Happy Fourth of July

I love the Fourth of July. It is a fun family gathering involving explosives and food. What a better combination? Today we started the afternoon with a few tank wars. Andrew was jumping up and down with excitement.

We also set off smoke bombs in the driveway.

We had family come and join us here in Apple Valley this year. There was a small family fair before the show started. We got to win some stuffed animals and play at the park.
The kids got to ride some crazy old rides...you know the kind that look like they were made in the 50s. I am not sure they would still make a ride like this...
It seemed to have a WW2 theme. Kids sitting in forward and backward sitting bombers trying to shoot each other down.

Ryan and I rode the rocking ferris wheel

It was slightly creaky and Ryan enjoyed freaking me out by rocking our car back and forth. Good times. (Emily took this picture. I think it is pretty cool).
Earlier in the day we had a rain storm come through, so that cooled down the temperatures. We brought chairs and blankets and set up camp for the show.

We had fun visiting and playing around before it started.
It was not this cold though. Some people are slightly dramatic.
I have this guy trained to stop and smile for a picture mid-sentence.
It was a clear night and our view was completely unobstructed. Look at the tiny moon in the corner. Some of the fireworks seemed to be right over our heads. The grand finale was of course the best part. It was fabulous. The whole thing gave me chills...and they were not from the cool temperature : ).

We ended the night with a few fireworks outside our house.
The sparklers were a smokey hit though.
We were pretending to have magic wands. Here Carol is passing on some magic to Nico.
I hope that everyone's had a great 4th!

Birthday boys and fireworks

Andrew had a birthday

He is lucky enough to have a cousin only 1 month older than him and that cousin just happens to be visiting this summer.

So

We celebrated Andrew and Leo's birthdays last night with a fun family birthday party.

I cannot believe they are 6!

Leo shows great pinata form..almost open!

Andrew smashes through to find all the candy.
The boys then make some birthday wishes.
and we all got to enjoy some yummy cake.

After the birthday party we decided to see the Bloomington fireworks.
They have their celebration on the third..so it is a fun way to start the Fourth of July festivities.
Although the fireworks were great, Leo seemed to enjoy the glow sticks more
He made a huge glowing circle and he made a glowing solar system
Happy Fourth of July..more to come

The Children's Museum

Yesterday we went to the Children's Museum in St. Paul. We had a great time.
They had the spark cart out. Emily has NEVER been able to pass the chance to paint on her face. (I start with this fact so that you understand the rest of the pictures)

and the boys ALWAYS seem to pass on the chance to paint on their faces

(here are the same three girls three years ago doing the same thing)

We spent time in the world's room. That is the room with the grocery store, restaurant, bus etc.
We also spent time in the work room...still one of our favorite rooms. You get to move foam blocks around on conveyor belts, play with bubbles, water and lights.

We hit the roof for the outdoor fun and nature art. Always a good time

Of course we spent a ton of time in the ant hill.

In this picture is Ryan, Adriana, Emily, Alexis and Andrew...a crazy group of life time friends.

This is a place that I have been taking the kiddos to ever since we moved here. I have a ton of pictures of my kids over the years at this place and yes I am going to share a few (that is the mood I am these days).

This is Ryan outside the anthill
Here is Andrew playing with an exhibit
Emily and Ryan playing with a muppet.
There is a room dedicated to the ages 4 and under. Now when we go I always say with a sigh "we don't qualify for that room any more."
This is baby Andrew hanging out on a lily pad from that room.

Our week

It was super hot on Monday. We decided to spend the day at the water park.

We had a blast! They added two new slides and a lazy river.

We were swimming,

We were floating

and floating.

We were splashing.
We were jumping

and generally goofing around.
Now we have been and still are paying for this incredible day.

After our day in the sun, some of us look like this

and others look this this.

I have felt like this
Sorry, sad and guilty...except I'm red-not blue- too..
So the rest of the week we have been hiding from the sun and applying aloe and cool cloths to our burns.

Today we have finally felt slightly better.
We decided to go see this
Safe from the hot sun...and actually it was a REALLY cute movie.

I piled five children into my car. All in good spirits. We had one stop to make before we got to the theater. As we were all piling out of the car, I noticed Andrew was only wearing this (and he was not dreaming).
We added a quick trip to Target to pick up some shorts.
Now before we go any where I get to check for shoes AND pants! I can't win!

That ladder

I could NOT sleep last night. So I started going through old pictures. I love going through old pictures. I added a ton to our picture frame in the living room...so you are all saved from them being posted here. But a few weeks ago I shared this picture of Emily at Jensen Lake Park. I also shared the fact that Emily has been climbing this ladder all her life! Here's the proof:

When I saw this....

I remembered this.
Same kid...same park...same ladder.
(Going through old pictures late at night turns me into such a sentimental sap!)

Catch up

I have so much catching up to do that I don't really even know where to start. I could talk about school being over..
I have to say that I am very happy to not be meeting the bus at 8 am each day. I am also happy that my kids now (for the most part) let me sleep in too. I really enjoy a good sleep in!
I also could talk about Erik and Laurie's birthday party. Yep..they are both a year older (notice Laurie was in town for a fun visit). Happy Birthday guys!
I could write about hosting book club. I was excited because I found the author's blog and emailed her. She emailed me back with fun information about the book to read to the book club. (You should read this book too btw)
I could write about the super fun visit with Josh and Sarah plus kids. They drove through on their way to Montana from Indiana. We swam, rode rides at the MOA and ate yummy food. Emily had a great time with Paige and Max! Can't wait to see them again and then they will get their own post.

I could write to say that gymnastics has started for Andrew and Emily

and tennis has started for Ryan

I could include a fun story about bowling with friends and ME beating Erik. I have to enjoy that one because it won't ever happen again! My great win included 4 strikes (well one of the strikes was technically a spare..but it was a spare that involved a gutter ball..so I am counting it as a strike)!
I could write about taking six kids bowling by myself. We actually had a fun time and the kids were really good!

So get excited because summer has started...it is going to be busy. It is going to be filled with friends and family and fun. I cannot wait to share it with EVERYONE!

Spy People

I was cleaning/straightening up the basement the other day. I found out we actually have carpet down there. I also found a notebook (among other things) on the floor . I opened it, hoping that is would be Andrew's speech notebook. It wasn't it. It was notes from the "Spy People." You see, for game night the kids are sent downstairs to play and watch movies...adults stay upstairs and play games. They stay on their turf and we stay on ours..at least that is what we thought.

*Wavid-explaining game,!making jokes! laughing!

*Tori-explaining game! making jokes! laughing!

Cathy-understanding game! making jokes! laughing!

Erik-asking Questions! making jokes! laughing!

I wonder what the jokes were...obviously funny.

Spy people are busted :). To bad their notes do not self destruct.

*I changed the names for Lori and David's privacy..opps