Pat's Birthday

Pat graciously spent his birthday night at Family Night for VBS with the kids and I. What a good daddy :)
We had cake for him with his mom and dad on the weekend with his favorite chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Happy Birthday!!! We love you!

Chilly Day Baking

Barn sale coffee can & bouquet from our wetlands & Nishiki Willows 

Chocolate mustaches from leftover frosting from Pat's cake

Chocolate and dulce de leche topped mini s'mores cups-yumm!

So, the last couple of days have NOT been the "dog days of summer." We've been making the best of it in the kitchen. Hannah and I made mini s'mores cups, baked Pat's birthday cake, and tried to make homemade bouncy balls (most of these ideas from Pinterest). We also checked out a cool estate/barn sale where I snagged the old coffee tin pictured, and we finally made it to our newly remodeled library for some rainy day fun yesterday.

VBS 2013 at Parkview-Final Quest

The kids had a great time going to VBS again this summer. They always wish it was longer! This year their friends Sean and Emma went too, so that made it even better. They had an Indiana Jones-ish theme called Final Quest complete with "Montana Duke," and a couple of sidekicks. The kids haven't stopped singing the songs they learned, and it's really cute to hear. Here are some pics...





Pics from Family Night (the last night):  Here's Ryan on stage, can you find him? Josh and Sean didn't go up.

Fun at Nana & Papa's

Everybody Go!!!

Swimming with the Goachers

Here are some pics from the fun we've had swimming with our friends this summer...

Happy Independence Day!

 Finally, the weather cooperated today, and it FELT like the Fourth of July! The kids got in their red, white, and blue to make it official. It was a beautiful day to get some sun, play with friends, grill, and watch the fireworks. Pat even picked up a little pool for the kids to splash around in when we don't feel like going to the "big" pool. It was a good day...

Hannah brought her "girls" to see the fireworks in Mokena