Summer block party.

Another crazy summer week has flown by. Emma had swimming lessons every morning this past week, but luckily her summer care teachers brought her too and from her lessons all week.

We had our usual softball games and busy evenings on Monday and Tuesday. On Thursday, we headed to the Westside Church block party. It was a pretty fun little party. They had food, drinks, ice cream, face painting, balloons. inflatables, and a few other things. The kids loved it.

On Friday night, we decided to take the kids swimming. It was just a little too chilly to go swimming, but we all sucked it up and did it. The kids had a really good time, and Emma did the lazy river by herself and she was so proud of herself. It was cute.

Yesterday, Emma had a day camp all day, so John mostly worked in the yard, and I spent the day playing with Elliott. It was fun to have some one-on-one time with Elliott. He asks so many questions, and can be so stinkin' cute when he isn't fighting with his sister. Emma had a really good time at her camp, and was kind of disappointed that it was only for one day.

After picking her up from camp, her and I headed out to have a mom and Emma date. We ate supper at Fizolis. After supper we headed to the theatre to see The Incredibles 2, which was pretty cute. It was a great evening.

Today is a catch up day for mom. The kids and John went to Brookings for lunch at the park, maybe some swimming, and hanging out with John's side of the family. I decided to skip it and catch up on things around the house and get ready for another week. This next week Emma has soccer bible camp all week, as well as our softball games, and meetings, and packing for camping next weekend. Ugh, sometimes summer is just too busy for me!! I love it, but I feel like we never stop running.

Here's to the next crazy week!!

of course Elliott got a yellow puppy

Elliott loves blankets

Emma's 6th Birthday.

We officially have a 6 year old! Emma celebrated her birthday on Friday, at the Canaries Game with a bunch of her friends. It was hot and muggy, but it was a fun night. The kids all did a really good job staying entertained and playing throughout the game. Emma opened some very nice gifts at the game, and the kids enjoyed playing with all the new toys. There was also a nice fireworks show after the game that everyone really enjoyed watching. But Emma still says she doesn't like fireworks.

Emma:

Emma is such a funny little girl. She is really into telling jokes right now, and she loves to drive us crazy with knock-knock jokes right now. She also has an obsession with cats. She loves to wear anything with cats on it, cat toys, and play with her cat, Poppy. Basically anything purple or having to do with cats is a hit for Emma.

Emma also loves to swim. She just finished some swimming lessons, and she is enjoying learning how to swim. She likes to wear goggles and dive under the water.

Emma also enjoys riding her bike (with no training wheels) and camping. Emma pretty much loves all things summer and her birthday. And she also is mildly obsessed with reading books, which is great!

After the successful Canaries game, we had a family get-together at our house yesterday. We both of our families over, as well as the Jensens, and my cousin Mitchell. It was a nice gathering, and everyone seemed to have a good time, especially the birthday girl.

It was a hot, sticky day, so we got the kiddie pools out and all the kids had fun splashing around and staying cool. The rest of us enjoyed staying in the shade and visiting. Emma picked out her cake, which was a purple cake with cats on it. It was a great birthday for a special little 6 year old girl.

Today is Father's Day. We celebrated by going out to eat at Hy-Vee after church. We had their Sunday brunch, which was pretty good. We spent the afternoon watching the kids enjoy the sprinklers and the slip and slide. It was pretty hot and muggy again. My family left town around 3pm, and then we ate supper with Jim and Barb at Casa Del Rey. Now we finally have our super-tired kids in bed, ready to start another week.

Whew, what a weekend.

The birthday girl. 

The Birthday Gang. 

Emma and Elena

Emma and Cagey

Quite the Trio

Happy, Happy Birthday Emma!

Emma loving her new swing. 

Camping at Oakwood State Park

This past week was literally a blur, and it kicked all of our butts. We spent most of the week running between softball games, swimming lessons, and late nights at work. We literally were not home until 8:30 or after every single night of the week. It made for some cranky kids, and such a busy week.

Emma is totally loving her swimming lessons. She loves swimming and she is getting better and better at it. I couldn't get Emma and Elliott's lessons at the same time, so Emma swims during Elliott's lessons, and then during the break, and during her own lesson. So, she ends up getting a good couple of hours of swimming in every day of the week. Plus she gets to go swimming with her summer care group a couple times a week.

Elliott is also liking his lessons. He is so proud that he gets to take swimming lessons by himself with his teachers. He cooperates very well with his lessons, and listens to the teachers. He also is not afraid of anything in the water so far, so that's also a very good first step.

This past weekend, we went to Oakwood to go camping. It was the first time pulling something with our new truck, and everything went really well. We got to the campground at around 7:00pm, so by the time we were set up and ready to go, it was close to 8pm. We ate, and then enjoyed a nice campfire. The kids had a good time running around the glow sticks for most of the night. At about 10:00pm, we sent some very tired kids to bed.

Saturday was a really fun day. It rained overnight, and most of Saturday morning, so we spent some time just hanging out and entertaining the kids for a while. After the rain cleared, we went on many bike rides, did some playing on the playgrounds, and then went for a hike. We took the kids for a half mile hike, and successfully wore them out.

After lunch. Elliott took a nap while John, Emma, and I went canoeing. We rented a canoe, and the three of us went around the the lake for a little while. We had a lot of fun going around the lake, and Emma did really well. She enjoyed it for a while, and then got kind of bored, and we headed back to shore.

At 4pm, John and I left for Sioux Falls to go to the Zac Brown Band concert. It was an awesome show. It was very entertaining, and a great performance. They played for a solid 3 hours. We had so much fun.

We headed back to the campground this morning. We went on some more bike rides and did some more playing, and then it was time to pack up and come home. We are finally unpacked and settled in for the evening. Our tired, cranky kids are in bed, and we are not far behind them. We have one more crazy week ahead of us, and then we can finally slow down a little and relax.

Enjoying some camping 

Busy, Busy, Busy.

This past week was actually pretty low-key. We didn't have any softball games because of the holiday, and we just didn't have too much going on this past weekend either.

We spent most of the weekend at home. On Friday night, we went out to the B&G Milkway for ice cream. The kids loved the ice cream, and it was fun to eat some ice cream on the tailgate of the truck. We are definitely enjoying having the truck and can't wait to use it this coming weekend when we go camping.

Saturday was actually kind of chilly and windy. So, I took the kids to the Library and signed Emma up for a summer reading program. The kids also got to paint rocks which we were supposed to hide around Sioux Falls, but I had a mom moment and left them at the library. Oh-well. Emma's excited for the reading program anyway, she got a necklace and for each 15 minutes of reading she gets beads to add to the necklace. Then, at the end of the program, she gets her name in a drawing for a grand prize basket.

We also finally planted our garden this past weekend. It only took us until June.

Sunday was kind of busy. We had a brunch at church that I had to help with. After that, John and I took the kids to the fields at Keuhn park, and we all had a little BP practice. It was fun to spend some time outside together, just the four of us.

This week is crazy, insane busy, and I'm kind of just looking forward to it being over. We have our normal softball on Monday and Tuesday night, and then on top of that, the kids have swimming lessons this week, and next week. And of course I couldn't get the kids into the same time slot, so I have Elliott going from 5:30-6pm and Emma from 7-7:45pm. Ugh. Then tomorrow, I had in Dental Appointments for the kids and myself at 3pm. Also, we are going camping this weekend, and we haven't shopped or packed a thing yet. Yikes.

So, the next two weeks are going to be crazy busy, and I will probably have no time to blog. Then, the next week is Emma's birthday, so I will be in planning and hosting mode.

I feel like I am going to blink and summer will be half over. So, I guess I will try to enjoy these busy weeks and not wish them away.

Treats on the stairs 

Ice cream on the tailgate

Emma in her happy place

Family outing. 

Elliott loves to run around the yard in his underwear.