the rest of June

I have a feeling this is going to be another huge post so bear with me. Just trying to get caught up. So here is what we were busy doing for the month of June outside of the reunion.

For a few days we got to have Matthew come play with us during the day while his mom was at girls camp. The kids loved having a friend around all day for a few days. The splash pad seemed to be a favorite activity. 

 Oh man, it's a good thing I have some pictures of this boy looking so sweet and cute. It's the only thing that gets me through some days.

 Cute friends.

 Does anyone else's kids live for the snacks or lunch you take on outings? I feel like my kids want to eat as soon as we get anywhere. It's almost like it's the only reason they want to go anywhere.

 Trampoline fun in our backyard. Try not to be too jealous of our massive trampoline. ;)

 The kids kept busy one afternoon finishing up Tatum's project for the auction at the family reunion. I love how they all seem to be concentrating so hard in this photo.

We live pretty close to a couple of libraries and they both have lots of summer activities so we find ourselves at the library a lot. This day was a story time and activity about gymnastics. I would really like to sign Tatum up for some sort of gymnastics or dance class. It was fun to see her get to try a little something.

Sharing his snack of raisins and veggie chips with Dukey. :)

We painted our living room! This actually wasn't in the plan at the beginning but we decided we should just do it now if we were ever going to do it. My mom and dad came down and helped, thank goodness. And Tatum LOVED helping Papa.

We went to a summer festival nearby. Tatum convinced Papa to wait in line for face paint with her.

There were big army trucks for the kids to sit in and they could even pull the loud horn.

Lots of bike rides and scooter rides around here. Those matching helmets were a score at that summer festival.

Working in the garden.

The back of our house seems to be what the birds around here use as target practice. It's getting old.

Another day at the library, this time to meet Elephant and Piggie.

Declan was not a fan. The room was packed and the kids were sitting in the very middle of the room. I was over by the door to try to stay out of the way and when Elephant and Piggie finally came in Declan lost it. Just sobbing and trying to crawl over everyone to get to me.

Tatum wasn't afraid!

Declan's old nursery leader asked for a photo of him for a Father's Day present she was doing. It's always interesting to try to get a good picture of him.

Look at that face.

Tatum hid in a box.

We threw coins in the fountain at the mall with Kelbie.

I got a hair cut! I have real anxiety about getting hair cuts. It really stresses me out. I tried a new girl this time and I'm relatively pleased with how it turned out. My hair really needed it. Here's the before:

And after:

I love watching these two work together. The door to the garage closes automatically and Tatum needed to get her shoes. It's very dark out there if the door is closed so she asked Declan to hold the door for her and he did it gladly. Things aren't always this sweet and peachy but it sure is nice when it is.

More scooter rides.

I tried a new kind of yogurt. I usually just stick with the fruits but this time I tried red velvet cupcake and it really hit the spot. Funny thing is I have had it a time or two since the day I took this picture and didn't care for it as much.

Liking my view while those three whip up some cookies.

It rained one day while the kids and I were out when I didn't realize it was going to. I learned that a LOT of rain gets in through the window above the sink. It's probably hard to see but there's a huge puddle of water on the counter.

Many evenings are spent at the park down the road from our house.

We went to Nauvoo to go to the temple. Since we went when mom and dad were scheduled to work we had plenty of time to kill. We went down to the Mississippi River and let the kids throw rocks.

A rare picture of me with both of my kids.

Cute girl with crazy hair.

We also played at the playground for awhile.

Love this series of pictures of Declan.

The faces he pulls kills me.

The day after we got back from the reunion it was kids day at the county fair. I was tired and had a lot of unpacking to do, but couldn't bear the thought of staying home all day. So out we went. It ended up being a good time but we stayed much longer than I thought we would.

 They had emergency vehicles there for the kids to look at and climb in. They were excited to do it but then got super shy when we went over there. It was like they were afraid the vehicles were going to drive or fly off as soon as they got in.

They gave every kid a free soda. Tatum unfortunately set her bag down on some rocks too hard and pierced her can, getting sticky soda all over our legs. But Declan's lemonade survived until afternoon and sipping on that can seemed to be just about his favorite thing from the whole day.

 Tatum's feet got filthy and she asked me to take a picture so she could show daddy.

 There was a baby alligator there....or maybe a crocodile. I can never remember which one is which.

 We waited in line for face paint for an eternity. There were several things that had long lines and we kept skipping them, but finally I agreed that Tatum could choose one thing that required waiting in line and she chose face paint. It was a miserable wait. But at one point I walked away from the kids to try to count how many people were in front of us and turned around to see this. It was kinda sweet.

 Tatum decided she wanted to be a lion.

 Declan said he wanted to be Captain America and a Spiderman.

 A few days later we went to my sister's house for Sunday dinner. Clearly Declan was still recovering from the trip and the lack of sleep. He passed out on their couch like this. So funny and kind of sad, poor guy.

 Our friends Camille, Collin and Amelia came up for a play date. We had fun at the park and the splash pad.

 But the kids got the most enjoyment out of climbing around the trash cans. Why are kids so weird?

 We got to see another baby alligator/crocodile at the library.

 And we cooled off with some popsicles, which is a common occurrence.

 We made masks at a story time one day.

 And then headed to Burger King to use some coupons the kids got from the summer reading program. They thought it was pretty neat, especially when they were given cookies because they forgot about our order. Sometimes kids can be pretty easy to please.

 We decided to check out the balloon glow during the Freedom Festival. It was actually pretty anticlimactic. But it was a beautiful evening considering it was late June in Iowa. And it was fun to just spend some time as a family without any distraction.

 Brennan took about a billion pictures of these two and they were always looking away or being complete weirdos. This is the best we got.

 We were actually cold! In fact the kids kept saying they were "freezing cold"! We brought their little camping chairs but they spent the whole time on our laps trying to stay warm. In June?! Crazy.

 See that dark balloon in the front? It never lit up! I'm pretty sure it needs to not be part of the balloon glow next year. If the balloon's material makes it incapable of glowing it probably shouldn't take part. It definitely made it less picturesque.

 The boys on the walk back to the car. They're kind of cute.

 This boy. Again, these cute pictures save his life day after day.

And that's June.