Summerfest, Vacation (again!), and Adventureland

While I can't believe that summer is drawing to an end, I am so happy about all the fun we managed to fit into these ten or so weeks. I'll start babysitting in a couple weeks and although not every day is easy; I feel so incredibly blessed that I can stay home with my kids. And having extra kids around here during the school year makes me appreciate the summer even more. I think I used to like fall best. Football season, cooler weather, even our wedding was in the fall. But there is something so special about the summer- catching a glimpse of that absolutely awestruck look in the kids' eyes as they watch fireworks, seeing a parade through their eyes, having them react to Adventureland as if it were Disneyworld- it's all just so much fun. And even more than all the "big" things, I hope I will forever remember the little things that made our summer so amazing. Spontaneous backyard picnics, bike rides to the park, swimming at the pool, catching up with friends, icee pops on the front steps...I could go on but I'll stop before I start sounding like a country song. I could never find enough time to write all the cute stories and funny things from the last couple weeks so this time I'll do lots of pictures....

Here we are at Summerfest doing the "all you can ride" wristband deal. Kael was excited. Kylee has no idea what she's in for, but clearly excited as well. She is supposed to be 36 inches to ride all these things and she's like, just barely over 35. So I had a ponytail on top of her head and the carnival guys let her pass. We'd already paid for the wristband and I don't think Kent was willing to take no for an answer. I'm so glad because Kylee loved the rides as much as Kael.

Here we are at fireworks. This is the look of awe in Kael's eyes I was talking about earlier...

Kylee loves her babies. End of story.


We went up to the cabin in Grey Eagle, Minnesota for five days and had the coldest weather we've ever had!! We still had so much fun but had to stay bundled up. We had such a great time but as you can tell from this picture we were all a bit chilly!

Since we didn't spend as much time on the boat as usual, we played lots of games. Here's Kael, strategizing his next bocce ball move.

He's clearly happy with his decision.

We spent a lot of time fishing off the dock. Kent got the original Barbie crown weight from Kylee's fishing pole stuck in a tree so he tied on a plastic turtle at the end of the pole instead. Every time she cast, she'd say, "I caught a turtle!!!"

The kids loved this hammock swing. Kael would hop in and say, "Come on Kylee, I will hold you! You can sit on my lap!" and they would swing together. Kylee also is quite comfy here with Aunt Tammy.

Kael is helping Kent drive the boat. They've been especially good buddies all summer long.

I looooove American processed cheese. Squirt cheese, Easy cheese, I've even heard it called Spray cheese and I love it just the same. I am pleased to report that Kylee shares my true appreciation of this wonder food.

All four of us are tubing!

The boys and their walleye.

Yep, it's still cold- how cute is she all wrapped up in her "blankilee"? (Kael loves to correct her and say, "Kylee it's BLANKET, not blankilee.")

Group shot- Kylee can't seem to figure out what I am doing all the way up there.

This is right before we go to Adventureland. The kids truly have no idea the adventure that waits on the other side of the gates. I went with the kids and my mom in the morning then Kent, me and the kids all went back in the evening. All said and done we probably spent about 8 hours there. Kael even rode the Outlaw roller coaster!

The ladybugs- a classic. We also did the teacups, hot air balloons, tilt-a-whirl, waterslide, and a whole bunch more. We went home for naps in the afternoon but truly could have stayed all day.

The boats. Kael and Kylee refer to them as the "fishing boats" and Kylee proclaimed this her favorite ride of the day. Kael's was the tilt-a-whirl.

Here we are, about to board the train.

In other news, Kylee's second birthday is around the corner. She has been teling people about her birthday for probably the last 9 months. To say she's excited would be the understatement of the year.
Wedding plans for my sisters seem to be going well. I've been dress shopping a couple times with them and I think they both have found "the dress"!
I think that's all the news for now, I'll post some more after Kylee's birthday!

Big news, vacation, etc.

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated! We've kind of gotten wrapped up in the wonderful world of summer. We do, however, have some big news! Both of my sisters are getting married!!!! Yes, I said BOTH!!! Tammy got engaged on July 1 and Mandy got engaged on July 3. My first thought was that I am absolutely so excited for both of them. They both have amazing fiancees who I know will fit right into our family. My second thought was, "Oh my poor mother!" Being the mother of one bride is busy, but two is almost unthinkable. I have no doubt in my mind she will be able to handle it. Lastly, in true middle child fashion, my thought was, "They (Mandy and Tammy) will get to do everything together and I'll be totally left out!!!". That sentiment quickly passed and now I am absolutely relishing my role(s) as Matron of Honor. I've never gotten to be a bridesmaid before! So congratulations girls; I could not be more happy for you and am so thankful you guys live close so I share it all with you.

The week before the 4th of July we headed down to Lake Rathbun with Kent's side of the family. We stayed at a gorgeous cabin at the Honey Creek resort and my dad graciously let us borrow his boat. We had such a nice relaxing time, boating, fishing, playing at the waterpark- I could have easily stayed another week and I'm sure the kids and Kent would have agreed with me! One of Kael and Kylee's favorite things of all was that they got to sleep in bunk beds. Kylee slept on the bottom which was kind of a big deal because she still sleeps in a crib at home. I was so proud of her- she stayed in her big girl bed and slept so well! Kael slept on the top bunk and thought that was the coolest thing ever. He was so excited to tell everyone that he got to sleep on the top bunk since he was a big boy and Kylee could sleep under since she was still kinda little. Here are some pictures of the highlights of the trip.

The first morning we were there, Kylee woke up early so Kent and I took her down to the dock and went fishing. We had heard rumors of a guy catching a huge catfish using hot dogs as bait so we tried it too. No catfish for us, but we sure did catch 5 sunfish that morning. They're cuter anyways!

Here's Kael reeling in a fish with Grandpa Keith. Once the fish is off the hook Kael loves throwing it back into the water all by himself. He just grabs it with both hands and says, "See ya later fishy!" He caught 3 fish that morning!

Kylee loved playing at the waterpark. By the end of the trip she was going down the slides all by herself! As an aside, she has also mastered going down the slide at the Ankeny pool all by herself. Only those who have gone down the slide can truly appreciate what a feat this is. It is so adorable- she holds Kael's hand all the way up the stairs then when they get to the top he zooms right down and she is not far behind. Literally she was drawing a crowd the last time we were there. I heard one mom say, "I have never seen such a little thing be so fearless!" Later Kael and Kylee were jumping in the deep end to me and there was a lady right beside me trying to get her (this is a guess) 4 year old to jump in. She pointed at Kylee and said, "Oh come on- look how little she is and she can do it! Just JUMP!" I laughed, knowing that in a different situation, I would be pushing my kids to do something if I saw someone half their age doing it. Us moms can be a little crazy sometimes.

Kael could not have loved these lily pads more. One day he actually stayed at the waterpark for three and a half hours and I know he spent the majority of the time jumping across these. He has been eyeing the ones at the Ankeny pool for quite sometime but he's about a foot and a half too short to be allowed on them. He hopped right across the ones at Honey Creek like he'd done it a million times before. I'm so thankful my kids love to be in and around the water as much as I do. They just have so much fun jumping, splashing, sliding- they are so confident in the water it makes my job a little easier when I take them both to the pool by myself.

We tried to get Kael to go tubing last year in Minnesota but he didn't enjoy it at all. This year he was willing to give it a shot and he did so well! We were probably on the tube for about 15 or 20 minutes. He kept saying, "Mom we can't catch the boat!" It seemed we were always about a rope's length behind the boat, thus making it quite difficult for us to catch it. He was all smiles the whole time.

It's been so long that I've written even Kael's Blastball season already come to an end. For anyone who's not familiar, it's like T-ball but a little bit easier. There are 6 kids on the team. Everyone bats every inning. There are no outs. Once you succesfully hit the ball past a ten yard line, you run to a base that squeaks when you jump on it, then back to the end of the batting line. When your team is in the field, you chase after the ball and if you're the first one to get it (no glove needed) you yell, "Blast!" and throw it back to the coach of the batting team. Kent was the coach and the kids played on Saturdays for 6 weeks. Kael had a pretty good time with it and stayed in the game even though one of his favorite parks in town was within eyesight of their fields. That's a lot to ask of a four year old!

We had a block party in early June that turned out to be quite a big deal! One of the girls down the street was super excited about this block party thing and rounded up tons of donations from local businesses, prizes for the kids, and even a fire truck entrance to kick off the party. I could not help but post this picture of Kylee in fireman's boots. Too cute.

While we were at the block party, Kent was up fishing at Red Lake. He caught some nice fish and had a great time hanging out with the guys. He has turned Kael and Kylee into little fishermen, too. They both have their fishing poles and nets and love to go fishing with him as often as possible. Kent and Kael especially have become quite the fishing buddies.

Another milestone- Kylee got her first haircut! You can't tell too much from this picture but she just needed a little trim. Don't worry, I didn't let them cut her curls off!

I'm sure there are tons of things I've forgotten to write about and will try to write more often so I don't overload you all with pictures and stories. On a final note, here's one of my favorite pictures of Kael. I truly believe that in this moment, he's the happiest 4 year old boy in the world.