Lake Vacation, Part II

While at the lake, they also did a lot of "touristy" things, which is really all the super fun activities that we can't do here in KC! They chose one activity a day- well, that was the plan. Go-carts, mini golf, bumper boats, Dog Patch arcade. So many fun things to do!!

Lake Vacation, Part I

Life at the Lake is something I've enjoyed since I was a baby. Every summer, we'd spend a week or weekend at the lake quite often and those are some of my very favorite memories! Since the boys have been born, I've been fortunate enough to take them to the lake quite often, that they also dream of going to the lake each and every summer and some of their favorite memories have been made there!! This year, we were hoping to make it a full family vacation, but with Levi's work and traveling schedule, and us having a wild and crazy dog, I wasn't sure how we could make it work. So, it turned out that Mimi and PawPaw took all 4 boys by themselves for the ENTIRE week! A few years ago, they took all 4 boys for 4 days, but since they were a few years older now, Mimi was sure they could handle a full week! And oh my goodness, they had the time of their lives!!! I totally missed out on SO much fun! But I'm SO glad they made the memories that will last them a lifetime!!! There wasn't wi-fi out there, so we didn't get to FaceTime each day like I had hoped- not that the boys would stop and talk to me anyway- too much fun to be had. But luckily Mimi was great about sending me pictures!!!

I got a little teary on the morning they left because I knew they were going to be making so many memories that I wasn't going to be in! But I was thankful for 2 parents who lovingly took them for an adventure of a lifetime!!!! Plus, a week alone in the house wasn't the worst thing ;-)

They swam and swam and swam. They played their iPads. They ate Dairy Queen (a lot) and a ton of other junk food. They went to Ozarkland quite a few times. They stayed up late. They played cards and board games. They had nothing but FUN!!!

Muscle Man Wyatt

Wyatt is kind of obsessed with his muscles. He likes working the pull-up bar multiple times throughout the day and he definitely likes flexing! I guess if my arms looked that ripped too, I might show them off or be a little more motivated to keep them looking good! 

I guess gymnastics does a body good!

Mr. Chris

We are so thankful to have some amazing mentors in our boys' lives! Mr. Chris often leads the Kids Worship service at church and the boys LOVE when he's there. He is always good for some quick wit, lots of laughter, and endless joy and encouragement. We are very thankful the Lord is using him to shine such a bright light in their lives! He and Grant clicked about a year and half ago, which kickstarted Grant's enthusiasm for kids ministry. Mr. Chris came to deliver a card for Grant and asked if he could take them for a special treat in a special car! I knew what the plan was, but I kept it a surprise for the boys and their jaws hit the floor when Grant opened up the front door to see Mr. Chris. Not only that, but when they saw they were going to go in a convertible, their smiles went from ear to ear! They had a great time getting ice cream and Grant shared his brilliant ideas for the SBO in years to come! A very special evening for sure!

Fireworks!

The rain finally stopped, so it was time to head across the state line and find some fireworks! We didn't know where to go, we just headed east. We eventually saw a sign that said 3 miles away, so we turned down that way! Well, about 1/2 mile in, there were police directing traffic in and out of this rock road. Thinking it was a detour or something, we headed that way. Come to find out, it wasn't a detour at all. It was a MASSIVE firework stand. Unlike anything I had ever seen before. We usually buy fireworks off a card table on the side of a road somewhere, but this place was legit. There were tents upon tents. Bouncy houses. Climby things. Snack shacks.  Pure craziness!! We filled our grocery sack and headed home to wait til dark.

The boys were extremely impatient and had to do a few fireworks right away!! We pulled out a box of sparklers and that held them over for a little while. 

And then the sun came out just long enough to capture this beautiful sunset!

And as soon as that sun was no longer visible, it was Firework Time!! The Scalise's came over to enjoy in our festivities! Fireworks are always more fun with friends!

We didn't have anything amazing, but it definitely made it seem like the 4th of July!! Sparklers, spinning flowers, buzzing bees, snap-pops, smoke bombs, and fountains- that was all we needed! Our grand finale was a super cool fountain that lasted a good two minutes! Many ooohs and aaaah! We can't see any displays from our house and we weren't about to brave the traffic to do so, so we called it a night! Happy 4th of July!

Festive 4th of July

We love celebrating the USA!!! We were hoping the rain would go away so we could enjoy our day! Eventually it did, but it sure took its time! While we waited, we had a little festive fun with Facebook filters while we waited to go get fireworks...

By the Flagpole

4 years of celebrating the 4th of July in this house!!!

Lenexa Freedom Run

Levi decided that he wanted to run the Lenexa 5k Freedom Run. The boys weren't too keen on getting up at 6am on the 4th of July to go watch him, but we couldn't have Levi run a race without any cheerleaders present!! After looking at the forecast the night before, we knew rain was a possibility. So we brought our umbrella and Grant wore a hoodie, just to be safe. However, as soon as the racers crossed the starting line, the rain come down. And it came down hard. And it didn't stop. We managed to hang out under a huge tree under the umbrella just hoping that Levi would run as fast as possible, but we are were totally soaked. Levi finished the race in 24 minutes (3rd in his age division and 368th/1367) and we all ran back to the car as quickly as possible. Levi looked like he just went for a swim with this clothes on (hence, the reason we have no after pictures). It was a memorable event, thats for sure! But we are so proud of you Levi!!

4th of July on the 2nd

We decided to have a little family pool party for the 4th, but celebrate on the 2nd. The 2nd just seemed so much better because it was a weekend, and the 4th was looking sketch for a sunny day (which turned out to be true!). When we weren't swimming or stuffing our faces with our favorite "pool party" food, we enjoyed a few games of Watch Yo Mouth! Hilarious!!!

 The boys made their own shirts to prepare for their lake trip the next week. We bought plain white tank tops and fabric markers and let them decorate to their hearts were content. They were so proud of their designs!! Such cute cousins!

It was an absolutely beautiful July 4th on the 2nd!!!

June Photos

 Playing with the leaf blower ~ Animals on the loose ~ Our new flag pole

Grant's baby beanie boo ~ Brothers ~ Sleepy Millie

Summer sleeping ~ Smoothie King ~ Fun Homework

Half-Price Shakes after 8 ~ Moon Marble ~ Stuffed Animal Friends

Water Gun Battle ~ Snugglebugs ~ Prairie Fire Art

Capture the Flag ~ New Roof ~ Lego Room is Back!

Fruity Swimming

One of the best purchases of the summer were these fruit slices from Sam's. They were the perfect floatie for when you wanted to be in the water without being under the water!! Millie especially liked them- well, more when they were on land than on water! They also doubled as boats, space pods, stepping stones, doggy beds, and race cars! They definitely sweetened up our summer!

Mini-Golfing

Blackbob Park has a little hidden gem in the back of the park and its Mini-Golf! My mom took the boys a few times last summer, towards the end of the season. Fast forward to this summer when they remembered it. So my mom took them back. When they were there, they found out you can buy a pass for the WHOLE summer for $25 for the entire family! How could you say no to that? We've gone quite a bit this summer! We went as a family one evening and it started raining about 9 holes in, so we wrapped up the game and then came back the next night to finish. I love that! Can't beat cheap summer fun!!