Losing Teeth!

Here is Lucas after losing his second tooth! It seems to be such a process to get them out. I myself am relieved when it finally decides to pop out! Now if only the tooth fairy would remember to come when she is supposed to!! 

Window washer

So just hours after paying to have someone wash all our windows this is what I found Jane doing. I mean really! How am I supposed to respond? She thought she was being so helpful and was having so much fun but we couldn't have a clean window for a week or even days! Thanks Jane for being so "helpful"!!!

Dear friends come to visit!!

We were so so lucky to have a visit from Sara and Joe and their cute girls Libby and Jenna. We had fun showing them some of our favorite places in the area. We had fun going to Stillwater and got sucked into a little dress shop where all the girls walked out with a new skirt. Even little Jane seemed to think she needed one and had fun picking it out. The workers in the store took time to show us all the different ways we could wear our new finds!

After we were all dressed in our new outfits we took a stroll along the St. Croix river where the kids watched the bridge go up and down and enjoyed waving to the people on the boat passing by. We of course couldn't be in stillwater without making a stop at our favorite ice cream shop - Nelsons.

I couldn't resist taking this picture. It's just like old times. On several occasions when we lived in Indiana Sara would be so willing to let us join her in her car for different outings. This is how it was several years back but now the kids seem so big and grown up!

We had fun going to Lake Elmo beach. The kids had fun swimming and playing in the sand

After a day at the beach we took off to Minihaha Falls once the guys were done with work. Jane fell asleep in Sara's car. And of course sara is just always so so sweet with our kids!

We had to pull up the skirt so it wouldn't get completely wet!

On our last day together we went to Willow State Park and had fun hiking around the waterfalls. Our family loves to go here.

Thanks to the Soelbergs for making the effort to come visit! We had so much fun!!! This is really one of the nicest families you will ever meet! We are so happy to have them as friends! They are the best!

biking

 Our family loves to go biking together and trying new paths and repeating some we've already done. Here are some pics from some of our biking adventures. We tried going down in the city a few weeks ago and loved it!

Garden

This summer we planted our first successful garden. We attempted it a few times before in Michigan but it seemed to fail every time!! So, you can imagine our delight all summer long when we would go and actually see veges growing!! I loved it. We planted carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, basil, cucumber, peppers, lettuce, and spinach. Can't wait to do it again!

Feed My Starving children

I went with Ethan and his scout troop to Feed my Starving Children where we packed food that is shipped to 3rd world countries and is used to help children who are literally starving to death. It was a really great experience!

So sad! Alisa and Ryan moved!!! It was hard for me to see Alisa go. I have had so much fun living pretty close to her!! They stayed with us on their way out to Michigan!! 

Summer Fun

I love summer for all the fun things you can do!! We love to play and we love to work and we have done both all summer long. So fun!! Here are some of the things we have done:

Our summer was off to a chilly start - notice the pants and sweatshirt. It didn't last long -phew!

 Family mini golfing - yes I was there but I seem to always be behind the camera

 We LOVE getting a lot of cousin time in over the summer. We try to meet up weekly. Here are the kids at the park. Love the sunglasses owen!

Jane so excited for her sleepover at Wyatt's house. 

 Our neighborhood is always fun to hang out in. Lots of kids. Always plenty to do!

Theresa is helping the kids do tie dye - so fun!!

Puzzle day! The boys pulled out a bunch of puzzles and spent hours doing puzzles - on the bathroom floor of all places!!

Lucy worked on a sewing project of her choice this summer. We had fun working on it together. She made crayon rolls to put in a babysitting bag. 

 And we ALWAYS seem to spend endless hours at the pool. The kids love it and I love it. More than anything I love that they are burning off energy and exercising!!

Games are a must! We love to play games with our kids. This is what we played with Lucy and Ethan the first summer night.

We spent the start of our summer on soccer fields. Here are Jane and Gabby both sitting on Gabby's grandma's lap during a game. As you can see we had a chilly start to our summer!

The kids love to craft. Here are some balloons they covered in duct tape. They spent hours working on this project!

 Lucy got to go on 2 trips this summer both of which had her flying alone! She did a great job. I felt strange sending her off and she was missed but I am glad she got to spend a week with some dear friends (Kamryn and Eliza) and then she spent another week with her Grandma S and a couple of her cousins!

 Here are the kids doing our annual sweet cereal purchase! Once a year (and always in the summer - just because that's how we did it when I was growing up!) the kids get to pick their very own box of sweet cereal.

It took us a year to discover nelson's ice cream but boy are we glad we discovered it!! It's a tiny tiny ice cream shop and the flavors are great and the price is even greater. 

This is a child size - no joke!! And it only costs $3.50! Crazy huh?

The kids learned a whole bunch of new skills and chores this summer. I have been quite impressed with their hard work!! Here is Lucy learning to mow the lawn