Unofficially the Last Week of Summer

We really don't start school until Aug 14th (which is still ENTIRELY TOO EARLY if you ask me) so technically we have like 2 and 1/2 more weeks of summer left. But Nico starts 2-a-days on Monday, so basically our summer is over when those start!! :)

So we thought we'd take a family trip to the zoo. We went early enough so there was very few people and it wasn't too hot. I love to watch Eli and the zoo. He's gets the biggest kick of out of the littlest things... the birds on the path, the ducks in the water, and he LOVES to just watch the little kids around him (I'm turning him into a people watcher like his mom! :)

I also love to watch Eli and Nico together... it's my favorite type of people watching!! :) They are just 2 peas in a pod!! :)

This one is one of my new favorites!! :)

Tomorrow we all are going with my family to Fun Spot Park... should be lots of fun. Don't worry, I'll take lots of pictures!! :)

Keenan's Birthday

Before I talk about how great Keenan's birthday was, just have to comment about how much I LOVE this picture of Keenan. Just in case that AWESOME Batman cake is getting in the way of you fully appreciating his smile here you go:

That smile... LOVE HIM, LOVE HIM, LOVE HIM!!
Ok, back to the party...This weekend, Keenan turned 4. In some ways I can't believe he's only 4, it seems like forever ago when Amanda VERY pregnant at our wedding, and have you ever talked to him... you'd never believe he just turned 4. But then in so many ways I can't believe he's already 4... he's grown up so quickly. He's already talking about going to Kindergarten. :)
He had a Batman themed party. Batman decorations, Batman cake, and lots of Batman gifts...It was great!!

While all the kids LOVED all his gifts, one of his non-Batman gifts was a big hit.

Here's some pictures of the kids playing with it. Even Eli got in on the fun!!

Not a surprise to anyone that I tried to teach him swing the right way :) :)

And not surprising at all, he hit it when he did it all on his own!! :)

Keenan, we hope you had a WONDERFUL 4th birthday. Know that your Aunt Abby, Uncle Nico and Eli love you VERY MUCH and can't wait to see you grow up into an AWESOME big boy!! :) LOVE YOU!!

Welcome to the Neighborhood!!

This weekend Jason and Sahsha closed and moved into a new house. It is BEAUTIFUL!! And if that's not enough good news... their subdivision is attached to ours... how LUCKY are they!! :)

If I was a good sister-in-law I'd have lots of pictures of the house instead of Jason opening the champagne and our families just toasting to the new house... sorry guys!! :)

After lots of packing, hauling, unpacking, and lots of sweating, their house is looking like a home. We can't wait for it to keep filling up with all the cool shower and wedding presents. But we REALLY can't wait for it to fill up with cousins for Eli and Ava!! :)

Love you 2 and are SO HAPPY for you both!!

Lunch with Heather

Heather and I used to work together and we try and meet up to catch up. But it had been a LONG time since we'd seen each other, so we had LOTS to talk about... and we had Eli with us... talk about a challenge.

No but really, he didn't do too bad, considering we had like a 2 hr lunch!! :)

Here are Eli and Heather together:

We just love Heather to death!! She is one of the most genuine people I know. She's such a caring person with a HUGE giving heart, she's just a joy to be around... I only wish it could be more!! :)

Lots of love to you... until next time!! :) :)

Little Big Town

A few weeks back one of Nico's football coaches was talking about Little Big Town coming to the Elkart County Fair for free. Him and I talked about what a good concert that would be. THEN he was nice enough to invite Nico and I to go with him. :) :) This was Nico's 2nd concert ever... the first being "The Oakridge Boys" :) :)

Here are the boys before the concert.

Clint's sister was nice enough to go early and get us FANTASTIC seats. Thank you,Thank you, Thank you!!

Nico said he only knew 1 song they sang "Boondocks" It turned out he knew more that one, but he was waiting, and waiting, and waiting for that one. We tried to tell him it would be last, but he didn't believe it, until it was the last song. Nico was the first one standing!! :) Here's some video of it. You can here Nico telling Clint to get up!! :)


Then this is my favorite part of the song!!

HANG WITH ME, STILL WORKING ON THE VIDEO PART!!

It was a GREAT night!! Thanks Clint for inviting us!!

Jackson MI Cascades

This summer, we've been doing a lot of things that we did "when we were kids"... the parade, junkfood alley, fireworks, lake, and now Jackson Michigan Cascades. When I was little my Grandma and Grandpa Jones took me (this was pre-Kenny) to Jackson MI to see the Cascades. You might be asking.... "What are these Cascades?" Short definition: a man-made waterfall with big fountains in the middle and mood lighting. But when you are 4, it's like the coolest thing ever... or at least it was to me. :)

So we made the trek up there with all the kids. Nico and I were lucky enough to have all 3 kids in our jeep on the way up... but seriously, they did great!!

Now remember it's been like 27 years since any of us had be up there, but we thought we'd try it. Mom found a program called "Christmas in July" so they were singing Christmas songs and Santa, the Grinch, and lots of other "Christmasy" character were there.

We got there right at 7:30 when the program was to start. It ended up that the Pre-dark program was one man singing Christmas songs, lounge style. So we had some time (under statement of the century... like 2 hrs) to kill. Luckily there are stairs leading up to the top and some HUGE hills to play on.

and some HUGE hills to play on. The Cora, Keenan and I rolled down the hills while Eli tried to run down them with Uncle Kenny.

So between that and about 6 trips to the concession stand,

We made it. It was worth the wait!! :) But the kids were tired by the time the lights came on, so we only stayed for a bit... but it was enough.

We stayed in a hotel with a pool, so the kids did some swimming before we left and the next day. They had a ball!! :)

It had been a long time (since the lake) that we had all been together, so it was nice to spend time together. The kids have a great time together, but so do the adults!! :) I know lots of people whose family is so far away that they don't get to spend much time with their own nieces, nephews, brother's and sisters. We are very blessed that they all are close and we get to spend lots of time together!!

TRF Junkfood Alley

When I was little, my dad used to, every year, take Kenny and I down to junkfood alley for lunch. We even went when I was in college... I was never too old!! :)
So this year, I thought we'd carry on the tradition with Eli. So downtown we went... Me, Dad, and Eli.

We had hot dogs, curly fries, lemonade shake ups, and Eli's favorite, an elephant ear!! More importantly, it was some GREAT quality time with me, Dad, Eli.

Funny story... not really related to Junkfood alley, but to my dad. Today when I was changing Eli's diaper his window's were open. We heard a "rumbling" outside. He pointed and his mouth went in that cute little circle like it does when he hears something loud. And the next words out of his mouth were "PawPaw, PawPaw" And he was RIGHT!!! It was dad on his motorcycle pulling into the driveway. It's amazing how quickly kids can pick up on things... especially when it involves people they truly LOVE!!