4th of July Parade

 Wednesday was actually the 4th of July (we saw fireworks on the Saturday before the 4th) and our neighborhood was having a 4th of July parade.  We all met in a culdesac and rode around the neighborhood and ended at our common area.  First we had to decorate!  The kids were so excited to be able to decorate their scooters. 

                               Here we are with our neighbors.  All the kids are all decked out!

 We are all getting lined up, ready to start the parade. 

                                           The firefighters even came to start the parade. 

                                                                       They're off!

                      The route was a little over a half of a mile so some of the kids got a little tired out. 

     We ended up at the common area where they had water slides and hot dogs.  Ben was having water fight with Tom - it was pretty hot so it was nice to cool off. 

They just ran for an hour!  We (well, the kids mostly) were pretty exhausted afterwards!

Roller Skating

 One of the things the kids have loved to do this summer was roller skating.  It was something fun to do in the air conditioning!  Ben spent a lot of time on the floor - poor kid. 

 Elizabeth stayed on the wall to help herself stay on her feet. 

 Yes, I made my kids wear helmets :)  We went ice skating once this summer and Elizabeth fell so hard on the side of her head.  Thank goodness she had a helmet on and just hit her cheek.  She had a big bruise! 

 Drew and Josh came with us, they were pretty quick!  They both own roller blades so they were pretty comfortable. 

 I can't tell but it looks like Elizabeth and Josh are holding hands...cute!

 She got brave and let go of the wall - good for her!

 On the ground - again!

 Then came the time for limbo. 

Thank goodness we found something fun to do outside of the heat! 

4th of July

 On the 4th of July we went to see fireworks in Grandma H's neighborhood.  It's so nice to just walk down the street to watch fireworks. 

 The kids are all gearing up, ready to watch the fireworks. 

 Gorgeous fireworks!

 What a great fireworks show!

Mini Golf

Brady, Emma, Bridget, Elizabeth, Ben and Nick 

One evening in July with met our neighbors at the mini golf place near our house.  It was SO hot, but the kids had a blast. 

 A fun fact about this place, Tom and I used to go hang out here in high school!  It brought back a few memories. :)

 They also had water bumper boats - no one else was there (I guess because it was so hot) so they just got to ride as long as they wanted. 

 Next they did some rock climbing. 

 Ben kept climbing, stopping, and asking me to take his picture.  He's never been one for pictures so he must have thought he was pretty cool. :)

Last they had a blast with the bounce houses.  We had a really great time, it was fun seeing our kids having as much fun as we did when we used to come here. 

Father's Day 2012

 I have done this for a couple of years... Ben and Elizabeth in daddy's work and exercise clothes.  We like to give the picture to Tom to have in a frame at work. 

 Cooper and Jackson were spending the night the other day and Ben and Cooper were all cuddled up together!  The second the flash came on they unrolled from each other...but I thought they were still cute!

For Father's Day the kids made Tom this candy card that we found on pinterest.  My kids have such a great dad, he loves playing with the kids, and they love playing with him!  We had a great Father's Day!

Camp Read A Lot!

 Grandma B has given a love of reading to me, and she's helping us instill this love in the children!

 Mom has done a reading program with the children during the summer.  The kids got shirts and fun activities all summer.  They also recorded every book they read this summer on a giant caterpillar...I think they each have read about 150 books! 

 This is one of the simple activities - they painted a caterpillar on egg cartons and then had fun with shaving cream.  They loved it!

 Elizabeth had a great time, too!

 Jackson and Cooper getting into the fun!

 I found this fun book/game online called Once Upon A Time.  It slowly teaches the kids how to play chess using a book.  I don't know how to play chess either so we're all learning!

 Drew, Josh, Cooper and Jackson came to play and they all decided to play twister. 

 Crazy kids!!

Drew and Josh (and Janet and Chris) stayed with us for a couple of weeks after they sold their house...my kids are really missing them now, but we had fun while it lasted!