Busy Summer Days

I have had a few goals this summer.  The first was to teach Evan to tie his shoes.  He knocked that one out pretty quickly, and he is now proficient at tying and double knotting his shoelaces!  The second was to work on sight words, letters, numbers, shapes, and colors with the kids.  We need to step up our game here ; )!  The third has been to stay busy, busy, busy!!!  Bret has been traveling a lot and working lots of late nights, so I spend my days running the kids into the ground so that bed time is a breeze.  and so they sleep like rocks through the night!  We start every morning out with a 2.5-3.5 bike ride.  we spend the rest of our mornings at the pool, at the zoo, at the park and or on a play dates.  we spend the afternoons riding bikes, running around the backyard and doing other misc. activities.  

 one afternoon evan and i gathered tiny toys to freeze in ice.  i anticipated letting them use this toy to kill time the next afternoon.  evan, however, had other ideas.  he was up and dressed bright and early the next morning ready to chip, chip, chip away!  gracie enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as evan did!  he diligently poked and chipped at the ice until every toy was free!

 we went strawberry picking one excessively hot morning.  both kids had their moments this morning....i wouldn't mind going again when they are in better moods!  i think they would like it even better!

 evan was an all star at finding the best berries.  he ended up helping me pick 4.5 lbs!  the berries lasted us a week...we LOVE fruit!!

 gracie got a few!  she did give a lot of hers up to a friend that was picking with us.  she then realized she was hot and tired and proceeded to let us all know in her best grumpy gracie behavior!

 he was an all star!!

 and maybe a little sick of me asking him to look at the camera and smile!

 after we wrapped up, gracie hung out with her buddy shelby.  everyone loves a headlock...i mean hug.

 we are slowly trying to explore the many parks and playgrounds in the area!  this one had a few different options plus a walking trail.  we spent the morning climbing around the playground and swinging on the swings, and then we went for a little walk!

Baseball VS. Best Buds

Evan has been looking forward to two different games this season.  The first was against his best buds...twin boys that live in our neighborhood and went to preschool with Evan.  He would ask every week how many games until he played Beckett and Keaton.  Finally the big day arrived!!!  Unfortunately for E, he had a bit of trouble sleeping the night before (up from 12pm-3pm...ugh).  and, he woke up with minutes to make it to the game that started at 8am.  I was a little worried he was actually sleep walking.  He rebounded though after he saw his buddies!

 playing pitcher's helper!  his reflexes were a bit on the slow side since he was still half asleep.  i think he watched one ball get hit and roll right past him before he moved a muscle to get it.

 rounding the bases!!!

 one minor problem when you are friends with players on the opposing team.  when your coach puts you on second base, you will possibly chat with your friends instead of actually watching and playing.  first beckett came through.

 and then keaton!

 he even had two great hits off the pitcher!  no tee for this sleep walking baseball player!

and eating a bit of dirt while sliding in from home.  evan seems to think the goal of sliding into home is not to get in as fast as possible but to get as much dirt on your shirt and pants as possible.

Lake with Cousins 2

 e would be fishing on any day that ends with y if it were up to him!  for a kid that is high energy and tends to gravitate towards fast paced, active games, he shows a tremendous amount of patience and calmness while fishing.  i think it blew bret and i away that he even liked it at all since it is a whole lot of sitting and waiting...and, in the end, the biggest thing you reel in could be a chunk of seaweed.  lucky for him, a few of the other kiddos showed some interest, so quite a bit of time was spent casting and reeling...and fighting over rods ; ).

 e is up with the sun at the lake, and he has picked up on the fact that lots of fishing boats are cruising around in the calm morning waters.  so, you better believe, someone has e whispering in their ear at 6am that it is a GREAT time to go fishing : ).  will was also a big fan of morning fishing.

  and, of course, you can't get this many of the family together without taking a picture in matching shirts.

 gracie and evan in a rare moment of love : )

 most of the crew! 

 zoe joined in the picture taking fun!!

 one of the better ones that i got...unfortunately, gracie decided to start singing the itsy bitsy spider at this point.

and, then, when all the kids have had enough, you add in a great grandma!  we are only shy leah and the baby that is currently cooking away in my belly!

Lake with Cousins

What has become somewhat of a annual tradition, lots of the cousins gather at Lake Tippy with their kids.  This year, we had NINE great grandkids ranging in age from 5 to nearly 2.  It was an action packed couple of days!

 first up...a fishing boat ride with daddy/uncle bret/bret.  kate volunteered to chaperon since five kids were pretty jazzed about this adventure...that seemed like a lot of kids for bret to man on his own!

 gracie was on board and then not game at least three times before the trip got under way.  once she was allowed next to daddy (and realized they really were going to leave her behind if she didn't stay in the boat) she was good to go.

 lots of swimming and jumping...even though only the parents seemed affected by the temp of the water.

 and, now that the oldest of the grandkids are getting a bit more adventurous, the water sports are getting even more popular.  first up, evan and will on the tube!

 then bret and gracie

 then zoe and evan took a turn

 will and em took it for a spin

then, evan got a little bit braver and took a wild ride with daddy 

 next up was skiing!  this was evan's first attempt at skiing.  and, this was as far as he got. he bailed before the boat even turned on.  

 this was will's first attempt.  and, he was SO talented at it, that he actually was able to ski underwater!  poor kid was the guinea pig, but we did learn a lot during his attempt.  i guess if you have the rope attached the the skis and the boat, the boat will actually continue to drag the child even after they let go of the rope : ).  strange it took all of us quite a bit longer to figure out why will wasn't letting go of the rope as we were screaming to let go while he was being drug underwater.  opps.

Zoo Day with Cousins!

We were super excited that Aunt Kate, Uncle Brian, Zoe and Emma came to visit.  On the day that they came to Indy, we had to take them to one of the kids' favorite spots...the zoo!!!

Of course, we started off checking out the butterflies.

evan had a ton of success catching and holding the butterflies this time around.  i think they were still a little sleepy!

gracie is not as skilled holding still and letting them climb onto her finger, so big brother evan caught one for her!!

we don't always ride the carousel, but since this was a special occasion (and packaw paid).  the kiddos that like the carousel got to take a spin!

zoe tried a few options out before settling on this horse.  her mommy lucked out with an interesting ride on a seal.

emma doesn't dig carousels, so she had some one on one time with packaw

it was an EXTRA special occasion because grammy and packaw also bought all the kids fun drinks!  gracie may have sucked her drink down rather than eating her lunch...story of her life ; )!

i think they might have been plotting something.  probably not something good.

AND, this is the look of one little lady that is done and ready to head home

evan waited all day to show zoe the butterflies.  he tried really hard to let her hold this pretty yellow one that he managed to get.

Disney Days!

It is WILD what a difference a couple of years makes!  E's first trip to Disney was just after he turned two.  He was NOT a fan of many rides and only wanted to see the characters from a very safe distance.  For Gracie's first time, she was nearly three.  BOTH kids loved every minute.  They ate up every ride they went on and absorbed every single experience.  

 checking out a gorilla on one of the trails in animal kingdom

 harassing sheep and goats in animal kingdom

 taking turns making some music on drums that were out in and about in animal kingdom

 gracie spied donald on her way from the bathroom in animal kingdom.  there was no one waiting in line...i should have stopped right then.  instead, i went to find evan to see if he wanted to meet donald duck.  by the time we got back, there was a short line.  AND, as soon as it was their turn, it was time for donald to take a break.  SO, they hung out on the dino to wait for Donald Duck to come back.

 giving donald duck some love!

 it was HOT, HOT, HOT both days we were at Disney.   In animal kingdom, we cooled off with some frozen lemonades.  the kids tried to get a break from the heat in the stroller.

 Day 2 was Magic Kingdom!  we started at its a small world.  then, the boys checked out the haunted mansion while the girls hit up the carousel and the tea cups.  i thought e would be scared in the haunted mansion...he loved it.  gracie was wild for the carousel and the tea cups.  win win for everyone!

 cruising at the tomorrowland speedway

 and playing some games while waiting to ride winnie the pooh

 and, we made it all the way to the parade at the end of the day!  it was a loooong day...9am-10pm.  but, the kids did a great job, and to be honest, we went home because the adults were tired and ready to be done!