May Randoms

I recently discovered that it's really fun to take little Claire out on dates!  While Jake would be at preschool, sometimes Claire and I would go out and do something that wasn't an errand.  Like lunch at Paradise - that's her favorite :)

Chocolate milk for Claire... Diet Dr. Pepper for me!

Emma has a really fun activity days group - here's a pic from a little hike they did...

Emma and her cute friend, Clara

Claire was excited about her new swim suit, so she wore it all day when she got it... haha

Including while vacuuming...

During Emma's volleyball practices, the younger kids would play at the nearby playground...

And Jake figured out the monkey bars!

Claire and her fun friend, Audrey...

Popsicle time...

Jake's friend Preston had his 6th birthday party at Sky Zone - and all our kids got to come to be jumping buddies for the siblings as well - it was a fun party!

Becca had to make a solar oven for school - Ben took it very seriously and helped her make a pretty cool outdoor oven!

Summer Fun!

The start of our summer was full of playing in the water!  It gets hot fast... by springtime it's in the 80's and before school even lets out for summer break, it's in the 100's.  Popsicles and swimming to the rescue!

Claire did this back and forth a million times... occasionally coming up for air....

The girls made a little backyard oasis...

And friends make any summer day extra exciting!

Ice cream outing...

Waiting for chicken nuggets to cook...

Emma made this all by herself... it made me laugh and I thought it was so cute - we definitely didn't stick to this schedule, however... I just wasn't in the mood for a structured summer by any means...

Backyard grilling... it's hot, but a necessary summer activity :)

Water park with cousins...

Cold and grumpy...

Playing in the sprinklers at Grandma and Grandpa Dangerfield's...

While the kids played, the boys slaved away in the heat working on the "hut" on the side of grandma's house....

More chillin at Wet 'N Wild...

More snacks and water play with friends...

The kids wanted me to document when we had pancakes for breakfast - with longer mornings and more time to get ready, pancakes were an option again!

And much to the children's dismay, although school was out, chores are definitely still IN...

Science Center

Our very first summer activity once school was out was playing at the science center.  We once again snagged a groupon for season passes, so we are happy to be able to continue to come here!  For the first time, we decided to see the IMAX movie playing there - the best part for the kids was the goofy glasses!

I love when they find something interesting and they stay put and play and explore for a long time.  They played with these for a while...

Wheelchair races...

Waiting for a science demo to start...

Emma and I built a living room with the plank blocks... :)