One Summer Evening

It has been a busy summer for our family...almost busier than we'd like.  We haven't made much time to get to the pool and relax.  But this evening we did.  It's been SO hot lately, but it was actually quite cloudy and overcast, so not many people were there.  

In fact, at one point, Annah and Caeden were the only kids in the small pool!  They thought it was kind of cool to have it all to themselves for a few minutes.

After being in the water a while, Sylvia even got chilly.  She got out to wrap up in a towel, and showed me her wrinkly fingers.  

It was a blessing to have a relaxing evening at the pool together as a family.

No More Training Wheels!

Caeden has been wanting to learn to ride his bike, and had Jeremy take the training wheels off at the beginning of the summer.  Then, he avoided trying, "because it was too hard."  Finally, he decided it was time, and found the motivation.

Annah spent most of the day, lovingly helping guide and steady his bike up and down the sidewalk, explaining to him the details of keeping it upright and moving forward.  He was determined, no matter how many times he crashed.

They got to the point where she could let go, and he could go a ways on his own.  They counted sidewalk squares as his distance increased.

He's made great progress!

He is getting quite good!  Way to go, Caeden!  We're so proud of you!!!

Aristocats!

All summer long, Annah and Sylvia have been practicing and preparing for this week's performances of Disney's Aristocats with the A.C.T. Theater Company.  It has been a fun experience for them, and they are excited about the shows!

Their alley cat costumes are simple--cast t-shirt with kitty ears, ribbon collars (I like Annah's bells on hers!), and tails.  

They liked having their make-up done too, although Sylvia said she doesn't like the way it feels on her face.

It has been fun to make new memories and new friends!

the cast

While the girls were at practice, Caeden made a new friend whose 2 big sisters were also in the show.  They were glad it was finally performance time, and they could watch.

"Everybody, everybody, everybody wants to be a cat!"

Meow.

All ready for the last performance...

They all did great, and the shows were well-received.  Daddy took us all to DQ for treats afterward!

Church Camp for Annah

Annah has been so excited for church camp since she went last year and loved it so much!  And, she was over-the-top excited that her BFF Ashley got to go with her this year.  

Here they are when we first arrived, on their way to check-in.

We (Caeden, Sylvia, and Ashley's parents and I) went up for the closing worship service this morning.  It was great to see all the kids praising the Lord together!

the girls by their bunks

I hope the memories of camp will stick with Annah throughout her life!

Sparklers!

We didn't make it to any major fireworks displays this 4th of July holiday, but Travis and Scott took the time to help the kids do some Pop-Its and sparklers! 

The kids had a blast!  They danced around and squealed and giggled and were so adorable as they enjoyed their sparklers!!

Lopshires at the park

We were so glad to be able to get together with Grandpa & Grandma Lopshire and Jeremy's brother's family too!  We hadn't seen Grandpa & Grandma since Christmastime!

Sylvia had a nice long snuggle and chat with Grandma.

We met at an awesome park.  

The kids loved this playground, because there was so much to do and climb on there!

I didn't realize Sylvia was strong enough to do this, until she zipped right across!

We celebrated Andrew's 3rd birthday!  He was so adorable singing Happy Birthday to himself! 

Andrew shared his Thomas the Tank Engine and Toy Story cupcakes with all the kids. They ate them right up, and got colored lips!

Wilson...

Sylvia...

Simon...

Andrew...

Caeden...

Anthony

Jeremy started jumping on this bridge while the boys were sitting on it, and making them bounce.  Then Eric got on and they started bouncing from both directions.  Soon, everyone was trying not to fall off!  The boys did fall off, and then Eric and Jeremy were jumping as high and as hard as they could trying to bounce each other off!  It was funny to watch!

We sure missed Charlie, who was at his other grandparents' house.  But, we got all the rest of the grandkids with Grandpa & Grandma for a picture...

We made a break for it as soon as all the skeeters started swarming us, but we had a great time!

Randi's Bridal Shower

This afternoon the McEowen family gathered for Randi's bridal shower.  Mom did a beautiful job preparing for it, and it was one of the nicest showers I've attended.  Randi will be a lovely bride, I know, and I'm so sad we won't be able to get to the wedding. 

Tessa and her mommy arrived, looking very chic and ready for the shower.

For one of her shower games, Randi was made to bake a cake from scratch--without a recipe. She took it in stride, and was very meticulous about it. 

For another game, three teams created tissue paper bridal gowns in 10 minutes. 

The little girls loved being made over, and were darling little brides!

My mom created a towel cake in Randi's wedding colors, complete with a hydrangea freshly picked from her garden this morning.

Randi received some nice gifts, and seems to be a very happy bride.  It was also great to meet her fiance, Josh, who worked 13 hours and then drove all the way from West Virginia to meet everyone! 

Back home again in Indiana!

During the summer, we try to make a few visits to Indiana to see our family and friends there.  It's about a 4-hour drive (maybe a little more), and the kids are used to it.  So we don't get a ton of, "Are we there yet?!" from them.  I try to do the trip once in June, once in July, and once in August.  Our June trip was very short, and we didn't make time to see many people.  This trip was also pretty short, but we were glad to see a lot of family, AND Jeremy was able to go along!  (I'm hoping to be able to do a longer trip in August.)  We got in late last night and went straight to bed.

This morning, Uncle Jeremy finally got to meet Tessa, one day before she turned 5 months old! 

Krampa and Jeremy took all 3 kids fishing in the boat this morning.  They each caught a few, and Annah even caught a turtle--which she named Yertle.  She let it go in Uncle Travis' little pond.

Many of the McEowen family started arriving today, and we grilled out burgers and 'dogs tonight.  Krampa made a little campfire for us to make some messy ol' s'mores too.