Monday, June 29, 2009

Summer Fun

I have had a blast enjoying all sorts of summer activities not having to follow a strict school schedule! The kids spent the first two weeks of summer doing swim lessons at the PG Pool, Abbey started up piano lessons and Braxton is playing it up in T-Ball! (And Landen gets dragged all over to the activities.) We have been so busy having fun that I haven't blogged for several weeks and know that I have so much to catch up on w/ our family and hopefully so much to read about everyone else's lives.


Strawberry Days was a blast! We pretty much had at least one activity to do every day for it and enjoyed each moment. We started off w/ the free family swim night at the pool on Monday, free concert and free strawberries 'n cream on Tuesday, children's parade and carnival on Wednesday night, a day to ourselves on Thursday night (I had other obligations), Huck Finn Days on Friday morning w/ a fun afternoon at the pool with all of the cousins and then the big parade and a party/bbq at our house afterwards on Saturday! The kids had a blast dancing all around during the entire concert and eating as many strawberries as they could handle. It was funny cause at one point Bryce was flipping Abbey around dancing and knocked her tooth right out of her mouth! (It REALLY needed to come out!) We braved the rain for the children's parade and decided to leave the camera at home during the carnival and just enjoy watching the kids have fun (instead of stressing about taking good pictures). At Huck Finn Days there were so many activities going on and the kids had a blast doing each one. They had face painting, pony rides, inflatable slides and bounce houses, pet shows, bubble gum blowing contests, fishing ponds, donut walks and more. I think that their favorite though was trying to catch fish in the pond that they made. No luck for us but their cousin, Tyson, let them hold a few that he caught. Here are a few pictures:




Braxton had a spiderman done first and then wanted a mustache painted on later. It was a hoot!


Abbey w/ her strawberry-- this is before she realized that they didn't put little black seeds on it... she wasn't happy when she saw it in the picture.


Landen loves balls so we figured a baseball would be appropriate for him.

Ila sitting so still while a flower is painted on her other cheek.



Landen, Braxton, Porter and Brayden (Porter's neighbor friend) sitting around having a good chat after trying to catch fish.




Poter & Ila enjoying Tyson's fish.






Braxton loving his turn to hold the poor little fish!






Ila just couldn't get enough of holding the fish! She LOVED it!






This picture cracks me up to see Karen in the background while Ila is holding the fish. I don't think that Karen thought that Ila would actually like it and she is shocked!









My nephew, Tyson, holding one of his two fish that he caught.








Landen finally got brave and went into the ice cold water for a try at a fish.










Bryce trying to help Abbey get a fish.













My neice, Ila, and my brother, Dave, having some fun!










Landen LOVED to jump in the muddy water and watch it splash!













Bryce helping out the boys... Braxton & Landen.














Freshly painted faces: Back row- Mikayla , Abbey, Whitney, Kristie, Braxton. Front: Ila & Landen.

There is so much more to post but it will have to wait for another night. Hopefully that will be soon!



Monday, June 15, 2009

He Did It!


Braxton finally earned Splinter! The Easter Bunny gave Braxton and Landen each a Ninja Turtle in their Easter baskets. They loved them and it made Braxton want the rest of the collection. He had a hard time saving money cause he would lose it, Abbey would con it out of him (give him a penny for his quarter... little stinker) or spend it on gum/treats. Since his system wasn't working I made him a chart w/ boxes on it for every 25 cents till he reached the $8.50 mark. Anyway- Braxton had to do extra chores (after his regular chores were done) to earn a box marked off... and it wasn't easy. Unloading the dishwasher was worth 2 boxes, cleaning the toilet (inside and out) was one box, etc... Somedays he would knock out several boxes and other days he had no interest. It has been a long road for this kid but it was SOOO much fun to see him be so excited today when he could mark off the last boxes!!! He sat and colored in his boxes for about 3 minutes to get them nice and dark so we could all see that he was finished (and he didn't want Splinter down from the top of the freezer till he finished coloring).
Braxton- we are so proud of you for sticking to it! WAY TO GO!!!!