Beach and Baby Blessing

Once Jim's parents arrived we had a fun time with our full house.  On Saturday we went to the beach.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, but it was a really fun day.  The weather was perfect for swimming and sitting in the shade.  Everyone took turns with the baby, and the kids even rode on a paddle boat with Jim and his dad.

Sunday was Abby's baby blessing.  We were so glad that my mom, Sarah, and Jim's parents were able to be there for it.  We weren't very good about pictures (that whole getting to church on time thing...), but we did get a few of Abby.  A friend took a whole family picture afterward, so hopefully we'll get to see that one later.

 

In the mother's lounge...ha ha.

After church we had a nice lunch and then enjoyed a relaxing afternoon/ evening visit. 

Annie and Alex both fell asleep on Audrey.

Children's Museum

The next day we had a fun outing to the children's museum.  Jim didn't have to work, so he opted to stay home with Abby.  That worked out nice so he could relax, and I didn't have to juggle a baby.

Isn't she sweet?

We visited every room and had a good time.

The hospital is always a favorite.

Logan took some x-rays of Sarah.  

We made it to the art room early on this time. 

The adults were worn out well before the kids were.  Afterwards Sarah treated us to ice cream.  Yum!

That evening Jim's parents arrived.  We had dinner at our house and visited until bedtime.

Independence Day

We started the 4th of July holiday by sleeping in.  Yeah!  Then as we were heading to our neighbor's for their annual mid-day party, we noticed that most of us were matching.  Annie, Logan, and Abby's outfits were intentional.  Jim's was on accident.  So Alex and I found red shirts to change into.  Family photo time!

 

My mom was wearing red too.

I think this one ended up pretty cute.

I left part way through the party to pick up my sister, Sarah, from the airport.  She was able to come for a four day visit.  Woohoo!

That evening we packed a picnic and went to our local waterski show.  We went early so we'd have front row seats; it was worth it.  The ski team did really well considering how high the river was.

I made these cupcakes to take with us.  Festive, eh?  I think I earned 100 points for effort.  Annie wanted to carry them out to the car, so I instructed her on how to carry them level.  Not ten seconds later she carelessly tipped the whole container on its side and smashed all of them.  That's my girl.  They still tasted good.

After the water ski show, we headed over to a hill behind our house to watch the fireworks.  We weren't sure how well we'd be able to see them from there, but thought it might be worth it to avoid the crowd.  For the most part it was fine.  Some of the fireworks were blocked by some trees, but we did have the added bonus of being able to see several other shows from our high position. 

My mom brought glo-sticks for everyone.  That was really helpful once it was dark.

We also had cheap dollar store sparklers.

Alex was a little dangerous with his sparklers.

Grandma Time

My mom arrived for a visit two weeks ago (we still have a week left...yeah!) to be here for Abby's baby blessing and just because she loves us.  :)  The first two days I wasn't caught up with life yet, so we exercised our domestic abilities.

We sucked a baby bunny out of its hole with the lawn mower.  (Accidentally...it wasn't hurt.)

My mom met and cuddled her newest grandbaby.

We experienced a little de-ja-vu.  We had purple crayon go through the dryer with a load of whites a couple of years ago.  Amazingly, we had another purple crayon go through another load of whites this time.

I introduced my mom to the joys of once a month cooking.  She's a fan, and it's saved me a lot of cooking during our fun weeks.

The third day of her visit we went grocery shopping.  My mom found great amusement watching my ordeal to manage four kids in the store.

We made Abby smile.

That evening we were ready for some fun.  There were fireworks happening in different cities every night during the whole week of Independence Day.  This was the 3rd of July; we went to an airshow and fireworks on the Mississippi River.

The weather was nice, the airplanes were neat, and the cotton candy was delicious.