of time or we would have also made clay figures, had their faces painted, & painted an outdoor mural!  (We intentionally skipped the henna tattoos.)

There was live outdoor music... rather eclectic but fun.  They were the most intrigued by watching a woman work with a pottery wheel.  I was so eager to jump right in there, too!  I forgot how fun that is to see a big lump of clay transform in your hands.  Maybe I should see if they have a pottery class.  Anyone care to join me?

Thank you, Jody, for telling us about this great festival!  I'm so glad we went.