Summer Moments So Far

I have a lot of pics that didn't get included in previous posts, so here is a mashup of moments from the last couple months! (mostly pictures, not much text:)

Kate is done with 4K and did exceptionally well. She is one of the oldest in her class, far surpassed their expectations this year and is beyond excited for Kindergarten next year. She will go every day and that will be quite an adjustment for her. And me.  :) 

She is done with dance and soccer. I do not have MOPS meetings in the summer and I didn't get her registered for any summer school, so we are pretty free and laid back this summer - yay! She has swim lessons twice a week in the morning but those will end this week. I may put her in another session later in the summer, but we'll probably take a little break in July. 

Last day of 4K! - June 4, 2015

Collin took this photo of Katie on her last day of school:)

Picking Kate up on her last day!
It is probably hard to see, but these are Kate's lockers, above she wrote her name under a rainbow.
She also wrote her name and her brothers just to the left in blue:)

We took a day trip down to Prairie du Chien, WI and McGregor, IA on a random Saturday...

Collin and I on our way to supper

Old Man River restaurant and brewery - nice!

Eating Dad's pasta with his hands. Of course.

There is a whole series of photos with Collin coming toward me
We went over to this little square (it was a triangle) that was beautiful.
They ran off a bunch of energy - they were so silly!

Many, many photos like this...

Pretty little main drag in McGregor, IA

Our dinner with T & T in La Crosse!

Wisconsin is definitely his home, but we want to get him an Iowa shirt too:)

We have gone boating a few times as a family. It is definitely not super easy with the three kids, but I'm surprised at how well it has gone. Ayden does not like his life jacket, obviously, but if we are going fast, he chills out. I do not enjoy trying to hold Ayden (so heavy!) in his jacket if he is fussing, I get pretty anxious. Dave is really good at trying to take him or get him calm. He knows it determines if I will want to go on the boat or not:)  The big kids love it and beg to go fast as well:) We have even docked and gone out to supper just us five. We are anxious to take some others out on the boat too!

Boating with my guys

Oops, we didn't look at radar. A little rain coming

These two LOVE the boat

Out at Portofino - a fave on the lake
Yes, Kate order blue cheese gnocchi for dinner

Bug bites from the beach :( 

Mommy escaped on the kayak one afternoon

This man LOVES cars right now, our furniture is covered in them
Such a typical boy - loves anything relating to fire fighters, tractors, cars, sports, trains
but so far still dresses up with Kate in her stuff and plays Barbies too! 

Our "little man" waiting for his turn in the bath
And....a little too big for this bouncy seat!

My goodness - kids in the summertime, I guess
Covered in scrapes, bruises and bug bites :(

Last week, I took the kids and went down to Burr Oak for one night. Mom and I wanted to make some strawberry jam and freeze some strawberries. We ended up doing a lot of other things and the strawberries kind of took the back seat:) Oh well, we had fun and we still came away with some delicious treats (thanks, Dad!).

The strawberries were picked at Wold's (not by us)
but Collin and Kate each got a sample of the berries:)

Playing with Miss Quinn!
Kate relished "helping" Q drink water, walk around and play - super cute to see these girls
(I can't find my big camera for some more pics of the kids playing....)
Collin struggled mightily with sharing. He basically freaks out thinking Q will want "his" toys.
Lots of hitting, shrieking and hoarding of toys....ugh, not my favorite stage.

Obviously, the first step in making jam is opening a bottle of wine:)
(it ended up being suppertime before we got started)

We saw Great-Grandma too! She had a good day:)
Collin is helping push her down to lunch

Makes me so happy to see them interact - Grandma (Great) loves having them visit

We brought the kids' bikes so we could do a little of the Trout Run Trail!
We started at Dug Road and went to the bridge over Hwy 9

We are nothing alike :) 

Starting out...
(we have since bought Kate a bigger bike and Collin a bigger helmet)

They were pretty intrigued by this

Kate WAY ahead! She was awesome and flew up all the hills!

Kate was able to attend her first "school friend" party last weekend! She was invited to another during the year, but we were gone. It was a princess tea party AND they swam in their pool! They packed a lot into just three hours - the girl was exhausted when she got home:) 

Dressed as Elsa (there were 3 Elsas at the party:) and writing in Gracie's card

The girls at the party
Lexi and Gracie on either side of Kate are some of her best friends

She came home with two crafts and a gift bag!
They had their picture taken and then made a frame for it

Having their tea:)

I'll end this long post with some more boat pics, if the weather is nice - you can bet Dave is begging me to get out on the water:) I'll be a bit happier once I am no longer pregnant, nursing or wrangling infants in life jackets on these boat rides, but we still manage to have some nice times. 

Daddy is making him laugh and he likes when Daddy holds him while driving

A pretty sailboat on Castle Rock Lake!

Our big dude with his new summer haircut! 

More fun coming up, of course! Some quality Brown family get-togethers in July and the Lenninger family in August. The weather is warm and the water is high, so far - so good:)