Doin' the Zoo

We met up with a friend of mine in Indy to do the zoo with them.

It was so fun to spend time with them, and the kids are just about at the age where I can carry on a conversation while they stay close but enjoy what they are doing! Maybe next year will be "the year"!

That's my girl.... Had to have her map the whole time!

Ummmm, Lion, I think.
BIG elephant. My kids were glued to me as soon as they saw him coming.
We came to the zoo to see rabbits?

The water park.

A favorite... the sea horses!

The sea lions.

Penguins!

We stayed a FEW minutes too long at the party. :) You can't see, but Grace is screaming here.

SECONDS after pulling out of the parking lot.

And just minutes for her.

Thanks, girls! We had a fabulous time!

(Those Lemme girls were too fast for my camera!)

Happy Birthday Grandma Jack!

You can't help but get a lot of butt pictures at a bowling party!

(They are my favorite butts, though!)

And waiting... and waiting....

Lean.......

Lean!!!!!

There are more pics on Ben's camera, but I guess I don't have them yet.

It was a great time though!

Random August Fun

This is half of the playground compound at the farm. :) (It has a glider swing on the left now, and those beans in the background were the victims of the recent prairie fire - a little too close for comfort! Those pics to come later.)

Cooper has a great attention span. I often have to suggest things to do, but then he is pretty focused. He sat and did all the puzzles one night while I made dinner! Even organized them in "to do" and "done" piles! Love that kid!
Play date with Landon!

We love how hard Daddy works at his new job and with the volleygirls to make money for us, but he is definitely missed. Here the kids made creations for him while he was gone.

Last swims of the season

We closed the pool on Labor Day, but man what a great summer to have a pool!

Both the kids learned to swim, we had lots of friends in it, and we opened it clean, kept it clean, and closed it clean! Success!!!

Daddy has taught them to warm up in the sun after a swim.

Clean it up, girl...

and boy.

Grace has no fear (other than that which I have instilled in her) in the water. A favorite pastime is to "splash" daddy until he flings her into the deep end!

Take a picture of me!

The pool may be the most expensive potty training tool, ever, but so worth it!

You may also remember this?

A great year to have a pool. We've already been to the Y to keep up our swimming skills so I"m sure next year will be even better! On the flip side, I'm glad to have it closed, though. The kids can actually play in the back yard!

Makin' Monkeys with Mel

The kids spent their last summer reading points on a monkey craft. Mel was around that day to help us before she headed back to Egypt where she is working to protect us from infectious diseases. (We love that she loves to do that!)

We love our Mel time and our monkeys turned out great! (Rubber cement really has made them last! :) )

More of Grace's Artwork

Candy Canes

A porcupine and a person

Butterflies

I love it! I get about a dozen of these a day!