Wednesday lunch

Every Wednesday, we get together with grandma and our aunts and cousins for lunch. During the school year, we try new restaurants or stay in and try new recipes. This summer, with a group of 4 women and 15 children, we have tried to find other things to do. We chose to go to the park this week. It was HOT. But the kids were great. The park has a little sprinkler thing which made for some funny pictures.

(Scott, I thought you would appreciate this one of your son!)
There are always lots of ducks to feed at this park.
My brother Scott is an attorney in the Marine Corps and has sent his sweet family to stay with Grandma while he helps out in Afghanistan. This is his youngest, Eliza. Don't worry, Scott, she has gotten lots of love here.
After the park, because it was REALLY HOT, we came home and went to the pool.

Our house is about seven houses down the road from the pool. Unlike many of our neighbors, we usually walk up there. Mary usually lags behind. On the way back home on Wednesday, I looked back to check on Mary and this is what I saw!
I love little tanned-bleached-blonde kids.

Three little stories about....fish (?)

We have decided to try again. (no, no more babies) We are now the proud owners of a small aquarium and three little fish. The kids are having lots of fun feeding them and watching them. The filter, unfortunately doesn't seem to be working right. This morning the water is a nice shade of brown (ewww)!

Tanner went fishing last night for scouts. Marc said he was a really good caster, but sadly not the best catcher. Only 2 of the dozen or so scouts actually caught a fish .





And finally a short video of our little fish. This kid is scary around the swimming pool. More than once this summer she has just launched herself into the pool alone! I have laid awake at night worrying about her making it through swimming season. Fortunately, a good chunk of our city pool is just the right height for her. And because she just wants to be like the other kids, she seems to be figuring out the swimming part.

Out of the crib

A few weeks ago, we found a pretty sweet deal on a set of bunkbeds at Costco and picked them up for the little girls' room. Mary has been asking to sleep in her new bed since, but has not been able to actually stay in it long enough to fall asleep....until Friday night. She spent her first night in her new 'big-girl' bed. I think it helped that she shopped with me, didn't have a nap, swam for a few hours and spent the evening playing with the cousins. She was too pooped to get out of bed. She's growing up fast (sniff, sniff)

County Fair

Each week we get together with grandma and the rest of the family for lunch. This week I noticed that the county fair was going on and suggested that we go check it out. Who doesn't love hanging around farm animals when it is 90 degrees outside?

We saw some adorable baby pigs.
We sunk some of Marc's hard-earned money on the rides. Mary really thought this one was a lot of fun. She even practiced her pageant wave for when she is Miss Warren County!
Our cousin Cameron talked his 65-year-old grandpa into riding this contraption with him. No spinny rides for me, thank you.
Tanner wasn't interested in the rides. He asked if he could play a game or two. I tried to talk him out of it telling him that you never win anything and it was a waste of money. He proved me wrong. He managed to get a ping pong ball into a little fish bowl and walked away with a goldfish. He was really cute, too. At one point after we got home he pulled a chair up to the counter and read a book next to his fish. He has been wanting a pet for a while.

I was a bit concerned about Joe (the goldfish) because he just sat on the bottom of this vase we put him in. Every now and then he would start to fall over sideways but would correct himself. I stopped on the way home from book club and bought fish food and fed him and he came up to the top to get the food but quickly sank back to the bottom. I went to bed a little worried but encouraged that he had eaten. Unfortunately, as apparently often happens with goldfish, Joe was dead in the morning and poor Tanner was pretty upset. There's another reason to add to the list of reasons not to have pets. The cousins that went to the fair with us won 4 goldfish and all of theirs died within 2 days. I think that helped Tanner feel a little better.

Boards

This is a picture of our office (sorry it is really dark), where Marc has spent the vast majority of the month of July.

The stacks on the floor are his patient files that he will be presenting tomorrow morning at 9:45 in what will hopefully be the last of the tests he has to take for a long time! He has worked really hard and is really nervous. Your good wishes (and prayers!) appreciated!

Ella's birthday

It is sometimes a bummer to have your birthday on a Sunday, so we tried to make it fun and special for Ella. We even brought both sets of grandparents over!

We started with breakfast in bed. She was pretty excited.

She got this funny headband. I told her she could not wear it to sacrament meeting!

Ella has seen some mini cakes at the grocery store and added it to her list of wishes for her birthday. Grandma got this purple and pink one for her and she helped make the 'Starfy' cake on the right.

There we a couple of presents.

And at the end of the day, a happy seven year old.

Happy birthday Ella! We love you lots and lots!