Little big man

Patrick pretty much thinks he is in charge these days. And, well, sometimes he is. You can see how he has his siblings wrapped around his finger.

He's got her right where he wants her.

I love the sprinkler pics - his first time in the sprinkler, and he loved it!

Sunburn, bug bites, and blisters

Ahhh, yes, the days of summer. We had an awesome 4-day holiday weekend over 4th of July. It was O family Christmas and this year's gathering did not disappoint. Sadly, I have hardly any pictures (can someone share, please?). Some weekend highlights:

My little cousins are now the 'big kids" for my kids. So fun to see!

• Royals game on the 4th - we won! And got to see a grand slam! (By "see" I mean it happened. We were in line at little K and heard the crowd roar.) Ellie Kate got drenched by the fountains and all enjoyed cooling off with her wet hugs.
• Ice cream and neighborhood fireworks with the kids. P slept sounds. E & W were in awe. EK even created a new fireworks dance to show her appreciation of an especially good spark.
• Swimming at GoGo and Grampy's. Will can touch all the way across the pool - yay! Kids discovered the joys of water guns - thanks, Gramps.
• Yard games and beer go hand in hand - delightful summer afternoon.
• No O Christmas is complete without a $5 game/gift. Thanks to Patty for hauling boxes and wrapping paper all the way from OK!
• The mini golf tournament (on the course set up in the back yard) was a hit. When I realized the worst we could do was double bogey, my score instantly improved. Will made $4.55 as the beer cart kid and earned his first blister from playing golf. Gotta get him a glove.
• Learned new games, spent time with my awesome cousins, watched my kids play and play and play until they passed out on the way home. 

Can't wait til next year - a wedding and a 90th birthday celebration are on tap. Already looking forward to it.

chilling out after we got home

Perfect summer weekend

After swim lessons on Friday we all headed to the K for a Royals game. We had great seats and a parking pass and made it about 5 innings. I consider that a success for Patrick's first game and a 7:05 first pitch!

Saturday morning we got to ride in the Old Shawnee days parade. Patrick did not enjoy this at all. He was whiny and restless pretty much the whole time. Ellie Kate and Will both told me their arms got tired from waving. We had beautiful weather and a great crowd. After the parade, we headed to the Old Shawnee Days carnival. I caught a glimpse of my children's differing personalities. Eleanor rode ride after ride. She and Justin went on the big Ferris wheel. She loved every bit of it. After one ride, Will opted for the carnival games. He came home with countless treasures. Thankfully, Patrick finally fell asleep. He looked so uncomfortable, but I was glad he finally slept.

While the kids napped Saturday afternoon, I enjoyed sun time on the deck. As I told J, it is my happiest place. After naps, we played in the water table.

After our usual Sunday chores and baseball practice, we went to our neighborhood pool. This was Patrick's first trip. I have no pictures from this - it took all hands for children! But, we had a great time.

Now, we are all a bit sun kissed, swimsuits are drying around the house, kids are pooped, and I'm enjoying a glass of wine. All in all, a glorious summer weekend.

Summer fun

We've had lots of fun times with family and friends lately. Maybe that's why I'm behind on blogging. But, it's been well worth it. We've gotten to see lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins in the last few weeks.

We did our annual summer b-day gathering. There are so many family birthdays we just let anyone who wanted a candle in their cupcake have one!

Liz & Cayla put on a  fabulous dance performance. Of course, EK couldn't wait to join in the fun!

We've had lots of time for sibling bonding this summer :)

All 3 kids were out of school the last week of July. So, I loaded them up in the 100+ degree heat and headed to Deanna Rose Farmstead one morning. Despite Will being terrified of animals and a traumatic run-in with some geese, both of the older kids raved about how much fun it was. Go figure.

Will wouldn't get anywhere near the buffalo. (Notice two fences between him and us.)

And this is what Patrick did the whole time.

Such a big boy!

Patrick now has two bottom teeth and has been doing a great job sitting up by himself. He loves playing with toys and is growing so fast. I can't believe he'll be 6 months old next week!

4th of July

Look at this! I'm posting about a holiday in the month it actually occurred -- amazing!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a fun 4th of July in Topeka. (I must admit that Wednesday is my least favorite day for this holiday to fall on since we worked the day before and day after.) Anyway, we started the morning visiting our friends from Texas. We don't get to see them nearly enough!

You try getting 5 kids to look at the camera and smile.

W loved this silly bandana. He got it the day before at school and wore it all day.

so sweet!

There's a lot of cheese in this picture! But I love seeing these two dad with their growing families :)

Then we went swimming and had lunch with J's family. The older kids (and by kids, I mean adults, too) did fireworks that night. EK was scared of the noise and Patrick was asleep so I missed the show, but Will sure enjoyed himself!

Grandpa & Will during the afternoon fireworks

Cousins

Patrick & Aubrey

Will's coordination has gotten much better so he & Nathan had a great time playing the Wii.

Will's swimming lessons

Due to some changes at work, I was able to enroll the kids in swim lessons this summer and be confident that I'd be home in time to take them. Will's 2 weeks of class just finished. For it being his first lessons, I'm pretty pleased. He looked timid, awkward, and terrified at many points, but he had nothing be positive things to say about it. He's doing a much better job going under water. They worked a lot on glides and floats. He still isn't great about jumping in from the side and is not doing any actual strokes yet. Maybe he'll get there. I love the water and would really like my kids to be comfortable swimmers. But, of course, that takes time and dedication. And, well, we don't spend a lot of our "free" time at the pool. Maybe when the kids are older. Nonetheless, Will is very proud of himself for completing his lessons and he had a really fun time. Ellie Kate starts hers on Monday - that will be very interesting! I probably won't have pictures of hers to post, though, since I'm in the pool with her for her lessons.

There were 3 boys (including Will) in the group.

Front float. Will's teacher, Hannah, was awesome! So patient and fun!

This is just a pic of the pool - pretty cool, huh?

Ellie is convinced her lessons will be over with all the toys....I'm trying to manage the expectations.

Back glide

Jumping in