Grant's Farm

On Tuesday, we took the kids to Grant's Farm. All four kids. Yep, even Carter went. Scott's mom, grandma, Aunt Fran, and Reece joined us...we had so much fun! The rain also joined us. Lots and lots of rain. We were soaked, but still got to see all of the animals, feed the goats, ride the carousel, and watch the elephant show. A very successful day!

Looking at the Clydesdale's in their stalls

HAHAHAHA!

Diva Girl...she loves this hat :)

I haven't gotten a picture of all four kids together in forever!

Cate and Reece loved looking for animals during the tram ride through the park

Bennett, Cate, Reece, Brady, & Carter

These goats were vicious!

Multi-tasking

Carter got sprayed in the face with milk from the goats bottle!

Cooling off in the misting sprinkler....literally minutes before the downpour hit!

When it started raining, we were sitting under a canopy of trees and staying very dry. Slowly, the raining started closing in and before we could take cover, we were drenched!

Who doesn't love a summer rain shower?!

Filling their bellies while waiting for the rain to pass

After the first storm :) we were able to watch the elephant show

Carter was chosen from the audience to race the elephant in blowing up a balloon. The elephant won.

This creek at the entrance to Grant's Farm was bone dry when we got there. It rained hard!!!

His Big Debut, Dislocated Elbows, and Lightning Bugs

What a day! Bennett's park league baseball team was short players tonight, so Brady got "the call" and suited up to play. Even though he's only five, and it's a 4th grade league, Scott knew he would be able to keep up. And he did. Bigtime! He went 3 for 4 with three RBI's. Seriously, this kid is beast :)

This pretty much sums up how Bennett felt about his little brother playing on his team!

He smiled throughout the entire game..even up to bat :)

Right before game time, Cate and I were playing tug-o-war and I accidentally dislocated her right elbow. My first thought was "I don't have time to sit in an ER tonight!" Great parenting, I know. Anyhoo, Brady dislocated his elbow many-a-times when he was Cate's age, so I know the drill. She cried for a bit and then fell asleep while I was holding her so I laid her in her stroller and we headed to the baseball game. When she woke up crying, I picked her up and she tried to put her arm behind my back and I heard the bone pop back in. Hallelujah! I was about two minutes from taking her to the hospital, so I'm glad she worked it out on her own. By the third time Brady had dislocated his, one of the ER doctors showed me how to fix it myself. I wasn't brave enough to try it with Cate...cause she's a girl...and sweeter...and it makes me sad when she cries :( But, all is well now, and we celebrated by going swimming after the game!
"

"Car Car, my arm no hurt no more"

and then Carter and his friends ooh'd and ahh'd over her elbow and told her how tough she is. Oh yeah, these older boys have created a monster. As soon as we get to the pool each day, she's always scouting for Carters friends, Zaaack, and Ogan(Logan). She loves to sit and watch them during dive practice and screams her dive requests: "Backsault Zaaack!" "Flipflop Ogan" Ahhh, summer love. Too bad they're 13 and she's 2!!!

And there's no better way to end a summer day than chasing lightning bugs through the yard. Brady found two bubble gum tubs that he thought would work perfect for "keeping them safe"

Cate had her own version of what the buckets were for!

And just to prove that her elbow is feeling much better, I took these oh-so-charming pictures ...see the full range of motion she's getting...definitely cured :)

Goodbye Monday. Agenda for Tuesday? Grant's Farm!!

Thursday=Mission Accomplished

I survived Thursday. Barely. Made it through two swim practices, dog groomer, golf league, soccer tryouts, soccer practice, two baseball games and even threw in a trip to Target and two hours at the pool. Woke up to our house tp'd and every sign in town in our front yard. Gotta love middle school kids :)

My nephew, Jon, even helped tp our house. This is why his sister if our favorite ;)

Butterfly House

On Friday, we took Brady and Cate to Faust Park and the Butterfly House. Bennett spent the night at Keaton's Thursday night and was staying there all day Friday and Carter had two friends spend the night and they went to swim practice/McD's/and back to the pool. So, it was just the four of us. How easy is just two kids??!!! I mean, come on, where's the challenge in that?!

Those ducks were very "people friendly". They didn't run away when Cate tried to grab them.

Conversation I overheard while sitting on a bench watching the kids play

Mom #1: "That little girl has the most beautiful blond hair"

Mom #2 "Oh, that must be the dad" (I love that..."the" dad)

Mom #3. "I bet people always tell them 'my kids used to have hair that color', but really, NO ONE has hair that color"

I found this very amusing and so true!

Waiting for her turn on the carousel

Entrance to the Butterfly House

Cate loved all of the butterflies flying around. It was so humid in there.

Brady thought the display of cocoon's was a little gross.

Scott and I were in deep conversation when a woman approached us and commented on how coordinated and fearless Cate is to climb the ladder by herself. Uh oh. Red flag. Where is Cate??

Almost to the top of the ladder before we found her. Scott was freaking out!!! She was too far up for Scott to grab her and Brady ran to the top to help her with the last step. I was impressed :)

Yay! One more thing to cross off our summer list!!

Thursday

Anyone else's Thursday look like this?

*swim practice 8:30-10:00-Carter....10:00-10:45-Bennett/Brady

*Murphy groomer 10:00

*Carter soccer registration-all day Collinsville

*Work golf league 3:30-5:00-me

*Illini baseball game (double-header) 6:00-Swansea

*Carter 3v3 soccer practice 7:00

*Brady soccer tryouts 7:00-8:00

*Bennett Monsoons baseball game 5:45 (but he has to skip this for his Illini games)

not to mention grocery shopping, laundry, and an hour or two at the pool :)

Our Summer List

Found this idea on one of my favorite blogs and loved it! We sat down and everyone listed the things they hope to see and do before school starts in August. Makes the summer a little more intentional.

*Manchester United soccer team is playing at the Wizards stadium in KC in July. We have already bought tickets and the boys can't wait to see a "real" professional team play.

*I'm three miles into my 50 mile goal :)

*Scott and Uncle Josh took Ben and Brady to the Cardinals game last week. We bought Carter tickets to a game in August for his birthday...so we have one thing crossed off our list already!

I-L-L-I-N-I

Bennett lives for baseball. Like, for real. It's all he does. Even after 7+ hours of baseball yesterday, the first thing he said when we walked in the door at 3pm was, "dad, can we go play catch in the backyard?" And they did. And again when we got home from the pool. And again in the basement til late last night. He just can't get enough. This weekend his ILLINI team hosted their annual tournament. It was a beautiful weekend for baseball!!

Bennett leading his team in pre-game stretches.

This mornings game was awesome. The team we played in dyno-mite and we lost 2-1, but the boys played the best I've ever seen. It was really fun to watch. Bennett played outstanding at 1st base!

Coach Brad giving a post-game pep talk. He was so happy with their effort that he let them get whatever they wanted from the concession stand..Ben chose a hotdog smothered in nacho cheese.

No shocker here. Barely made it out of Bethalto before he was sound asleep. Notice the sweat stains on his hat...this boy plays hard!!

I Got Nothing

Summer of 2010 is totally kicking my ass. I think the sun is frying my brain cells and I'm in a creative rut. And laundry rut. And grocery shopping rut. And...you get the picture. Nothing is getting done. Our schedule looks something like this....wake up around 9:30ish, do nothing til pool opens at 1....swim til 3:30...nap...snack...baseball game/practice/soccer/dinner....pool til 9. It's a hard-enough-life, I know. Cate puts on her floaties around 11:00am and wears them til the pool opens.

Her favorite accessory

Playing at Bennett's baseball tournament. Thankfully, there is a playground directly behind his field and I can watch the game while she plays.

Can her hair get any whiter?!

Crazy days=tired babies.

We haven't seen much of Carter since schools been out. He is way too cool to hang with his family. He does end up at the pool every afternoon, but he stays far away from us (until he needs money!) Our baseball club is hosting this weekends tournament, so Scott and I have had lots of volunteer duties. We're both exhausted. I'm hoping everything slows way down after this weekend. I'm not sure I can handle an entire summer at this speed :)