Dog Crazy

Evy is absolutely dog crazy. She talks about dogs all the time. She wants to hear all of Scott's stories about his dogs when he was growing up. She wants a dog. Now. 

We are not quite ready to add a dog to the chaos in our house so we volunteer Evy to walk other people's dogs!

All three kids wanted to get into the action today. Poor Autumn.

Evy walks Autumn frequently. Autumn is a great dog!

By the end of every dog walk at least 2 kids are whining that they are tired. 

Will was saying "I mad" and wouldn't look at me.

Evy and Charlie  (Actually Scott) took care of our neighbor dog, Asher for a weekend.  

Adventure Time

Nothing on the schedule today so we decided to take an adventure.

Picnic lunch. Lots of ants decided to join us.

Three kids and their bathrooms needs make every outing an adventure. We were standing in the middle of the woods when one of the kids declared that they had to #2. Load everyone into the van and quickly seek out a bathroom. Adventure over. 

Friend Fun

We had a great time meeting up with some of Charlie's preschool friends at the pool. 

Summer Days

Our typical summer days look like this: 

Evy wakes up at 7:00, maybe 7:08 if she decides to sleep in. She plays Minecraft on the iPad or watches TV.

Around 8:30 or 9:00 Charlie wakes up and watches some TV.

This kid will sleep to 10 a.m. if I let him. Most days I have to wake him up so we can get to the girls activities. 

At 9:15 Evy gets dropped off at her reading tutor's house.

Will, Charlie and I mess around for 45 minutes. I told Charlie we needed to "kill some time" and she was very confused. She prefers that I say "waste time" as that doesn't sound so mean.

Wasting time.

After we pick Evy up we zoom across town for swimming lessons.

I bring an array of toys and snacks to keep this kid entertained during swimming lessons.

Then, we zoom back home for lunch. I am not good at coming up with lunch options. The kids eat hot dogs, mac and cheese, or sunbutter and jelly on most days. I add some fresh fruit and a cup of milk and call it good. 

At around 1:30 it's nap time for Will. These two grab their electronics and head off to the neighbor's house to play Mine Craft. Charlie only lasts about 30 minutes before she comes back home. Evy would play Mine Craft for 5 hours if I let her. 

Tooth Fairy Finally!

Evy finally lost her first tooth! Her tooth has been loose for weeks and she has been scared to pull it. While we were out to dinner for our anniversary she wiggled it and it fell right out.....in the bathroom at the restaurant. She didn't want to give her tooth to the tooth fairy so she left the tooth fairy a nice little note. The tooth fairy was generous enough to leave the tooth and $1!

Neighborhood Pizza Party

It was about 1,000 degrees outside, but it's always the perfect weather for pizza. Especially when a truck pulls up in your driveway and cooks it for you and all of your neighbors!

Isn't this the coolest thing ever? Self-contained wood fired pizza truck.

Staying Busy

We stay pretty busy during the summer. I find that everyone is happier if we have a small adventure each day. We had a beautiful 75 degree day this week so we decided to venture downtown. It was a great day.

Natural History Museum

Panchero's

Tying ribbons on the construction fences downtown. Iowa City is crazy and wonderful at the same time. 

Second Birthday

Birthday pancakes

He blew his candles out on his first try!

Lots of balls, cars, and trucks in these presents.

Will is an excellent present unwrapper!

Grammy and Aunt Julie help open up the monster size tractor.

Will is a sweet and sour two year old! He is such a snuggler and likes to rock and snuggle before bedtime. He normally goes to bed around 8 p.m. and this summer he has been sleeping in to 9 a.m. or even later! One morning he slept until 10. It's kind of amazing. He takes one afternoon nap from about 1:30 to 3:30. Of course, his schedule is the most flexible of the three kids since he has to go along to all of his sisters activities. He loves balls and trucks. He is a stereotypical boy. When he gets mad or frustrated he throws things. He loves to play puppy with his sisters and terrorize them. Luckily, he is still little enough that they think it's funny. 

Grandparent Fun!

These are some lucky kids! In a span of about 48 hours they packed in so much fun with their grandparents.

Swimming at the new pool in Grandma Joan's and Papa Jake's town.

Fun at the great-grandparents's barn.

Off to Little Mermaid with Grammy Sherry.

And perhaps the highlight of all of it....riding horses!