June and July in a Nutshell

This has been an incredibly busy Summer. I can't believe that it's almost over already. In a nutshell, here are some of our favorite photos from our Summer 2009.

One big highlight was having lots of friends come over to swim each day.

Nana gave birth to 8 puppies. It was a huge litter, and she was thoroughly exhausted. We jokingly nicknames her the octo-mom. Those puppies sucked her dry. She most likely (as far as we can figure) bred with 2 different dogs. A Yorkie, and a Pug. Simply because some look like Yorkies and some look like Pugs. At 6 weeks we gave them all away, except one. A little black one that Matt wanted named Ozzie.

This is just a funny incident that made me chuckle. It was pouring rain outside one afternoon, and a squirrel just happened to be resting on our back bumper trying its best to get out of the rain. It kept popping its head out from behind the van. Then it would go back to where I couldn't see it again. Then again it would pop it's head out. It totally made me laugh. I just had to take a photo.

4th of July at the church. The kids has a blast playing tag in the parking lot.

The older boys played a game inside the church called ladder ball. The balls are on strings and you throw them across the room and try to rack them on a plastic ladder.

June and July in a Nutshell (Cont.)

More 4th of July pictures from our church. Truthseeker is playing pin the flag on Illinois. All the kids had fun playing this game.
Kroger was giving away free 4th of July balloons. Thumbody was lucky to get one.

Truthseeker (and all the others) were in love with the puppies. You could find them carrying around one, most of the time.

Another Summer highlight was making Cold Stone ice cream with our Cold Stone kit we got from mom and dad for Christmas, this past year. As you can see (behind Thumbody) we used the bottom of our car top carrier to house Nana and her pups. There were so many of them, we didn't really have anything big enough to house them. This worked nicely.

One Summer afternoon was spent at the Splash Pad in a nearby town. It's a free place for the kids to run around and get cooled off. The kids enjoyed this so much. I did too. I sat under a shaded area, and worked on lesson plans for the upcoming school year. As you can see from this photo, I had a perfect eye view of the kids. Love this park!

More Splash Pad fun.

Our home all in bloom. I just love summertime. All of my flowers are in bloom, and the house just looks so nice.

This is how Skaterboy spent the first part of his Summer. He and World of Warcraft have been companions during most of his freetime. He did complete driver's ed, which took up most of the month of June, but in his free time this is where we could find him. He is currently in Missouri working for my dad, as an electrician's apprentice. We will go pick him up in a few weeks or so.

A fun Summer carnival in the park.

There were lots of these blow-up things, and everything was completely free.

Truthseeker, down the slide.

Here comes Skaterboy!

What is better than an ice cold snow cone on a hot Summer day?

Here we are. Mom and Thumbody. Truthseeker wanted to take a photo of us at the carnival.

One tradition that we tried to hold true to this Summer was a weekly trip to the farmer's market. I loved being able to pick up fresh organic vegetables, and the kids enjoyed getting a little sweet treat too. Thumbody is enjoying a small loaf of banana bread in this photo.

Here is one week of organic fruits and veggies for the family. Yum!

June and July in a Nutshell (Cont.)

More Summer fun stuff. The kids enjoyed a very fun Star Wars birthday party for their friend Daniel.
The pin'ata is always a huge hit.

Truthseeker tries his hand at the pin'ata.

Camp Lean On The Lord was the title of our church's VBS this year. The kids learned all about people with disabilities, and how they can help them, and reach out to them. The VBS was narrated by Joni Erickson Tada. It was a neat experience. Here they are singing some of their VBS songs in front of the church.

Camping... In the living room. We had planned to go camping (for real) this particular night, but there were storm warnings, and so we chickened out. Instead we let the kids have a campout in the living room. Hope to do some real camping soon.

Since our camping trip was post poned, and the next afternoon was nice, we decided to take the kids to the water park. Scott and Skaterboy are resting after taking on some wicked water slides.

June and July in a Nutshell (Cont.)

Here we are. Don't we make a gorgeous couple?
The bumper boats were fun to drive. I tried to squirt Scott as much as I could.

Thumbody on the paddle boat. We took a leisurely trip around the pond.

The toilet slide (as we like to call it) as it feels like you are being flushed down a toilet.
Strange experience, I must say.

Scott and Skaterboy on the paddle boats.

June and July in a Nutshell (Cont.)

This is the scariest slide ever. It doesn't look too bad, does it? Well, let me ask you, have you ever had a dream where you were falling? This is how this slide feels when you are going down it. Then you slide up to the top of the other part, and you feel like you just may go off the edge. Once was enough for me on this one.

Scott took Skaterboy and Truthseeker on the Go-Carts. Thumbody was just a little upset that he was too young to ride.

After a nice trip to the water park, Scott drove us past the hospital where he works. This photo is only a small portion of the hospital. It covers 2 complete city blocks, plus a number of doctor's offices in the area as well.

Our 2nd to last stop after the hospital tour, was a visit to Abe Lincoln's Tomb. Truthseeker did an exhibit for the fair titled Celebrating Lincoln, and he needed a photo of his tomb for the collage he made. He did 2 other exhibits as well, that we will see tomorrow when we go to the fair. Truthseeker and Thumbody are also in the Goat and Chicken Scrambles tomorrow night. Ann and the girls should be here around 4 tomorrow, so they are going to go watch too.

Lots of family reunion time this Summer. Dad, Mom, my brother Ken, my niece Madison, and my brother's girlfriend Nikki came for a visit, and stayed the weekend. Here we are all enjoying the pool on a warm afternoon.

June and July in a Nutshell (Cont.)

Here we are, my family. Not everyone of course. It was so nice to see everyone and visit. It's been a good Summer, after a long hard Winter.
We belong to a playgroup that meets every week. This particular week the kids made homemade icecream. Here they are shaking the half and half (with 2 tsp sugar, and 1/2 tsp vanilla in a small baggie) in a large baggie of ice and rock salt. It's pretty tasty I must say.

Shake, shake, shake....shake your bootie :)

Enjoying their home made ice cream.