Harvest Festival

The children dressed up for a festival at church. Kobe was Spiderman, Kian was Batman, Karis was a cheerleader, and Kyrie was tinkerbell. The children played games, won candy, and had a great time pretending to be a superhero!

Annual County Fair

We all went as a family to the County Fair this weekend. We had told the children ahead of time that they would not be going on any rides because it was too expensive. They actually didn't complain and enjoyed looking at everything. We visited the animals, where the children were entertained by a yowling donkey, some spitting Llamas, and hatching chicks. We also looked at new inventions and different business booths. Near the end, the children were allowed to pick a treat to share, and they chose cotton candy. They enjoyed every moment, even though they did not get to go on rides, and we had a nice family memory to store away.

Painting

The children enjoyed and art lesson of painting outside! They loved all the inspiration for their pictures and even got creative with the paint. They tried to capture the essence of summer so we can remember it during the winter.

Fruit Kabobs

To try something different, I made fruit kabobs. I put strawberries, grapes, bananas and cheese and put them on the skewers. The children LOVED them and begged for me to make them again soon.

Tall Timber Days Parade

The children and me (Rebecca) went to the annual Tall Timber Days Parade. They enjoyed watching the firetrucks, the marching band, and of course, catching candy! Kobe was very embarrassed when his mother was cheering for the band, but soon got into the fun and joined in! Even Karis got into the fun and ate more candy than she tried to get! It sprinkled rain for about two minutes, but then stopped. It was a grand summer event!

Visiting Parks

We have been visiting parks every week this summer, and have found lots of fun along the way. The children love the fresh air, and each park we go to, there is something they love to go on. It sure makes the day go better! The pictures are from some of our favorite parks...

Being Silly

The three children had great fun climbing into Karis' bed and kicking their feet. They were pretending to be a storm, but didn't realize that they had a golden retriever that was waiting to get their feet!

Visiting Great Grandma Ruth

We all drove down to Mankato, including Grandma and Grandpa, to see Great Grandma Ruth. We had missed her ninetieth birthday party because we were all sick in June, so we went down to make up for missing her big day. The children did really well playing together and entertaining Grandma Ruth. Later on, we went swimming in the hotel which the children especially loved. Kyrie sat with Grandma while the rest of us kept cool in the pool. We then went back to see Grandma Ruth before we drove home again. She was so happy to see us and as we left I blew her a kiss and told her we would see her again soon. It was a very precious weekend memory for all of us.

Patriotic Popsicles

I had bought these red, white and blue popsicles for the fourth of July and somehow they still seem to be around so on a hot day I let the children enjoy one to cool down. Kobe and Kian had their "firework" t-shirts on to remember the day of the fourth of July.

Play Date

We hosted play group this week. The children from our Wednesday morning class and their parents get together once a week during the summer to stay in touch and have fun. Each parent takes a turn having it at their house and this week it was our turn. Kobe and Kian enjoyed showing all their friends their new house and their toys. Karis decided she just had to go play outside in her high heels to play!

Watermelon Anybody?

We decided to have another special summer treat to go with supper tonight. Watermelon! We purchased a huge seedless one at Super Wal-Mart for pennies. We cut the juicy fruit super big so the children could get really messy with it. Karis won first prize!

Circus

Unfortunately we don't have a picture of the children at the circus, because I forgot the camera at home. However, we did have a good time though, and it was Karis' first time at the loud event. Her eyes were as round as saucers when she saw the tigers, and elephants. I (Rebecca) took the three while Trond stayed home with Kyrie. It was so nice to be able to walk over to the civic center and not have to drive. It was a great event and then the children got to come home a have movie night! What a great day!

Here Comes the Sun

Finally the children were able to get out and have some fun outside. The warm sun came out periodically, and made the outdoors suitable for playing. Trond filled up their sand box so that they could use their shovels and buckets. They climbed up into their fort and I bravely joined them up there! There was occasional times where rain tried to dampen the day, but we still had a great time.

Lunch

After the summer reading program, we needed to do some errands and ended up at Super Wal-Mart again. The children were starving, so we stopped at the food counter for a little bite to eat. I don't know if we will eat there much because we just bought a small amount for everyone and it was almost as much as a trip to McDonald's. It was ridiculous! The children had fun making their tongues turn different colors and Karis ended up spilling her drink down her shirt! It made for an interesting blog anyway...

Summer Reading Program

Today was the start of the summer reading program. Our whole family went to the library to enjoy the festivities. There were some great storytellers, cake and ice cream, prize drawings, and the book log to jot down the books they read. The children also received three free meals to our local Applebee's. After the children finish their book log, they will receive a free book. It is a pretty good program and the children are excited to get started. One of the storytellers handed Kobe a carrot to hold for part of her story which delighted him. It was a lot of fun.

Dad turns 64!

We went to Dad's house to celebrate his 64th birthday. He got a new paper shredder, many homemade cards, and a Dairy Queen coupon. Mom of course had birthday cake and balloons for the children and Kian started the birthday song for Grandpa. They had also bought a Bumbo, which is a seat you can put a baby in that is not able to sit up on his/her own yet. Kyrie thought it was great fun, and Kian called it a "baby potty." We had a great evening and Grandpa was happy that he had some of his family with him on his special day.

M&M Ice Cream

The children enjoyed a little treat after helping me clean out the garage again today. We are preparing for a garage sale in June and needed to start weeding out the material. I had found these really cute M&M ice cream bars and thought they would be just the right reward. As you can see, they were a big hit and the children loved them.

Karis Potty Training?

I know it sounds too good to be true, but tonight she wanted to go sit on the potty in the children's bathroom. After 15 minutes of sitting, she actually went potty, and even wiped herself too. She then flushed and washed her hands. Wow! If this keeps up, our family will be down to one set of diapers! HOORAY!

Siblings

I caught a rare shot of all four children together. The older three were gathered around Kyrie as she played in her bouncy seat. They discovered that Kyrie smiles really big when they talk to her. It was such a great opportunity to capture the four siblings all having a great morning.

Making T-Shirts

The children and I went to church today for a special Mom's Day. The children painted their own t-shirt just the way they wanted, as you can see in the picture. Karis was sad when she had to stop painting and on the way out to the van, Kian decided that he wanted to try a new adventure and pull the fire alarm! There was a meeting going on with lots of people and all of a sudden someone said, "Oh no, he's going to pull it!" The next thing I knew, sirens went off and people were looking around confused. The fire department had to be called and Kian was again the talk of church just like the time he went "swimming" in the baptismal pool. People still talk about that...
Anyway, then we went to McDonald's with other moms and their kids and had a great time. The children were so exhausted that Kian and Karis wanted to go to bed without even reading books! It was quite the day.