Summertime

Here is what we've been up to lately.  We're definitely enjoying the last days of summer.

I love this picture of the girls in piggy (Emily) and pony (Megan) tails.

 

Megan "helping" in the kitchen.

 

Derek, Tansy and Samuel came to visit us for a few hours one day.  Samuel is such a cutie!
 Megan and Samuel

 

Emily and Samuel

 

We got a trampoline a few weeks ago.  (It is part of my attempt to have the kids to do more than just watch Netflix all the time.  Now if it will just cool down so the kids can be outside more.)
Here Emily and Megan are "jumping on the trampoline."  Silly girls!



Making progress.



It was so stinkin' hot out.  The kids ate popsicles under the trampoline.



Jumping with Daddy.



Emily, Tyler and Megan playing with wood "blocks."  They were left over two by fours from when my parents built their house.





Playing with the Fisher Price house.



"Helping" fill up the swimming pool.




Jumping on the trampoline with a sprinkler underneath it.



Attending a Bees game.




Megan enjoys wearing our shoes.




Emily with 2 different colors of my slipper socks.



Tents



Playing dress up



Tyler and his HUGE collection of cars, trucks and trains.  (Love his cute smile!)





Megan playing in the rocks.



Tyler climbing up the rock wall.






Emily climbing up the slide.






The girls think it's fun to swing in Tyler's swing.  Here's Megan.



Emily climbing.



Emily, Tyler, Megan swinging.

 
 
 

The kids loved racing while we watched the Olympic track and field events.  On your mark...get set...



Go!



Eating outside.



One day I saw Tyler watching TV with his arm around Emily.  So cute!



Oh, how I love these little ones.  They are so fun.  All three of them can talk up a storm and I love hearing what they saw to each other and to Darrell and me.

 

Grandpa and Grandma's House

The kids and I were able to spend 2 weeks in July at my parents' house.  We had so much fun and the kids LOVED being with their cousins.

Emily and Megan on the glider swing.

 

The kids loved being outside jumping on the trampoline or playing in the sandbox.

 
 

We went over to Three Acre Farm (a.k.a. Greg and Brooke's house) to see their animals.  Tyler and Megan liked the animals, but Emily was pretty afraid of them.


 
 

 Eating outside with the cousins



Tyler took swimming lessons with the cousins and made HUGE strides this year.



My mom watched the girls during Tyler's swimming lessons, but they came one day to watch the kids swim.  Megan and Emily thought the goggles were pretty cool.




One afternoon there was a fire in the field behind the houses across the subdivision.  It was kind of scary wondering if the fire would reach the houses.  I didn't get a good picture of the flames.  Luckily the green grass around the houses prevented the fire from getting to the houses.



The kids had fun riding on the four wheelers.  Grandma even took them all for rides.

Aubrey, Grandma and Tyler



Emily and Grandma



Grandma, Megan and Grandpa



One afternoon we got out the slip 'n' slides.  The older kids were so good about helping Emily and Megan who wanted to be just as big as anyone else.  (And truth be told, the older kids were "glad" when Emily and Megan went in to take their naps so they (the big kids) could be wild and go fast without little ones getting in the way, but we sure appreciate them helping to "make little dreams come true.")






Emily getting a drink.



Emily



Nathaniel helping Megan slide



 Another afternoon we went to the elementary school and let the kids play on the playground.  

 The big kids ran through the huge sprinklers.  Here is a dripping, drenched Tyler.



The wind kept blowing up Emily's shirt and making it puff out.

 

 Megan is playing by the "spider web."  It's one of the pieces of playground equipment that is still there from when I went to elementary school.  (It seemed A LOT bigger back then.



Tyler decided to play in a mud puddle.  Um....nice!

 

Tyler, Emily and Megan loved it when Grandma read bedtime stories to them.  They loved joining in during the story of the 3 Little Pigs when the  wolf said, "I'll huff, and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in."



Kimberly and I went through our boxes of toys from when we were little.  It brought back lots of fun memories.



I found my pom poms from when I was in elementary school (no, I wasn't a cheerleader.  I just thought they were really cool, so I got some--probably for my birthday or for Christmas.)  I also found my "#1 Hands" from high school. Olivia and Laura thought they were fun to play with.



I also found my old dance costumes.  Emily and Megan liked wearing them around.




The older kids also dressed up in some of the dress-up clothes and Tyler was a pirate.



Emily and Megan playing with Play Doh.

 

Enjoying 2 sleepovers with cousins.


 

Megan and Emily with Grandma