Playing at Great-Grandma's

One morning we drove out to Great-Grandma's to play!  I love that we live so close by and that my children get to have a relationship with her and get to know what a special lady she is.

Juliana is always up for a photo-op :-)

Grandparents and their (great) grandchildren are such natural allies!

Sliding down the stairs on a blanket was a big hit!

 The little girls loved playing in the baby bassinet (Juliana even fit in the basket below!).

Kari, playing house on a hutch that her great-great Gpa Fritz made.
Sooo cute!!

Christian loved throwing the ball for the neighbor dog!

Kids also liked playing ball.  It was a nice day!

We love Great-Grandma Carolyn!!!

The World Cup

The World Cup was this year and we really enjoyed watching the games.  Christian, being a soccer player and all, really got into it.  Watching him was just as much fun as watching the games themselves!

4th of July!

 Happy 4th of July!  We had a great holiday!  So much of my life these days hinges on the weather and the Fourth was absolutely GORGEOUS.  Just after lunch we headed over to Papio Bay for some swim time (no pictures were taken, but fun was had :-)).  Then we came home for naps--well, Juliana took a nap.  Everyone else just had "quiet time" (if such a thing could exist).

After naps, we headed over to my mom's for dinner and some lawn games--so nice not to have to cook/clean/organize/host!

 Grandma gave everyone sunglasses--and, once Kari saw that Juliana wanted her picture taken, she decided that getting hers taken wasn't as awful as she'd thought :-).

Emily loves her ice cream sundaes!

The girls perfected their croquet game.

Auntie Erin took pictures.

After my mom's, we all headed over to the ball park to watch some baseball!  True Americana, for sure.  We had never done this before in previous years bc we'd either been celebrating with neighbors (most of whom were out of town this year), or, when Emily was younger she was too afraid of fireworks.  But, it turned out to be such a beautiful night and the kids all LOVED it!  (Emily said the fireworks were awesome!)

Christian and his cotton candy.

Gma and Kari

Kyle and me!

Pretty Juliana

The game! 

Kari, our champion at sleeping anywhere, through anything, fell asleep RIGHT before the fireworks began...and slept through the ENTIRE show.  Which, we were right below!  It was impressive (both the show and Kari's ability to sleep through it all.)

Em and Daddy :-)

Happy 4th of July!

(Another) Zoo Day

Kari and Juliana found the Lied Jungle very stinky!

Since the weather was so wonderfully cool, my mom joined us one morning for a trip to our amazing zoo!  Good times :-).

Riding the fish statues--and yes, it was cool enough for jackets in July!!  (How awesome is that?!)

A Freezing Fun Day

 One would think that the temperatures on July 1st in Nebraska would be awful and more awful (aka hot and humid).  However, this year proved me wrong!  Now, being 32 weeks pregnant, I'm not complaining.  But, it wasn't exactly ideal for a warm "fun day" to finish up our swim lessons this year.  I mean, we're talking 70 degrees!  I was happy to stay out of the water and take pictures.  And, after Juliana got to jump off of the diving board, she was happy to get out of her cold, wet swimsuit and join me on the sidelines!

 Kari and Juliana were both excited to jump off of the diving board to "Miss Emily" (Juliana's teacher and our friend).

Christian caught some air on his jump!

Kari, impervious to cold, got to swim with Daddy once Ju-Ju got out.

Emily loved spending her Fun Day with Brianne, her favorite instructor.

Christian and Emily :-).

It was a chilly wrap-up to the year's lessons, but, the kids had fun!

Christian Builds a {Bird} House

Great-Grandma Carolyn gave Christian a "build your own birdhouse" kit for his birthday.  One afternoon after Andy had moved, the boys were a bit mopey, looking for something to do.  This was perfect!  It was oh-so-cute to watch Christian and Henry work together to glue it all together and then, with Ben's help, paint it.  Such a little boy thing to do--I loved watching them at work!

 Below is their finished product.  They said it reminded them of a Minecraft house.  (A very abstract Minecraft house, I guess.)

And there you have it, folks!  Tell your birdie friends!

How to Eat Your BBQ Chips

Kari expertly demonstrates the ideal way to eat BBQ chips.

Dip chip in your water.

Blow it off.

Eat.

 Just in case you were wondering.  Now you know!

Non-Farewell (We Hope!)

 Our dear neighbors and friends, the Moranos, moved at the beginning of July.  The neighborhood dynamic has changed and, for me, change is never an easy thing!  Like so many others in our area, they are military and their time here was up (for now, at least).  The kiddos sure miss their friends Andy and Alexa!

We had an impromptu "farewell" in our driveway the afternoon before they left, full of fun times and a few tears (mostly shed by me bc I'm such a bawl-baby when it comes to good-byes)!

 The boys are all wet in the above left picture bc they were busy doing water trampoline 5 minutes beforehand.  SUCH fun boys and Christian is such a lucky boy to have them as friends!

 Below is a picture of most of the "littles" (plus Madison who just likes pictures :-)).

 Here's the whole gang!  (Well, Miss Romy didn't want in, so we're missing one, but pretty close!)

Such silly kiddos!  We sure do love them!

Juliana and Conway--so sweet!

Our little group of Moms--Andrea, me, Bridget, Mandi, Stephanie, and Audi

 I will sure miss Stephanie (well, I did the very next day!)--such a sweet and generous friend and neighbor.  There is a possibility that they could come back in just a year...and I sincerely hope they can!  But, until next summer, we did have to say, "good-bye"...although we do hope it was more of a "see you soon!!"