Our June has been full of parties, picnics, pools and a few other fun things thrown in. We've been having a great summer. This summer seems unusually busy for us, so I'm trying to be super intentional with how we spend our time. If we think of something fun to do, I try not to put it off, we just do it. I just have this feeling that I'm going to blink and it will be time to shop for school supplies, so we are soaking up every fun moment of summer that we can.
At the beginning of June Nathan had a fun birthday party for his friend Thomas at Sky Zone. We are in full fledged birthday party season around our house, and it's been so fun. It almost feels like a date with Nathan when he has a party because I get some one on one time with him. And I usually have some friends there too to visit with while our kids play.
Nathan was pretty thrilled that Allie was at the party too. Fun soccer buddies!
And Happy Birthday to Thomas! He had a great party.
That same night we had a Sunday school picnic. The weather was absolutely perfect and we had an awesome evening eating delicious food, visiting with our friends and watching the kids play and get super dirty. It was the perfect summer night!
The kids had a blast. Every time I see this huge group of kids, I am grateful again that the Lord led us to FBC and for the relationships with all these wonderful families.
So Samuel got soaked with the sprinkler and water balloons...
And then decided to bury himself in the sand
To say the bathwater was dirty that night would be an understatement.
Samuel wasn't the only dirty one in our bunch
The next weekend, FlightSafety had their annual family picnic. We look forward to the fun all year. Nathan remembered these hamster balls from last year and asked over and over if he was big enough to get to try them out this year.
We had a great afternoon eating and playing and getting sticky from cotton candy and snow cones.
Elisabeth was asleep almost before we got out of the parking lot when we left.
Nathan and his friend Makinley had swim lessons last week. He was a little anxious the first day, but did much better the rest of the week.
He learned a lot and had a fun week
These two Little Sisters had fun playing and snacking while the big kids swam.
And Samuel avoided the girls by playing Transformers everyday during lessons.
It was fun for Nathan to have a buddy to do swim lessons with.
Group pic on the last day of lessons.
Depending on how our summer goes, we might do another week of lessons in July. It was a fun activity, but made for a busy week with lessons every morning.
It wouldn't be summer without lots of pool time. Having a neighborhood pool has been awesome. This summer since the kids are bigger and all three love the water, we've been swimming several times a week.
One afternoon we met some friends at Forest Ridge's pool for more swimming. It felt like a milestone that I could take all three kids to the pool by myself, and we all survived (and all napped when we got home).
Since the kids aren't in school this summer, lunch dates with my working friends occur at Chick-Fil-A! Thanks Jennifer and Shana for being flexible!
Summer has also been full of sweet sibling play times.
It's one of the greatest feelings for me when I catch all three of them playing happily together. Summertime bonding!
Last week, I hosted a big group play date for some of our friends. It was a great morning. Lunchtime was a little chaotic trying to feed ten kids, but it was worth it.
The kids had a great time playing together, and the moms had a chance to
visit. I love that everyone is getting older, and the kids could go
upstairs or outside and the moms could just sit and visit. I couldn't get over how well everyone played and how little adult intervention was required.
Nathan said his favorite part was organizing a "baseball game" in the backyard. I'm not sure how much baseball happened, but he sure thought it was fun.
Elisabeth asks to play with "AudWee" all the time. Their friendship melts me.
Boys and their Legos. Nathan struggled with learning to share his prized possessions. He sure was proud to show them off, but needed some encouragement to let his friends play!
We've been busy, but we still have time to be lazy!
Nathan had his second (of three) June birthday parties on Saturday. The kids got to tour the fire station and even got to spray the fire hose.
Nathan loved it and all the kids were soaked! So much fun!
Happy Birthday Payton! Birthday parties are the best!
Saturday afternoon we took the boys to see
Zootopia. It's always fun to take them to the movies. I think Matt and I liked the movie more than they did. Samuel kept saying, "This is a really long show." He sure loved the dance party they had at the end of the movie though.
We are looking forward to more summer fun in the weeks to come!
