Those summer nights

We let the boys stay up late tonight for fire pit, s'mores, and fireflies. Several of our neighbors came over for the s'mores and the kids rode around the cul-de-sac on bikes, roller blades, scooters, tricycles, and skateboards. Once it got dark, the boys went on a firefly hunt. William is pretty good at catching them. Alex was able to catch one or two but had a great time trying.

Last Night of T-Ball

Tonight was William's last night of t-ball. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. It started pouring this morning and rained for a few solid hours. In the past, they have cancelled games when field conditions get too wet so I figured that would be the case.  There was a little "surprise party" planned for the kids after the game - the team mom was bringing cupcakes, I was bringing snacks and juice, and the coach had trophies for everyone. So I emailed the coach and offered up our house in case of cancellation. It was a good thing I did because they called the game at 4pm (even though it was sunny). By 6pm the storms came through again. Despite the rain, we had a great turnout. Nine of the ten kids were able to come and they brought parents and siblings. The kids were so excited to get their trophies. It was a nice end to the season!

Pretty excited to get a trophy

William and Coach Peterson

Nathaniel, Tessa, Ethan, Anna ,William
Cayden, Marley, Wyatt, and Ian

Cincinnati - Swimming and Movie Night

Uncle Jeff's parents were kind enough to invite us all over to swim on Saturday. We packed a picnic lunch and headed over to their house late morning. The kids hopped right in the pool. William started out a little tentative but then saw how much fun everyone was having and joined in. He didn't want to get out! By the end of the day, he even tried to swim a few strokes without his water wings. He paddled a few times before sinking. He stood right up, wiped his eyes, got his water wings on, and went back in. We were very proud of him for trying! Abbey was so good with Alex - she helped him on the slide and floated around with him on a raft. Alex spent pretty much the whole time in the water. He's definitely a little fish! 

After dinner at Mimi and G-Bob's, we went over to Sara and Jeff's for movie night. We watched the Lego Movie and the kids had popcorn, cookies, and root beer. Despite the fact that William was terrified of the movie, we all had a good time. William and Alex were very sad to say goodbye to everyone. When asked what his favorite part of the weekend was, William responded, "the cousins." We are already looking forward to next summer.

Cincinnati - The Zoo

On Friday morning, everyone came over to Mimi and G-Bobs. We packed up and headed out to the Cincinnati Zoo. We had a quick picnic lunch once we got there and then spent the rest of the afternoon exploring. The kids really seemed to enjoy the giraffes, the polar bears, and the reptile house. The World of the Insect was also a big hit. Everyone was worn out by the end of the day so we decided to do a quick dinner at Skyline. Then we played outside for a while at Mimi and G-Bob's.

Cincinnati - Museum

On Wednesday afternoon, we loaded up the car and drove down to Cincinnati for a long weekend. We were all really looking forward to seeing Mimi and G-Bob and all the cousins. We drove through some nasty weather on the way, but William was finally able to see a rainbow. On Thursday morning, Abbey and Lyla came over. The kids played in the yard and had lunch. In the afternoon, we went down to the museum campus. The kids all had a great time exploring/playing.

Happy Father's Day!

As a Father's Day surprise for Grandpa, we reserved the caboose on the Little River Railroad. We also kept the secret from the boys... otherwise, Grandpa would have found out immediately! Everyone was so excited when they learned about the trip this morning. After an early lunch, we drove to Coldwater which is about an hour away. We had some time to explore the station and see the train before we had to board. The caboose was a lot of fun. It had two benches, a lookout you could climb up to, and front and back porches. For the first leg of the trip, the caboose was directly behind the engine. The boys got to see the coupling, watch the bell ring, and hear the whistle loud and clear. We went for about a 30 minute ride down the line. Then we got to watch them uncouple the engine and switch it to a side track. It moved to the opposite side of the train so then we were in the traditional caboose position. Then we could watch the track as we made the return trip.  There were smiles all around during the adventure!

In the lookout

So excited!

Watching the engine switch tracks