Georgia's Chicken Run

Miss Isabella ran her first race Saturday morning and she did a FANTASTIC job!!!  She ran in the annual Georgia's Chicken Run at the Deanna Rose Farm.  She ran 1/8 of a mile with girls who were in her age group.  

She was so excited in the week leading up to the race.  I bought her a new pair of tennis shoes and she practiced by running around the cul-de-sac.  On race morning she ate a great breakfast and was ready to go.  They had a great setup at the farm with carnival games, a DJ, a dancing chicken and cow, and lots of fun activities for kids.

Here she is all geared up with her new t-shirt and her racing bib.

"Just like Mommy and Daddy's"

Looking a little timid at the starting line but finished the race and got her own racing medal.  This is a big deal for her.  After every run that Kyle or I do she is always begging us for our medals, she was very proud to have one of her own.  She was so excited to hang this next to her soccer one that she got last spring.

Walter didn't care to much for the running, he spotted this beauty across the way and we could hardly keep him away from it.

Miss Margaret watched her sissy run while drinking her "coffee" (really hot chocolate).  She informed us that she will be ready next year to run with the three-year-old girls.

Watching all of these little ones run this race was probably the cutest thing I have ever seen! We loved every minute of it and can't wait to do it again next year.

Royals

Last night we took the girls to a Royals game.  We had great seats and perfect weather.  They loved eating all of the yummy snacks and watching for Slugger (their mascot).  They really don't want to be around him, they just want to know where he is at all times.  This is our second game this summer and each time the hit of the night for them is when Ketchup, Mustard, and Relish have races on the big screen.  They are a bit like their mommy at these types of sporting events, people watching is much more fun than the actual sport going on.  None- the-less, we had a blast!

Swim it up!

We had another relaxing day poolside at my cousins house yesterday and the kids swam like fish!  It has been so much fun watching them evolve into swimmers!  We had a pool growing up and I just remember swimming from the moment I awoke until dark.  I just remember how tired and hungry  I would be at the end of a day full of swimming.  It is such good activity for them!  The girls have been in swimming lessons year round for almost a year now and I really see that it has paid off, they are true water lovers!  

Walter likes the water but would rather be roaming and exploring on his own.

Aunt Johanna taking a break.

The only pic of me with my kids and no one is looking but me!  Oh well!

Relaxing with daddy

Sweetbug!

Boys Best Friend

I was just waiting for the day that Walter would figure this out.  

Today, as I was getting lunch ready, the kids were playing in the backyard.  The girls have been playing nonstop in their playhouse now that we have moved it to a bug free zone in our backyard.  Walter likes the playhouse but would rather be checking the scene out for some sticks, bugs, or dirt.  As I looked out the kitchen window to check on them this is what I saw...

He was bouncing up and down on him like he was a bull rider!!!

This one looks like he is a jockey riding his horse.

This one is my favorite because this shows how happy Walter gets every time he sees his doggy.  He just loves him to pieces, it must be the common bond that they share with the same color of hair:)

Bless Shadow's heart, he just sat like this for Walter for the longest time chewing on his stick.  Every now and again he would stand up for Walter to slide off of him, which he thought was the funniest thing in the world.  Then he would climb right back on and do it all over again.

What a beautiful day we are having!!!  Wish they could all be like this!  

Some learn by doing...

Yes, this is the face I got yesterday when my little man decided that eating dirt clots from our backyard was a good idea.  I sometimes wonder what goes through these little minds of theirs?  I think he might have learned to leave that dirt alone!

I swear I only turned my back for two seconds to hear him choking on dirt and boy did he NOT like it!  

After cleaning him up he was off to find another adventure and I have to say I did not get a picture of this because it was just too disgusting to document with a photo, it is hard enough to write about it.  Let's just say we have a large dog in our backyard.  Enough said, let your imaginations take you there.

YUCK!

This is a true BOY, pretty soon I am expecting toads, spiders, and snakes in the girl's beds:)

Topsy Turvey

About six months ago Kyle and I were flipping through channels and came upon this little ditty, an infomercial for the Topsy Turvey.  For those that have no idea what this is, it is a planter for things that grow on a vine.  It hangs upside down so that the root system grow up while the plant grows down.  We of course thought it was cool, but more in a joking way.  I had been thinking of starting a tomato plant in a pot on the deck because Walter and I are huge tomato fans.

Low and behold Ursula Mary (my mom) was here for a visit in April and excitingly gave me the Topsy Turvey.  She knew I wanted to start a tomato plant and could resist this buy when she saw it in a store thinking it would be so much fun for the kids to help with.  I think mainly she wanted to see if it would really work.

Kyle rigged it up for me (it is kind of an eye sore) and Isabella and I planted two tomato plants in it.  We water it daily and the girls have had such a good time  watching it grow.  Our first tomatoes appeared in June and we are still waiting for them to be picked.  Last week they finally started turning to that wonderful orange color and each day they get more and more beautiful.  I am so excited to taste our first one!

Truckin

One of Walter's favorite past times lately has been riding this little dump truck that Kyle's family got him for his birthday.  He loves it and boy is he fast!  My tricky little guy gets on it and goes as fast as those little chunky legs will take him.  Usually it is down the sidewalk to our neighbors house three doors down who has a boat in their driveway.  He is just fascinated by all of this "boy" stuff...I love it!

I also...

love this...

little face:)

Lake Quivira

Yesterday we spent the day with our friends at Lake Quivira.  It was a beautiful day and it felt like we were on a mini vacation.  We were there to visit a wonderful family whom I have tutored several of their children for the last two years and we have all just became friends.  This is one of my favorite jobs to do because they let me bring my kids with me when I tutor and they have a ball.  There are five children total and I just love all of the chaos when I am there.  Their mother is an amazing woman who is not only the most patient mother I know but so amazingly strong in her faith.  Her children range from college age to the youngest being a seventh grader and they all are so polite and wonderful with my children.  Here are some shots of our fun filled day...

Isabella testing the water.  It was surprisingly warm considering all of the rain that we have had lately.

Margaret loved squishing the sand beneath her toes.

Walter loved the sand and everything that came with it.  At one point it was on every square inch of his body (including his tush!)  I am still finding it in our car:)

We ended our day with a nice boat ride that lulled a few of my little ones to sleep.

I got to relax while others entertained my kiddos and they got their baby fix...it was a perfect day.

Friends

Margaret had her very own play date today with her best buddy Addison.  Her mom and I laugh because they kind of have a love/hate relationship.  Some days they get along beautifully and some days they just put each other in their place.  It must be that second child thing.  I just have a feeling that these two are going to be all sorts of drama as they grow together.  They had a great day today filled with dressing up like princesses, dancing, and of course cruising around in the pink mustang:)

Let's go girls!

Fourth of July

We woke up to rain this Fourth of July morning, but that didn't stop us from having a fabulous Fourth of July weekend!  I have decided that I love it when July 4th is on a Saturday.  Kyle had Friday off and it was just nice to have a three day weekend with him home.

We started off our morning with one of my kids favorite things to do, play in shaving cream.  I don't mind this activity either, it keeps them occupied for at least an hour and the clean up isn't so bad.  They love the way it feels, smells, and the whole idea of getting messy.

We decided to be very patriotic and add our red and blue to make it festive.

The girls got even more patriotic with their fingers and toes (with a little help from mommy)

We spent a wonderful afternoon/evening at my cousin's house who lives here in KC.  She has a beautiful backyard with a swimming pool and tons of other fun things to do that kept my kids busy for hours.  I swear they were in the pool five hours!  It was also nice to see aunts, uncles, and lots of cousins.  

Isabella going down the slide.  This was also fun for me to, I don't think that I had done this in years.

Margaret liked hanging out in the hot tub.

Love this pic!

Walter was hell on wheels the entire night, he could not sit still.  The girls did some little snaps and we were able to see a nice fireworks display through the trees.  We didn't leave the party until 11:00 that night and my kids were already asking when we could go back.  It was a great day:)