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For those of you who do not follow me on my Instagram account, I will share some of my photo journaling . . .

 

 The girls loved dressing up in their Momma's shoes and their fancy clothes to give us a fashion show!  They were fancy indeed!

Little Beau having a picnic outside like the big kiddos.

 

 

 

Staying cool with water!

 

 

 

 

 Mom and Dad let us ride with them to K.C. and back, it was good quality time of chatting and catching up.

 

It was a Sunday afternoon and the kids were fighting and whining and all those annoying things.  I decided that it was time to get into the car and hit nature.  Seems like it calms all of our nerves.  We went to Saylorville Butterfly Garden and stopped at the National Guard tanks/plane.  It got us out of our funk!

 A new kind of playground!!

 

 

 This was a gem to find!  We thought it was a hummingbird, but it ended up having antennae.  We looked it up that evening and found that it was a striped sphinx moth.  Pretty cool to see!

 

 We also were greeted with this beauty.  She posed for us so nicely.

 We were inundated with tomatoes for a week and now we are experiencing a lull until the next crop hits!

 Evan and Connor enjoying some techy time.

 I think I lost 10 pounds following this little guy around.  He is perpetual motion!

 

 

 Swim lessons!  Olivia was in level 2 and Connor is level 4.

 

 

 Connor went to a Middle School transitioning program called "Movin' on up."  He had an opportunity to meet new kids and get acquainted with the school classrooms, etc.

 

 

 Finally, a purple carrot popped up to pull.  Olivia liked it, Connor not so much.

 

Finally, our last family outing for the summer before school begins.

The Ledges

 

This past weekend we went to The Ledges to check out some nature.  It was our last family outing of the summer before school starts and when the hub-bub of life starts to accelerate.

We were surprised by all the wonderful creatures we found in nature . . .

 

 

 

 The kids spotted millipedes the size of their fingers clinging underneath the cliff.

 

 There were streams upon streams to walk in, so naturally we took off our shoes and waded in the streams while discovering nature.

 King of the Rock

 

 

 Miss Olivia in her adventurer attire.

 

 

 A little photo of the couple, I forget we can get more pictures like this now since the kids can take pictures from our camera.

 

 Do you see the tree frog?

 

 Olivia and Paul found a teeny tiny garter snake sunning on the rock.  I stayed my distance!

 

AAhhhh, nice and peaceful.

Time Flies when You're having Fun!

 

 

The last two weeks of July consisted of driving the Olivia to dance camp and/or swimming lessons, a and a trip to K.C. to celebrate Gwen's 4th Birthday. . . .

 

 She makes a cute Olaf!

Believe me! She knows every word to the song . . 

I love this photo!  Olivia is experiencing true Joy while dancing!

 

 A great finish to the routine.

 

Look who is turning four!

 Miss Gwen!

 

 We cheered on the girls Saturday morning at the Chicken Run.

Here, miss Jackie is doing some great air time.

 

 

It was a hot weekend in K.C. and the slip-n-slide was a perfect way to cool down!

 Jackie going for the splash!

 Beau has his own way of doing it, but he's not going to be left out of the fun!

 Connor enjoyed some splash time too!

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Gwen!

We went to Raccoon River Beach one Monday for all morning and into the early afternoon.  It was a cool day only supposed to be in the 70's but the sun was HOT in the middle of the beach.  The kids did not have swimsuits, but we let them get wet to cool down.  We enjoyed a picnic on the beach and a relaxing time in the sunshine.