Lenninger Family Blog: Happy Birthday, 'Merica!

Alright! Time to post a bunch of pictures and put down how much fun we had over the past weekend. I'm not sure I can really portray how wonderful it all went! I think for the first time in a long time, we had perfect weather for all the fun summery things one wants to do over the 4th of July. I had done just enough prep to make the meals run smoothly and the kids behaved just well enough to not drive us all insane! Oh, except Friday night:) They were great. Except Friday night.

Okay, I'll post pics and just fill in the blanks a bit...

My house before company is here...:)

Everyone (Mom, Dad, Andrew, Kylie, Tara & Quinn) arrived Thursday afternoon, so we had a nice long weekend!

Boat ride Thursday night! We boated across the lake to eat at Splash

Nice setting, food was good but we waited FOREVER :(
Pretty typical at the lake - apparently we are on Caribbean time or something!
We ended up doing some reading and Katie got to watch something on a phone

Uncle Andy with Quinn:)

Boat ride back home - we went faster this time

There is the setting sun!

Bundled up a bit more, it's windy in the back!

Gpa playing with Q en route

Breakfast Friday morning! They all had fun and were shrieking away while eating
Unfortunately, this was the only pic of all four kids I had :( I forgot to torture everyone and try to "stage" a better one. Next time!

Outside playing in the driveway/campground:)

Andrew & Kylie's new camper! It worked pretty nicely to have it right in the driveway
When Andy stuck the flag on the hitch, he told Dave, "Cuz 'Merica." We kept quoting that all weekend:)

I was able to find time to meal plan and get groceries before everyone arrived. But I did forget a couple things and so asked Dave to stop and grab them on his way home on Thursday. Then I sent a text saying, "I didn't grab sparklers." So, you know. Dave took care of that. I don't have any pictures, but Andrew, Dad, Dave, Kate and Collin set off two bags of various fireworks Thursday night in our driveway:)

Patriotic Quinn playing before heading to the pool:)

So cute

The kiddos on their way to the pool

Reading after playing in the pool

Friday night we knew that Mom and Dad would be here, so we made plans with some friends to go out to dinner. When we made the plans, Ayden was sleeping a little better, but as the evening approached, I was more and more nervous. Andrew and Kylie ended up staying another night (yay!) and they decided to have a date too!

Dave and I got ready and left and we had a wonderful time, went to a very fancy place and enjoyed the dinner without the approximately 783,426 interruptions that come with eating with kids. And as we were waiting for the check, we got the text - Ayden is struggling:( Thankfully, it didn't cut our night short and I'm always more happier if I really know what is happening and not wondering. So we came home and he was of course asleep then:) But everyone took their turns wrangling the very unhappy little man (A & K were back home by then) He is difficult right now in the sleep department - even for Dave and I. So...I will definitely look fondly back on that double date and probably not plan another one for awhile!

Saturday morning boat ride before Andrew & Kylie hit the road

Dad skiing one last time
How's that for a 4th of July picture!

This was our first time getting Kate into a tube, we've talked of it many times
She was still hesitant, but like any good parents, we just barreled forward and didn't let her think about it too much:)

Success! They did great. And she was laughing.
Until they hit some big bumps and they went high. Then she starting bawling :(

Andrew spotting the skier - Dad and Dave went on Saturday
Andrew, Dad and Dave all went Friday

Dave skiing

We spent Saturday evening on the back beach

Look at this big guy, just chillin' like a villain

We also hit the pool throughout the weekend! The weather was perfect on Sunday and we spent hours there
Kate amazed us all and progressed from not wanting to put her face in the water on Thursday -
to jumping in and going way under on Sunday! Pretty spectacular to watch!

Last year, Collin loved the pool and we were surprised earlier this year when he was a little more hesitant. Not this time! He was all over the pool and did wonderful. He even started jumping in to Gpa and later did it without holding his hands. Definitely having lots of fun at the pool this summer! I need to figure out some babysitters for Ayden so I can get in the pool with Collin for some lessons....

Here are the rest of the pics from the weekend (I think). I haven't edited them to lighten them up, which I like to do, but that probably just won't get done! We had a phenomenal 4th of July this year. Great weather, great family, lots of fun summer activities and worn out kiddos from playing in the water. Oh, okay...we adults were pretty worn out too! Thanks to everyone who made the trip up. Happy Birthday, 'Merica!

The kids were in red, white and blue all weekend - super cute
I realized I needed to try and a get a photo....

Ol' Blue Eyes

Waiting for supper

Hitting his sister
(His favorite past time)

Well, Kate and Ayden are up for pics!

This very accurately shows what our lives are like right now

Well, this kind of works...

Yes, Collin is wearing yellow rain boots
This is actually one of the most normal "get-ups" he was in all weekend
He actually spent much of his days wearing his new Spiderman bike helmet and his green life jacket