more Summer fun!

Lakeside Park

Decided to take the kids to Lakeside Park for a picnic on Wednesday.  It was fun, which it usually is.  The weather was perfect!!  We ate by the water and even in the sun.  It was actually cool in the shade.  I think having a picnic is one of my favorite things to do in the Summer. : )

[Rachel doing "peace" and not sure what Eli is doing...]

[Eli on the WHIP by himself for the first time.  He usually wants Rachel to go on with him.]

[Kate just being content]

[Rachel waving at Kate]

[had to get a picture of Eli with his way too small flip flops on.  he went into the car by himself and I had no idea he had these on!  when I saw him step out of the car when we were at the park I almost wanted to just go back home!  they're way too small and not good for playing in.  he managed though!]

These pictures were all before Rachel's major "pricker whip-out!"  They were running around through the pavilions at the park and all of a sudden Rachel goes down and screams... "Ouch, Mommy, I fell in prickers!"  She came running to me and I had to take a deep breath... I'm not good with these things.  I held myself together and appeared calm to her (I think) and grabbed a couple wipes for her to put on her elbow where she had the biggest cut (not really too big, but was bleeding).  I then began to pick sharp pricker things out of her arm, leg and off her clothes.  She was crying just a little, but kept telling me... "see, Mom, I only cry for emergencies."  She was so good throughout the entire episode.  It really must have hurt a ton... she had some many little tiny pokes that just looked sore. : (  She wanted to show me what she fell in, so we walked over to the spot.  It was behind a little shrub, so was hard to see from where I was.  We got there and turns out they really weren't prickers, but dead and sharp evergreen bush pieces that were all over the ground... I think worse than prickers would have been.  Then I noticed some pieces of a broken glass bottle and realized that is where she must have gotten the little cut from on her elbow.  That gave me the chills just to think of how much worse this could have been.  She must have just fell on a tiny piece.  Would have been much worse if she would have fallen on one of the bigger pieces I saw there.  I'm so thankful we lucked out.  Rachel said she noticed the glass on her arm when she got up and came over by me and it brushed right off.  She said she thought it was just a sucker... which is exactly what it looked like.  Ahh... still get the chills thinking about this.

Olivia Again : )
We got to watch Olivia on Thursday.  It's been awhile since we've had her here... we took a little break with the move and since our carpeting is so gross and Olivia is getting around, I thought it'd be better to wait until we had a more clean floor for her to roll around on.  But, Christy was looking for some help, so we had no problem at all watching Olivia.  I made good use of the walker, stroller and swing throughout the day to limit her carpet-time. : )  She's so much fun to have around and took a record breaking (for our house) 2-hour nap in the pack-n-play!  Yeah, Olivia!

Abby and Ryan
We got to watch Abby and Ryan this afternoon... Sheri and Tim got to go to the Brewers game... lucky them! : )  We love having Abby and Ryan here though.  The kids play so well together!!  I think it's really easier for me to have them around... keeps Rachel and Eli busy.  The girls played a lot in the pool and the boys played games, rode around in the Jeep and did bubbles.  They all helped Mike shovel dirt, too.

[the kids were all excited to watch the dump truck]

Also, got some neat bird and insect pictures today.

[dad oriole feeding a baby... so cute]

[orioles on one feeder and a rose-breasted grosbeak on the shepherd's hook]

[this bumble bee was huge and loud!]

[action shot]

Vinegar & Water... works great!

This morning I also washed some windows.  The sun was shining through some very dirty and streaky windows and I finally decided to tackle.  My Mom was telling me that she recently used vinegar and water to clean windows, so decided to try that.  The Windex just seems to leave so many streaks.  Well, turns out, I LOVE using the vinegar!  Might never buy Windex again!  Thanks, Mom, for the tip!

Tonight we went to my cousin's son, Nolan's, baseball game... what does that make him??  My kids' second cousin or something??  Not sure!  Anyways, it's always fun to chat and watch his games.  Nolan did great and we're wishing him and his team more luck this weekend!  GO Nolan!

Quote

Rachel to Eli: "No, Eli, you say it like this... when something is not around anymore it's extinct.  You don't say dead.  You say 'dinosaurs are extinct.'  I wish bees were extinct!"

I also bought this picture today... love it!

keep smiling! : )