Vacation Bible School

The week of July 20th to the 24th was our church's vacation bible school. They decided to do a preschool program this year so Tyler was able to participate. He was excited and I was excited to volunteer in his class with his teacher Ms. Jacqueline and her husband Mr. Tim. Lucy was able to go to the nursery and they gave them shirts and had a mini-VBS with Ms. Sherry and Ms. Katie. It was so much fun for the kids (albeit a bit tiring) and it was a wonderful (albeit a bit tiring) experience for me to take part in.

The theme of the VBS was Operation Space, so everything was about space and related to God. The kids made cool shirts with the Operation Space logo and lots and lots of fabric paint. They wore jet packs and cool glasses and played with friends. It was a great week!

On the last night of VBS the kids got to perform the songs that they had been practicing all week. Tyler is not a fan of singing, but some of the kids did a really great job. Lucy helped me lead the kids from down below and has been singing the songs all weekend. It was really cute and we actually got Zach to come watch!

The Kids Singing Jesus Loves Me...With Sign Language

Wedding Reception

My friend Jaclyn had her wedding reception on July 18th...perfectly timed with Michelle's visit. Jaclyn is a friend from high school, so it was great that my Mom and sister could come with me to the party. We got all dressed up (after a busy day at Fairytale Town and swimming at Grandma's) and had a great time...without husbands or kids!

Fairytale Town

We were so excited to have Uncle Matty, Auntie Michelle, and cousin Joey in town to visit. I only remembered my camera on the day that we went to Fairytale Town, so I'm hoping I can steal some pictures from my sister. The kids and I hadn't been to Fairytale Town in awhile and Joey has never been, so we thought it would be some good cousin bonding time.

Tyler and Joey on the Crooked Mile

Tyler, Joey, and Lucy After they Completed the Crooked Mile

Miss Princess Lucy

Joey in the Carriage

Sir Tyler Robin Hood

The Knights of the Art Table

Joey Thoroughly Enjoyed the Dinosaur Popsicle

Tyler and Lucy Took Two Last Trips Around the Crooked Mile (Tyler's Favorite)

We had such a fantastic visit with the Molinari family. We wish that they didn't live in Arizona so that the cousins could have this much fun together all the time. They also enjoyed each other at the spray ground, the yogurt shop, and at Grandma's house. They were so cute together! Joey would say, "Hi Tywer and Hi Locy." It was just adorable!

Milk...It Does a Body Good

The kids have figured out how to make milk mustaches. It's totally not appropriate to do at the dinner table and not very good manners. But, when they look this cute how can you NOT take a picture and document it?! We do draw the line at blowing bubbles in the milk, though...

Lucy Goosey had pigtails in that day, so it made the mustache that much cuter

Tyler sporting the 'stache

Tyler wanted to show how BIG his muscles really are

Zach taught Lucy to kiss her guns...

Auntie Kara's Baby Shower

On July 11th we had a baby shower for Auntie Kara's new baby girl. We are so excited for her arrival on Wednesday, July 29th! Quillan and Lucy were excited to be among the ladies in attendance. They enjoyed their lunch by the pool and spending time with the Grandmas. The rest of us enjoyed watching them play together and all the great food that was served!

Kara & Jenn

Grandma Karla & Lucy (Grandma drove ALL night from Arizona just to be there!)

Three Generations...Grandma Barbara Jo, Kara Jo, and Quillan Jo

The decorations were so cute! And the Herbaby's candy bars were yummy!


Specialized water bottles for the day...

Swimming Lessons Pay Off!

Tyler knows how to swim! For the past 4 months the kids have been taking swim lessons at Steve Wallen Swim School. It was so expensive to send both kids and you question yourself over and over again and really wonder whether or not it was worth it. And would the local community pool have been sufficient? But, Tyler knows how to swim after 14 lessons and he still has two more to go to become stronger. He LOVES the water now and swims like a fish. Whoo-hoo Bobo Bear!
He just jumps right off the side of the pool and into the shallow end!

Lucy is becoming quite the swimmer too! She has no fear and just jumps right in and has no issue being dunked. She says, "I made you proud Mommy."

Here is a picture of the cousins just being silly. Lucy, Quillan, and Tyler have such a good time together!

The 2nd Annual Bike Parade

Happy Fourth of July! We found these silly hats in the dollar aisle at Target and they only wore them for about 5 minutes, but I'd say this is worth $2. They look so cute and patriotic.

We spent the morning preparing for the 2nd annual bike parade and picnic in our neighborhood. The kids were very excited to decorate their bikes this year! Mom actually remembered with a decent amount of time and got some decorations...not just the bottom of the barrel stuff nobody wanted last year! They did a pretty good job on the bikes!

Zach - Mr. Always Prepared for the Worst - was smart enough to attach the bike trailer to his bike and ride around the parade. As soon as we got to the starting line Lucy was scared by the decorated riding mower that lead the parade. Yes, decorated riding mower. She promptly went into the bike trailer and cried. Meanwhile, Mom was chasing Tyler, holding Lucy's bike, and trying to take pictures. I'm sure it was comical.

I kept telling Tyler that this was a PARADE, but he thought it was a RACE so when the bikes took off so did he. He wanted to win...and he kept asking me if he was winning. Doesn't it look like he's totally serious here? He actually did a great job, though, and completed the whole bike ride. Last year he ended up getting tired halfway through and finished the ride on Daddy's quad.

I'm kind of anal about getting family pictures...and you can tell how excited everyone else is by having to take this. But, oh well. How often do we all get dressed up in matching clothes, right?!

We really had a nice weekend with family and friends. It was a bit bittersweet since last year we had Grandpa Mike walking the bike parade with us and I missed having him with us this year. With each new memory we remember an old one...