Fun Night

We had another especially fun night with our kids. Kianna still had a gift certificate to use up at the climbing gym in Ann Arbor, so this time we took our friends, Jen and Ada Marlatt with us. We ate dinner at Panera's and then went climbing. While we were having our fun, Trevor took Kaylee and Trace out to dinner to Applebee's and then to the new "Minions" movie in 3D. Another fun night in the books...

Fourth of July Fun

Pretty Nails

Jenae, Kianna and Cameron

Fireworks on the lake

Paper Lanterns

Good times

Usually the kids and I are back in Iowa for the fourth, but this year we decided to stick around. The weather was perfect all weekend. The best it had been all summer, so we decided to spend the day/weekend relaxing by the pool. We worked on our tans, played some "Pig" in the pool and some pool dodge ball. It was a great day.

Later that evening, we were invited out to Devil's Lake to watch fireworks with our friends, The Coles. They had a bon fire where we roasted marshmallows and ate S'mores. It was a great evening on the lake and the fireworks were very pretty. Unfortunately, Trace had a little mishap with the poppers he was playing with when one exploded in his hand. The flecks inside the popper flew into Trace's eye causing him an immense amount of pain. Thankfully, we were able to get them out, although it was difficult since it was dark outside. No damage was done thankfully! The night ended by letting off paper lanterns into the sky.

Frogs, frogs, and more frogs

For the past few weeks, we have listed to frogs croaking loudly outside of our sunroom window. It got to be so loud, that is was hard to watch TV at night. Finally after weeks of hearing them croak, Trevor decided to go frog patrol. It didn't take him long to catch two tree frogs next to our pool. He surprised Kianna the next morning with the frogs. She was super excited. This girl has no fear. She lets them climb on her. They even swim with her. She simply loves frogs!

Fun Day with Daddy

Our sitter wasn't available today, so Trevor took the day off work to stay home with the kids while I worked. He made the day special by taking the kids on a bike ride and having a picnic.

Kaylee discovered a new app on her iPad and spent hours making videos with her brother and sister. One was a spy video and the other was a super hero video. They are super cute. I was amazed at all that was accomplished all in a days work...

Father's Day

Since we were in Iowa on Father's Day, we celebrated with Trevor as soon as we were back in town. We surprised him with an Iowa Hawkeye "Cook" stone. Morbidly, our kids said it looked like a tombstone, which was pretty funny and disturbing at the same time. We also took him out for dinner. The kids made him a banner and some nice cards. We had a good reunion with our favorite guy!

Iowa

Zach Flender and Trace

Lunch with playgroup

My mom's movie attire

Jamie and I

Karey, Emily, Amy and Keri

Father's Day

Mommy and Trace running together

Sally and I

Makenna, Brooke, Kaylee and Trace

Kianna and Krista

One of my favorite things to do in the summer, is to take the kids back to Iowa for a week. The summer schedule is so much more laid back than other times we visit. We stayed with my dad and Sue in their new condo. We saw them a lot in the mornings and as we were coming and going. Some of our highlights from the week were:

• Day with my mom, John, Rylan and Aliyah- The kids were really excited to play with their cousins. Aliyah had purchased some canvases and paints for the girls to get crafty. Kaylee enjoyed it so much that she bought her own paints and canvases when we returned to Michigan.  Kaylee and I took on Aliyah in a game of "Horse". I am proud to announce that I won, but Aliyah gave me a good run for my money. She is a great ball handler and has a mean three point shot from the top of the key. It was fun seeing her in action. I enjoyed catching up with my mom while the kids played. We also took a walk to the Dairy Queen for ice cream cones and then to Apache park to play. The kids and I finished up the day with dinner at Stacie and Patrick's house. We were able to see their new house for the first time. It is beautiful. It was a good day. 
• Visit with Grandma Russell- She had recently gotten out of the hospital following a bought with pneumonia. It was really nice being able to visit with her. It had been awhile.
• Visit with Grandma Carie- Grandma spent the day with the kids and I. We finished up the day by having dinner at the Amana Colonies with the rest of the family. As usual the food was yummy and the kids enjoyed the family style meal. 
• Day with Becki and Bryker- Trace was super excited to spend time with Bryker. We took the kids to the Thomas park and then ended up back at Becki's house for games and playtime. We finished up the day with dinner at The Langfald's house. Sam and Mike even modeled their Garage Prom outfits for us, which was definitely a highlight!!!
• Morning walks/runs- I love my dad's new location close to the Cedar River. There is a great path along the river. I enjoyed running or walking along it pretty much on a daily basis. Sue joined me a couple times and we had some nice chats. Trace even joined me for a jog one morning.
• Playdate with friends- We met up with our old playgroup at the Twin Pines Splash Pad. At first, Trace and Kianna were shy, not really remembering their old friends. However, it didn't take them long to connect with the group. The kids all had a great time playing together. Kaylee especially enjoyed visiting with her friends, Maddie, Chloe and Leah. I too had a great time catching up with my friends. It had been a couple of years, since we had last gotten together. 
• Girls Night Out- I reconnected with my friends again by spending an evening with them eating pizza, dessert and chatting the night away. While I was having my fun, Kaylee and Kianna were having a girls night of their own with Grandma Becki. They went out to dinner and to the new "Cinderella" movie.
• Boys Night- Trace and Bryker had their boy time while the girls and I were having our own fun. They played video games, watched movies, rode bikes and played legos. 
• Tubing- Unfortunately the past two years, we have planned on going tubing down the Maquoketa river and the weather and other circumstances have prevented us from going. This year, the forecast predicted thunderstorms beginning at 5:00 pm. We estimated that we would be off the river by 4:00 pm, so we decided to still go tubing. My mom, Bree, Aliyah, Kaylee, Kianna, Me and Shelli were all packed in my minivan and ready to head out of town when I decided to check the forecast one last time. To our dismay, the forecast had changed suddenly and now thunderstorms were expected for several hours in the morning. Reluctantly, we decided we should cancel our tubing trip yet again. After lots of driving aimlessly around town, we ended up at the movie theater and watched "Inside Out". I had to laugh when I saw my mom walk into the movie theater in her swim dress. Too funny! Another funny thing that happened that morning was when Shelli got into my van. She immediately turned around to greet everyone and I shut my car door. She very calmly said "my hand is in your door". I said, "what did you say?". Again, very calmly she said, "my hand is in your door can you open it?". Once I realized what she had said, I immediately opened my door. I got her ice and her fingers ended up being fine. We had some good laughs about how calmly she told me her hand was in the car door. I told her I would have been screaming...
• 20th High School Reunion- I went with my friend, Jamie Ross, and her husband to our reunion. It was good catching up with her, since we don't get to see each other too often. I really enjoyed visiting with Emily Stein, whom I hadn't seen or really talked to since our trip to Europe in 2000. We had a lot to catch up on. It was great seeing her. Other than those two, there were a few other people I enjoyed talking to. Not sure if I will be attending any future reunions, but I'm glad I went to this one. 
• Father's Day- My dad's one request was Zio Johno's lasagne, so of course we had to make that happen.  Otherwise, we spent the day relaxing. We played games, watched TV, took a walk to Ellis Park and made some silly gymnastics/dance videos. The latter brought on some good laughs. 
• Time with Sally- I hadn't seen Sally since before she moved to Florida last June. She decided to time her trip to Illinois to coincide with my trip back to Iowa. On our way back to Michigan, we stopped in Illinois to spend the night at Sally's mom's house. It was so great seeing my precious friend. We talked the night away while our kids enjoyed each other's company. Brooke and Kaylee get along quite well, as do, Krista and Kianna. Trace is a little out of his element with all the girls, but he handled it well.

We had a great time in Iowa, but as always is was great to get back home to Michigan and to our guy!

Double Date Night

Kaylee got invited to a sleepover, so Trevor and I took the opportunity to have some one-on-one time with the other two. Kianna had been anxious to use her Christmas gift certificate to go rock climbing up in Ann Arbor with me. We went out for dinner at a yummy middle eastern restaurant. Kianna loves hummus and I love ethnic food, so it was a win win. After dinner, I introduced her to bubble tea, which did not end up being her favorite, but was still an experience. We then went rock climbing and had a great time together! She is a climbing machine.

While we were having our fun, the boys were having some fun of their own. Trevor took Trace down to Toledo. They ate dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and went to jump at the Sky Zone. They had a fun time together, so I'd say the night was a success!