August Recap

Maya was away at art camp so I decided to take Josh and Cora to the park to feed the ducks. I remember doing this a lot when Maya was little and she really enjoyed it, but we didn't have a very positive experience. All I can remember is one minute Josh and Cora are feeding the ducks, being super cute, then these aggressive geese come out of nowhere and all hysteria breaks loose! Josh was stranded up on a table with a bag of bread while I grab Cora and run off yelling, "Josh! Run for it!" They were some mean geese, too. We made it safely to the van and Josh asked that we never do that again. Ha!



Afterwards we went to Culver's for lunch because Culver's makes everything better! Cora making crazy faces.



We only made it to one of our city's outdoor concerts this year. :( We will have to make more of an effort next summer.

Grandma Pat came out for a few days to take us clothes/shoe shopping for Aunt Jenna's wedding. It was so nice to have her here and to spend so much quality time together! The kids haven't seen her for awhile but they warmed up quickly and loved playing games, snuggling, and watching movies with her.



We took many, many trips to Spring Mill Pond! We love that place and usually spend a good 4 hours playing in the water and the sand. So fun - great memories were made!

The best little buddies. Josh would love a younger brother just like Carson.

Most of our summer time outings were planned around Sonic's 50% off happy hour! MMMMMMM, Vanilla Diet Coke. The kids had slushees.

We took the kids fishing at Spring Valley fishing pond in Dexter, MI. It was a lot of fun and a good trial run to see if the kids liked going before we invest in any expensive equipment to try the real thing out. Everyone had a good time, except Cora was done after about 15 minutes and was super impatient. Maya was able to catch the first one:



Nick caught fish #2 and it was tiny. Haha, he was a good sport about it.

Coco and I walked around and took pictures. I thought she looked especially pretty in this one.

Pretty place!

Josh caught a decent size trout!



The next night we cooked up some of the fish for dinner. Josh wasn't liking the idea of eating it and ate everything else on his plate first. We told him he needed to have one bite of the catfish, but he was really fighting it...finally he took a bite but was sent to his room for the way he was acting. I went in to check on him about 15 minutes later and his eyes were nearly swollen shut! I guess he's allergic to catfish in addition to milk. It was quite alarming to see him like this but, in the end, I'm glad we only forced him to eat one bite. It took a good 24 hours for the puffiness to go away.



We also went Geocaching as a family in August! It was so fun. I have never gone before so the kids loved telling me all about it.

Busy July

July was a great month! Josh was very busy with finishing his baseball season, baseball camp, and two Cub Scout camps this summer so I surprised the girls with a few "treats" they don't normally get because we don't want Josh to feel bad when he can't have them. We stopped at McDonald's and had an ice cream cone one day, donuts from Looney Baker another day, and breakfast at IHOP the last day. My girls have never been to IHOP so they thought it was pretty special! We tried not to let Josh know about our outings but he'd come home after being dropped off by his friend's dad and would brag about getting Slurpees every day. It all evened out in the end! Oh, and we like food.

We took a trip to Greenfield Village with our buddies, the Gunnells, before their pass expired. It was sad to think that it was our final trip there since they will be moving away in the summer. We love them so much! They have become like family to us.

We spent lots of time outside playing in the sprinklers, using chalk on our new driveway (so smooth!!), and just enjoyed the outdoors. The girls were being so cute this day. Their personalities, like their looks, couldn't be any more different, but occasionally they get along so I had to document it! Ha!

4th of July - we met up with friends and went to a VERY busy parade in Northville where we struggled to find a good spot. Finally we made our way to the spot where half of the ward was! The kids had so much fun watching and receiving all of the candy and goodies. After the parade we did some yard work then went to a friend's house for a BBQ and s'mores then home for a firework show put on by Nick and Maya. Our neighbors Leslie, Krista & Phil, and their son, Josh's best bud - Jackson, came over to watch with us. It was a great holiday! So blessed to live in this great nation.

We renewed our Detroit Zoo pass and I'm not sure why. I had to practically BEG my kids to go there this summer...so sad because they used to jump at the chance in the past. The first time we went was kind of a downer because it was so hot and the animals were lethargic, but the next time we went it was awesome. Cooler weather, happy children, and active animals make for a great day at the zoo. After our trip there we stopped by the temple to walk around and talk about the building, etc. It has been a long time since we drove up there with the kids so they really enjoyed seeing it again. (These pictures are from both of our trips there)

The next pictures are kind of random: Cora ate some cherries and stained her teeth, Nick and I (along with Heather - Phil couldn't make it) went to see Jim Gaffigan. He was SO funny - loved the show. Josh finished baseball, Maya took a summer art class with her friends and absolutely loved it! Cora got her hair dyed by Maya & she got a new bike with her Birthday money!