The Great Outdoors

There are days when I crave the great outdoors.  Sometimes the city just gets too overwhelming and today was one of them. Plus, I wanted to take the kids to do something that was free.

So we visited the great outdoors about twenty minutes away.

Posing at the Butterfly Garden.  Even though there is a drought in our region of the world, the flowers look like they are getting good care.  We saw a black swallow tail butterfly and lots of white and yellow ones.

Saylorville Lake is unusually low this year.  We visited the gentle giant dam and were quite surprised to visit it up close and personal.  Last year, it was rip-roaring loud and too scary to view it up close.

We enjoyed a picnic in the park, the exhibits at the visitors center, and a movie about the wild life in Saylorville Lake area.

A nice little outing and we escaped the heat for a few hours . . . 

Swim. Splash. Jump. Dive.

The first two weeks of July, the kids had swim lessons.

Olivia took level 1 again, even though she had passed to level two.

I thought she needed to go under water without plugging her nose.

Little did I know that her brother would teach her in Grandma's pool!

 

She is my girl with no fear and water did not scare her or slow her down.

She jumped in the deep end without hesitation.

I was so proud of her to just dive in and have complete trust in her abilities!

I love her confidence.

This guy was in level four and worked on his strokes. 

This has been a challenge for him and he continues to practice his strokes and kicks in Grandma's pool.

Hopefully, I can find a level four class this winter.

I also am very proud of this guy who can take the plunge off the diving board

without any fear.



Cousin #13

We were all excited to visit our new family member at the hospital on Tuesday.

We welcomed baby Ben into the world.

 Olivia patted him when he fussed, like a natural!

 Connor is excited that there's another boy!

 We went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to swim with new big sister and big brother!

We will enjoying soaking up some baby time now!



An American Celebration

Miss blue eyes gets a tattoo for the occasion.

We were so excited for Connor to walk in the parade this year. 

We made sure he had plenty of water for the 100 degree temps.

Looking on and waiting for candy.

Sparklers are a must for Independence Day.

We Heart the USA!

Behind the Brithday Scenes

 Army crawl under the ropes while under attack by the adults!

 One of the favorite treats!

 Prisoner tied up, ready to be saved by the troops.

 The soldiers are saving the prisoner; some solders are blind, others without a limb and they are all working together as a team.

Not the most favorite treat, but was eaten along with flash-bang deer sticks, mortal pellets, nuclear grape grenades and nerf energy drinks!

Thanks to Pinterest for the ideas, I put my favorite ideas together and got this party!

Phew, I'm tired!

Happy Golden Birthday!

Here's a band of  brothers that had a great time yesterday!  Connor celebrated with 9th Birthday with some close buddies from school.  Connor wanted a Nerf Gun party with basic training, ropes course, target shooting, and missions.  It was a whirlwind of fun!
Hope you had a Happy Day!