Fair / Dad's Bday Celebration #2

We made our annual trip to the Washington County Fair today -- there was a lot of great people watching! The kids insisted on riding the merry-go-round as soon as we got in the gates.

Ben's favorite...pigs.We always get a picture of the kids with this pig!
Ben insists on petting everything.
It seemed like we spent most of our time on the tractors/big rigs.
After the boys rode the roller coaster we all met up at Helvetia Tavern for burgers...YUM!Since Ellen's family was out of town last weekend we celebrated dad's big day again tonight with cake at the Arnold's. Mom insisted on taking this photo - yowza! 4 weeks to go!

Being silly

Summer

I bought some fudge bars today at Costco and evidently the kids enjoyed them!
Sam's glasses came in the mail today - He has been wearing them all afternoon... and just now asked me "Mom, am I all done with these glasses yet?"
He looks all grown up!

Rose Garden

We spent the morning playing up at Washington Park with friends. The boys loved running all over the play structure and chasing their buddies. We made our way up to the Rose Garden and had a picnic in the amphitheater before heading out.

Happy Birthday

My sweet dad celebrated his 60th birthday yesterday! He has been telling the boys he was turning 16... so they keep asking me if he is 16 or 60... and that he must be 60 because he already went to college and can drive. We celebrated with a BBQ, lots of playing in the hose and mud pie!

Golf

Brian got Sam a few golf lessons for his birthday this year. His first one is tomorrow and he can't wait. We went to the driving range tonight... it was only his 2nd time but he did great!
Ben has a fun as long as you don't try and help him -- he wants to do it "his own way!"
Putting...
We got a kick out of this shadow...

Here is a little video of Sam...

Afternoon pool party

Yesterday we met a bunch of friend's at the Tennant's pool... the kids had a great time swimming, jumping in off of the side and diving for things on the bottom of the pool.
We are loving these perfect summer days!

Zoo

We spent a sunny morning at the zoo with friends and had such a good time. Sam doesn't get to go that often during the school year - I think the last time he went was in December for zoolights!
Photo by Sam...
Ben loves the elephants!
These dinos were a big hit!
My boys...
Love the sea lions!

Space

Both boys (especially Sam) have been interested in space and astronauts lately. Sam recently told me he has to do well in school so he can go to college and then blast off into space from Florida... not sure where he got that one!

Raspberry Breakfast Bars

I made these bars today... they are sooooo good. Might have to try them tonight with vanilla ice cream!

More Berries

The boys and I went raspberry picking today at West Union Gardens. There was not a ton of berries but we still had a good time. The boys loved the chickens, roosters, turkeys and goat that were roaming around.

Ben got bored after a while and started putting the bucket on his head, throwing rocks and trying to cause trouble. He picked for about 20 min and was done - not bad for a 3 year old. He kept asking "where can I find another clean and shiny one?" I think he was referring to ripe berries... but kept calling them shiny and sparkly.
Tonight I made a triple batch of raspberry jam - it turned out great. I think tomorrow I will either make a pie or raspberry breakfast bars... can't let those berries go to waste!

Summer Treat

If you are looking for something fun to make this summer - why not a watermelon hedgehog? We took this over to Lizzie's birthday party today and the kids loved it!

Pool Fun

We ventured over to the South Pool today and kids had a blast on the curly slide!

So did Brian...

Sam doing a corkscrew!

Wrestling