Same Boat, New Pond

We took Micah's RC motorboat out for another spin today.  Since Papa and Mama's pond belongs to the new homeowners, we headed over to a small body of water off a nearby walking trail close to our house.  As the older ones handled the remote, Noah was glued to the speedboat's every move. :-)

What a Lovely Start to July

Last week was jam-packed with lots to do and celebrate - anniversary, birthday, national holiday, a 4-day weekend with Scotty (woo-hoo!!!).  LOTS to thank God for in regards to family and good times together.  Here are some snapshots from our wonderful "staycation."

7yrs of marriage - enjoyed Olive Garden take-out after the kids went to bed.

Our "baby" is 1yr old!

Oohing and ahhing over some colored smoke balls on the 4th.

Noah observing with his "rabbit" face (scrunched up nose)

Getting a sparkler in before bedtime (in PJs already)!

Ohhing and ahhing over the big and bright ones!

Papa and Mama were here for the night show.

U of N attire Papa flew in with for the tikes :-)

Enjoying the hotel pool where Papa and Mama stayed.

Micah was an absolute fish!

Noah's "rabbit" face yet again. ;-)

Cherry picking on the weekend - YUM!

Joy's rarely made it in the bucket - but straight to her mouth.

About a 1-mile walk to a beach front after cherry-picking.

Hmmm - rabbit or porcupine?

Micah being brave going farther out with daddy.

Joy loved "jumpin' in the lake"

Everyone except Noah got "buried" - Joy was first!

An absolute sand crab by the time we left!

Burying big brother was mighty fun. ;-)

Ditchin' the training wheels!

Micah's been asking to try and ride his bike without training wheels for about a month.  Well, today was the day.  And wow, he totally "got it."  As our neighbor pointed out - it's a milestone!  It just happened to be during a weekend stay from "Uncle Luke" too, so you'll probably spot him in some photos.

Getting ready - walking to the sidewalk

Oops - had to run back to grab his helmet from the garage!

Hopping on to go for his first ride, sans training wheels

Here's a video clip of the first go about it:

 

Joy watching the action

Here's just a short while later - riding solo!!

 

 

Lovin' it! :-)

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This is just a snapshot of all the tikes warming up to Luke this morning ;-)

Moving Truck Day

My in-laws are moving out of state and today all their "stuff" got loaded up!  Thankfully, we get grandma for one more week, but next time we visit Papa and Mama it will be in a new house in a new state.  The kids and I headed over to help (and watch the movers) ;-) for a couple hours today.  I gotta be honest, turning down their street for "the last time" got me a little choked up.  So many memories of holidays, birthdays, fishing, weekly after-church visits, etc have taken place in that home (not to mention living there for almost a year when we first moved here and only had 1 kiddo)!  I said a quick prayer, swallowed the lump in my throat and jumped right in helping dust and vacuum.  Micah and Joy also found some recently vacated spots in closets to hide in. 

Balloons for the boys

This weekend we welcomed our twin nephews into the family.  Mom and babies are still in the hospital but doing great.  The kids were able to see DeeDee, but only visitors over 16 years old can sneak into NICU to see the cutie-pies.  Here's a snapshot of the excited cousins with balloons from Papa and Mama we actually couldn't take to DeeDee's hospital room because they were latex - ha!  (Hospital policy, because of latex allergies).  So we took a photo, stashed 'em with some wheelchairs, went to her room, showed her the picture, enjoyed a visit, then picked up the balloons and drove them to her house.  Hopefully they'll still have some helium in 'em when they get home this week!

Waving and Saying "Bye"

Noah's at that age where he's just about learning something new everyday.  This week it's been saying "bye" and waving (looks a little robotic as he focuses so intently on pivoting his wrist). ;-)  Here he is showing off his new skills in his big-boy haircut (Scotty trimmed off the baby locks this weekend)!

:-)

[Scotty made this with a pic of Noah from this weekend and a new app he downloaded]