Adventureland With Grammie

Grammie was in town this week and went to Adventureland with us for the day.

It was a fun day. 

We ended it with a special

stop at the ice cream shop!

Sick Little Guy

Our Poor Little J was sick over the weekend with a fever and painful rash.  

He spent some quality time in the Ergo with mom:

He wasn't taking too well to not feeling well.

Fun at a Wet Park

We have received so much rain this summer.  The other day we went to the park and found that it was flooded.  This didn't stop the kids from having fun - just in a new way. 

Swim Lessons

Big J really enjoyed swim lessons this year.  He once again took them with cousin J for one week.  By the end of the week Big J got to jump off the diving board.  He was so excited.  

Who are these boys?

Fun with Friends

The other evening we had some friends over last minute.  It ended up being a fun evening with the babies down and the older kids enjoying themselves playing while the adults talked around the fire.  Of course every now and then the men would play a game with the children - mainly bear hunt where the men would hide and the kids would have to come find them.  This was extra fun because it was dark out.

We also had left over sparklers from the 4th -

so the children really enjoyed these in the dark.

Busy Bee enjoyed sitting with mom

or her Aunt Kelly!  I love her snuggles and

once it gets past bedtime, you can often find her in a lap.

We are blessed to have such great friends!

  

Summerfest Fireworks

This was an exciting year for our two oldest.  Normally we skip the fireworks here in town and the kids sleep right through them.  But this year both Big J and Purple Girl really wanted to go.  Busy Bee knew they were loud, so she was happy to stay home and go to bed.

Daddy took the two oldest - they had a lot of fun.  

Dad wasn't sure if they enjoyed the fireworks more of the 

fact that they were up so late!

They also enjoyed going in Daddy's new ride - 

which made it extra fun.

Birthday Party

We had a real  nice birthday party for Busy Bee.  We are  blessed to have family who live close by, which brings so many cousins to her party.  There were 13 children and Big J (7) is the oldest!  It was to be a pool party and although the weather turned cloudy and slightly windy and chilly, the kids didn't seem to mind.

The picture below is so sweet, because Busy Bee

put her arms around both mom and dad and pulled

us close to herself with a BIG smile!

As mentioned in previous posts, her Birthday theme was "Zoo Train.!"  

She loves animals and she truly wants to be a TIGER when she grows up.

So, below she is showing her cousins her ROAR!

Unlike the other morning when we sang to her,

she enjoyed it at the party when everyone sang.

Then the blowing out of candles!  

She had a lot of help with this....I think

all the cousins gave a blow.

Everyone enjoyed cake and ice cream.

Little J usually finds Grandpa, because he knows

Grandpa will share with him.  After Grandpa was done, Little J

wasn't too happy to be finished with the cake and ice cream.

He walked over to the trash and found this cup, which still had

ice cream in it.  Aunt Kelly may have helped him 

grab it out and gave it to him.
(I knew it was his sister's cup and she had 

just put it in the trash).  Boy, was Little J

excited to be walking around with his very OWN cup of

ice cream!

Busy Bee giving Grandma a hug thanking her for her gifts.

Lastly, we had a pinata.  It is so fun to watch the cousins all

enjoy trying to break open the pinata.  

We always line them up

youngest to oldest and it worked out perfectly again that everyone 

got to go twice before Big J busted it completely open.

Little J wasn't in the line for hitting the pinata.

But he was watching.  Afterwards he found

the bat and enjoyed hitting at the broken pinata several times.

He is so adorable...his little grunts as he tries so

hard to be just like the big kids!

We were blessed to have good weather, 

fun guests and just a really nice party and time with family.

To see Busy Bee's smile on her face the entire evening and then

to hear her say before bed "Thank you for the party mom!" make it 

all worth it!  Once again we just praise the Lord for her!

Birthday Morning

When Busy Bee woke up yesterday morning she had some presents waiting for her from mom and dad and big brother and big sister.

We had an extra guest this morning - Cousin J had stayed with us for a couple days. 

It was so much fun having her!

Big Brother got Busy Bee a Lego Set (A train to go with her

zoo train theme).

Purple Girl found this dress for Busy Bee!

And Mom and Dad purchased a train table for both

Busy Bee and Little J!  Little J has already found a fun

new way to play with it!

After gifts we had waffles for breakfast and then we

sang Happy Birthday to Busy Bee.

She wasn't liking us singing to her, as the picture below shows.

Later that morning Aunt Kelly came over and helped mom

make Busy Bee's Zoo Train Cake for tonight's party.

She keeps telling me that she is NOT THREE YET! 

She said she will not be three until she eats her cake 

tonight at her party.  I guess it is hard for a 3 year old

to have her birthday party the day after her birthday. 

I am ok with having my "2" year old for one extra day though!

Birthday Girl

Our Little Busy Bee is THREE YEARS old!  If you ask her today, she will tell you she is still ONLY two!  Not sure why, but she keeps saying "I am not three yet. But I still want my birthday party."  We have a birthday party planned for tomorrow evening with family that she is excited about it.  

Her birthday theme this year is "Zoo Train - God Created the Animals!"  It is a perfect theme for this little lady because right now she LOVES animals - especially tigers and her nickname is V-Train!  She would currently tell you that wants to be a tiger when she gets older.

The nickname V-Train came from her Aunt Kelly.  The V because I (mom) would call her V sometimes since she has a V in her name and then Aunt Kelly added the train to the end.  It is something special between her and her Aunt and now she loves being called V-Train!

Once Grammie heard that Busy Bee loves Tigers, she found Busy Bee 

this stuffed Tiger.  She now loves carrying this tiger everywhere.

This Little Lady is such a fun little girl.

She always has a story to tell you if you will just sit and listen.

She loves playing with her little brother - I will often find the two 

of them hiding together in a corner with the BIGGEST smiles on their faces.

She also enjoys playing Lego's with her big brother 

and dolls with her sister.  She loves the comfort of knowing that Big Sister

will always be there for her and if she gets in a situation that she 

feels nervous, she will say she wants her "sister!!!" 

She sometimes has crazy hair, wears outfits that don't match,

and can go from a smile face to a crazy or upset face in seconds.

And then right back to a SMILE!!

She brings our family so much joy and

keeps us laughing.

She adores her daddy and loves getting hugs from him!

We love you SO much Busy Bee and we thank the Lord for you!

Happy Birthday!

Little J's Dance Moves

Little J heard some music on TV and

started flapping his arms up and down as quickly as possible.

It was quite cute and although the picture doesn't really give you the complete picture -

you can at least get the idea :)

Summerfest Parade

The kids enjoyed going to the Summerfest parade 

this past weekend.  

Of course their favorite part was ALL the candy!