Ward Campout

Chad took Cayden and Laura to the ward campout last weekend (I opted to stay home with Grace for two reasons... We knew Grace would sleep much better at home and I was still getting over being sick). I know they had a blast because they came home filthy and stinky!

Laura and daddy

Laura was a "good helper" and helped Chad set up the tent. She was so proud of all her hard work!

Cayden doing... no idea. Though he is probably keeping an eye on the fire and making sure to tell everyone how to be careful.

One of Laura's favorite activities - carrying rocks. Chad said she'd pick up a rock, carry it for a bit, and drop it. Then she'd start all over with another. I'd love to know what she thought she was doing.

Eating strawberries while waiting for the fire to die down a bit so they could cook hotdogs.

The kids had a blast climbing rocks, building forts, and just playing with other kids in the ward. They are already talking about the campout next year!

The First Day

This little dude had his first day of first grade today! He woke up with a smile on his face, grinning from ear to ear because he was so excited to go to school. The only bad thing he had to say about school was that first grade was really long. Ha ha! I missed him like crazy (the girls did too), but I am glad that he loves school so much. I just wish my kids would stop growing up; they need to stay home with me forever.

The Lego Zoo

The Denver Zoo had a special Lego exhibit this past weekend. We took the kids (along with cousins and my family) and they had a great time. It turns out that Laura's favorite part was seeing the flamingos, not any of the Legos.

First, the Legos we saw...

Dragonfly

Lion

Fox and Rabbit

Bee

Hummingbird

Polar bears and cute cousins

My kids got lucky and were able to ride the carousel. Laura told Grandpa that she was going to ride it all night, forget about the animals. :)

Told you Laura loved the carousel - see that grin!

Goofy boy loved spending time with his uncles and aunties.

Cutie girl playing at the zoo. She waited very patiently for her turn to sit here.

Gracie's favorite part of the zoo was the elephant show. She could have watched forever.

Goggles & Gang Signs

This is how we roll at our house - goggles and gang signs at dinner. 

We're awesome like that. :)

Summer, Summer, Summertime!

Cayden goes back to school in less than a week. In some ways I'm ready for it, but in many other ways I'm not. So, we've been trying to squeeze in as much fun and work as possible before school starts back up and things get busy in a different way. Here is a little bit of what we've been up to...

Gracie in the China dress. Why is she so dang cute?!

How Grace eats pie. Great technique!

Loving on daddy.

And helping daddy with yard work.

The kids have developed a love for water balloons. I might have to invest in the ones that fill and tie themselves (as in like 100 in a minute) because they blow through them way too fast and my fingers get tired of tying them.

The adults got into the water balloons too.  I love that our neighbor caught this on video. Too bad she didn't catch Pete's revenge on Chad.

How my children think you water ski. Laura's pose rocks!

We took the kids to the Minion Movie. Cayden and Laura loved it and did great! I had high hopes for Gracie since she loves minions, but within 20 minutes she was walking all over the theater (this made for a very long movie).

I bought some new bras. Laura thought she needed a bra too. Hahahahahahahaha! One day she'll hate that this picture exists.

Cayden loved rolling around in this ball at the library's party celebrating the end of the summer reading program. Laura was a little sad she was too short to participate, but got over it pretty quickly.

We did some house painting. The door is now yellow and the shutters a dark charcoal grey. I love how it turned out!

Reading books. I love when I find them doing this!

Inhaling blueberries. Literally.

I had to get a picture of this handsome brother of mine before he heads back to school in a few weeks. I was hoping for a sibling picture since all six of us were there and who knows the next time we'll all be together, but... Some people were unwilling to participate. Poo heads. (Again, Laura is a goober. No idea what is up with her smile here.)