Landin's visit

We were so thrilled to have Aunt Amber and cousin Landin come visit us last week.  They called us on Friday and said, "hey- what if we come up on Sunday and stay til the next Sunday?!"  We threw the guest rooms together and got Landin enrolled in camp with Julia and they had a great time.

All week Julia, Landin, Tucker and Charlie went to a day camp where they did crafts and played gym games like capture the flag, kickball, freeze tag, leap frog, and a bunch of games I've never heard of.  :)  It was the perfect way to beat the miserable heat.  In the evenings we either swam or played at home.  Amber brought a car full of hand-me-down toys for the children.  Tucker and Charlie were thrilled to have new puzzles- USA and planets.

 

 She also brought home "Sleepy Sheep", one of Charlie's favorite sheep that he left in Orlando. 

 

 

 She also brought the boys Noah's old marble run- they love it!

Landin gave Julia her American Girl horse-

Marc's mind was completely blown when she let him put together the Imperial Destroyer.  It has been sitting in a box for years, and Marc put it together in a few hours. 

 

Julia had horseback riding, and Landin went to watch!

 

We have these river birch trees in our front yard that shed their leaves like crazy.  So we had a leaf pile to play in here in August!

One afternoon after camp we went to Chuck E Cheese.  

 

 

 

We went to the movies to see Shaun the Sheep- loved it!  The children laughed out loud. 

We went to Kobe for their last night here.   Such a great time for everyone!

We love our family!!!

A shower for Victoria

On Saturday I was thrilled to be able to host a shower for Matt and Shana and their new daughter baby Victoria.  If you haven't read "the story" on Shana's blog you should.  It was so much fun to decorate for a girl!  Amber was here so she helped me so much- she made all the tulle bows.

Her initials are on the banner-



Landin and Julia investigate the food.  :)

"Victoria"!

This punch was delicious- frozen raspberry lemonade (defrosted), sprite and club soda with floating rasberry sherbert balls, pineapple and raspberries. 

 

 

Our sweet helpers-

And what a haul!

By the way, BB is not pictured, but she was here and such a help!

We love you, Shana!  

Awesome puzzles

Sorry for the blogging break- my sister-in-law and niece were with us for eight days!  And then on Saturday I hosted a big baby shower for Shana- so we have been busy!  All that will come.  I want to make sure to get on here these awesome puzzles and tell you I think you should buy them for your little ones!

They are called Flipzles and on one side they are just a wooden jigsaw puzzle, but when you flip the pieces out- each puzzle piece is a toy in itself that children love to play with in the scene left behind on the empty puzzle.  Charlie and Tucker LOVE these and work with these for long periods of time.  I have the castle, farm and rescue station, but plan to get a few more- I'm definitely going to get the Nativity.   

This morning as I did laundry Charlie sat on the floor playing with his castle.

The flip sides of the pieces-

You did it!

Also, now when it's hot I say, "who wants to wash the car?" and everyone cheers and runs outside.  :)
The most diligent washer is definitely Charlie, with Julia a close second.  I heard him yelling at Julia, "I need to keep scwubbing- don't winse this off!!"  :)