Backyard Fun Timers

Britta, enjoying her turkey dinner (and possibly filling her pants??)

 Our backyard is the site of so many fun timers for my children.  Our friends all come over and their imaginations take over from there!

Brooklynn and Em playing ball--bc who doesn't like to play basketball in dress up?

The boys often commandeer the trampoline for their fun. 

 Britta plays her own version of basketball.

Ella and Kari...not sure what game they're playing, but kudos to Ella on the bee costume!

And finally we find Ju Ju and Madison up in our little tree house area.

We are beyond blessed with wonderful friends and neighbors who love to play outdoors and know how to use their imaginations!

Rivals

 These handsome boys play for two different soccer clubs and once and a while, they play one another!  It's funny bc I'm cheering for both Christian's team and various players on Henry's team since many of them are Christian's friends.

This time, Henry's team was the victor, but to the boys it was business as usual immediately after the game.  Great boys, great friends!

Tubing It

The boys decided they needed to cool off one afternoon after getting all hot and sweaty on the trampoline.  Clothes and all!  They had so much fun in the kiddie pool with our tubes from Slide the City.

 This happened more than once...must be a kid thing!

Raspberry Pickin'

 We loved the great summer we had.  There were some hot days, but nothing too terrible.  It really allowed us to head out and have some fun together without melting in the heat and humidity.

One sunny morning we went raspberry picking with our good friends, the Moranos, who had recently moved back into town!  We collected so many yummy berries and the kids always have a great time with their friends!

Emily, Stephanie, and Alexa

Andy, the pickin' pro

Christian, busy filling up his basket

Even Kari, who won't so much as try a raspberry, still loves to pick them.

Kari and Alexa, showing off the fruits of their labors (literally).

 After our picking, it was starting to heat up so we took some time to relax in the shade.  I think the girls mastered the relaxing aspect of it better than the boys though!

My sweet friend, Stephanie, and me

Friendly Ju Ju

Juliana is quite the love bug.  She finds an open lap and snuggle right up!  We met friends for a park day one afternoon.  Juliana and Bridget enjoyed just kicking back and relaxing a bit!

 Juliana also is a good friend and she really likes digging in the sand and dirt.  We love our Ju Ju.

An Evening Swim

Our sweet friends, the Olsons, once again opened up their family's pool to us one hot evening.  It was just perfect!  The kids all got to swim with friends and the water felt good to all!

 Britta just loves the water!

Our friends, Andrea and Isaiah and their youngest child, Conway

 The slide is a big hit and Juliana was brave and went down!

 Kari is our resident fish and now, high flyer!

 Under Grandpa's watchful eyes, Juliana ventured into the water sans life vest.  

She's the more timid of the children when it comes to swimming so this was big for her!

Romy and Emily

Christian and his friends, Sullivan and Brett

Romy, Kari, and Emily

 Bathing beauty Britta!

Mahoney Day

It's become a bit of a tradition once in the summer and once in the winter to plan a day out at the Mahoney State Park indoor activity center.  All of the kids run crazy and the moms can hang out and catch up a bit!

 Grandma came along and played with Britta so I could follow Juliana around inside the play center (which is huge and can be a bit intimidating for littles!)

Cooling down with a popsicle!

Christian was so busy running around that I could barely get him to stand still for a picture!