Soccer Camp

This was Owen's third year of camp and Paige's second! Paige got to go for an hour and a half this year and spent the other hour and a half that Owen was still at camp playing on the playground. Every day! She never tired of it. They both loved it and got amazing evaluations from their coaches. Owen's favorite part of camp was playing the World Cup games. His team for the World Cup this year was England. England dominated from the beginning so they switched the teams around after a couple days to make it more interesting. Owen ended the week on Mexico but when they announced the winner (England!) they let all former and current team members come up to celebrate. Paige's favorite part was a game called Chicken (I think?) that was awfully similar to flag football. They chased the coaches around and pulled pinnies off of their belts. Usually I see her running with Owen but now that I've seen her running with kids her own age I know how fast she is!!

Ready for camp!

Paige got to hang out with her friend while their older brothers were at camp.

Playing handball

Paige is about to score a goal!

Waiting for the evaluations

Most of the campers!

Fancy

This is what happens when you tell Paige she can wear whatever she wants:)

Foot Golf

Pat and I were invited to play Foot Golf with some friends (they're also parents of Owen's soccer teammate) and even though the day was hot we had a lot of fun. It was part of a corporate challenge so we were playing against another company (we won!) but also up against a lot of other companies that were playing that day (we did not win!). Pat definitely had the best shots of the day and since it was a scramble it worked out well for all of us:)

Pat teeing off

Owen stuck around to hang out with his friend and walk the course with us.

About halfway through the game

Finished!

Italians

We attended an Italian festival a couple weeks ago with some of my family. It was a hot, hot day and we were looking forward to some gelato. We talked extensively about gelato and how good it would be once we got it. There was no gelato. We got over it and had some custard instead. Plus--balloon animals!

Breakfast Sandwich

I read a book a couple weeks ago called 300 Sandwiches. It was a true story/recipe book about...doesn't matter. It was a mediocre read but this sandwich recipe was not! It was layers of banana, ricotta, honey, walnuts and cinnamon on a toasted english muffin. Soooo good. I thought the kids would think the ricotta was weird but they both requested their own sandwiches after they tasted mine. Definitely a keeper!

Crafts

Our city does an amazing job with providing entertainment and activities all year round. On this particular day we came across a set-up for free crafts and snacks. The kids all got to make three crafts and choose a juice box and cookies!

Park

We rode our bikes up to the library one evening and had a picnic dinner by the lake. We were at a picnic table but the kids were so interested in a group of geese that they ended up sitting on a big rock instead.

Action!

The kids just finished up two weeks of swim lessons last Friday and they both passed their levels! They both worked really hard so even though I wouldn't have minded if they didn't pass I was so glad they did! Almost every day after class we would walk over to the playground and the kids would run around (convenient for drying off too!) until we got hungry for lunch. Here are some action shots of them jumping off of a mini rock wall.

T-ball

Paige had her last game of T-ball not long after Owen's last game. Even though there's not much at stake because there's no winning or losing in t-ball it was still fun to watch Paige improve and have fun this season. I can't say if she's now a lifetime baseball player but her fielding skills and willingness to go after the ball improved dramatically by the end:)

Parties

Paige had two swim parties right in a row last weekend. Sometimes it can take a little while for the kids to feel comfortable enough to start enjoying themselves so I'm always grateful for parties that have built-in activities. When I told the mom in charge of the first party we would need to leave early, she suggested we come before the party started so the two girls would have extra time to play. I'm so glad we did. The girls were able to run around before the crowd got there and I felt a little less bad about leaving when we did. We got to the second party late but since it was at our local pool we were able to stay and hang out even after the party technically would have been over and Paige got extra playtime with that friend too!

Baseball

The baseball season is over for Owen! Their coach treated the team to some ice cream after the game to celebrate and Owen was awarded the game ball for making some awesome plays and getting great hits.

The team lined up to sign their coaches shirt. I love this picture!

Oh Owen. So much excitement!

Paige had a game right before Owen's and was still decked out in her uniform too!

Friends!

We had a playgroup get-together! We were missing one important piece (family) of the puzzle but it was awesome getting to hang out with these people. The kids always jump right into it and of course the adults have no trouble either:)

Family Time!

We got together with my family for a cookout last weekend and I realized my nieces are almost 6 months old! That seems impossible but I did the math so we can be 50% sure it's true.

Party!

One of Paige's friends had a birthday party on the fourth of July and they were nice enough to invite older siblings too! The kids exhausted themselves on the inflatables while I visited with friends and watched the annual hot dog eating contest (ew.).

Waiting for the cyclone to start!

The balloons are about to be released in 3...2...1...

Fail! The whole thing hilariously fell down on the kids!

Bike Aboard

It's our yearly Bike Aboard excursion! We had beautiful weather and Pat was off work on the 3rd so we decided we should fit in a trip in the afternoon. Unfortunately a lot of other people had the same plan so the train and trail were a little more crowded than they were in past years. We chose a stretch of trail that was 6.25 miles this year and the kids did great. Owen loved stopping at every single Lock to see if it had water in it and we also took a break to eat our packed lunches.  Near the end of our ride we came across some ice cream and everyone picked out their own treat. Me-coconut popsicle, Kids-pushpops, Pat-ice cream sandwich.

Waiting for the train

We have pictures from past years on this same bridge!

Pat and Paige were checking out the stream below. We've stopped here for lunch before too! 

The Fourth

The Fourth of July! I decided that this is one of my favorite holidays. Everything feels so quaint and easy. We don't really need to do any preparations (unless you count coming up with some food to bring to a cookout) and our town does a fantastic job of providing entertainment. The parade was on the 3rd this year so we headed into town and sat with some friends. The kids collected an enormous amount of candy. Then on the 4th we took the kids to the festival as we had promised we would. We tried to weasel our way out of it but we had already told them we would go so we stayed true to our word. It ended up being way more fun than I expected. Yes, the rides are a little run down and crazy looking but there weren't any lines so at least we didn't waste a lot of time standing around! We went back after dark, despite our sleepiness, to watch the fireworks! They did not disappoint. I love how it feels like they try to trick us into thinking the fireworks are done. "That was definitely the finale." BOOM! "Nope...this is the finale...nope..."

Blueberry Picking!

Time for our annual blueberry picking trip! I guess the massive amounts of rain around here have been tough on the berry growers and we saw a little of that result while we were picking. It wasn't as easy to find the ripe berries as it was in the past so the kids got distracted a little more quickly. We've been snacking on them but I'm also planning on making a pie and muffins.

The Rest

This is the last vacation post! Phew! It was super hot the whole time we were in Florida -above 100 every day! Not a big deal when you're swimming but it makes every other activity a sweaty mess. Pat and Owen played some soccer while Paige conquered the rock wall (yay! I climbed too while I waited). Paige was really hesitant the first time she tried the wall earlier in the week but this time I could tell she was going to get to the top! Afterward, Paige and I joined the boys in a game. We thought about attempting some outlet shopping but decided the pool was a much better option after kicking the ball around for awhile!
The next day we left early and drove straight through the night, arriving home at 1 am. We were exhausted but happy to be in our own beds! The ride home was filled mostly with snacks, screens and a lot of Mad Libs!

There were a lot more people in the game originally but Pat, Owen and this really nice couple were the only ones still playing by the time we finished climbing. 

She made it! 

Mad Libs are hilarious!

Still hilarious!