Happy Birthday Eli!

Nine years ago this boy became part of our family, and I am so thankful for him. He brings so much fun and joy into our lives. We love you Eli: then, now and forever.

To celebrate his birthday, Eli and some friends went roller skating and he had so much fun. He wanted to draw the skate on the cake himself and I was impressed with how well he did!

Happy Birthday Eli!

All Tied Up

Logan occasionally likes to test his Houdini skills; he'll ask us to help tie him all up and then see how long it takes him to get loose.

Game

One day Ali created a game board with her legos and came up with rules! It was a very complex, well thought out game. What a cool girl.

Cantigny

We went to Cantigy  three time this summer. One day it was the anniversary of D Day (which I hadn't remembered) so they had tons of extra fun things like reenactors, jumpy houses, and this cool memorial built from sand from the actual D Day beach! The second time we went it was the birthday of the man who used to live there and donated it to the city upon his death, so entrance was free and there were extra activities again including everything from the D Day celebration and cupcakes!! The other time we were showing Great Grandma and Aunt Donalyn's family around, and we always love introducing people to this awesome place. We had great Cantigny luck this summer!

Ducks

We had a really stressful July as a family. The biggest thing was Jake being really sick for two and a half weeks, but we also had a million things break and need to be repaired or (expensively) replaced. There was some silly video Jason showed the kids one night about rubber duckies that they all thought was hilarious, and I thought we could used more of those laughs. So I bought these ducks and hid them. Everyone thought it was so funny, and the ducks moved around for a few days. It didn't last as long as I'd hoped, but I can see it being an inside family joke for years. I sent a couple to school in the kids' backpacks, some to work in Jason's bag, and Jake still loves it when a handful of them magically move around the house.

Jake's First Day

Jake started Preschool the first of September. He was so excited to start, his only disappointment being that he didn't get to ride the bus to school. It took him a couple of weeks to not be super grumpy every afternoon, but other than that he took to school like a pro.

 His buddy Hermione from church is in his class!

 We carpool sometimes, and her mom took these pictures of them on picture day.

They're the cutest little friends. Their conversations in the car are hilarious.

Puppy

Max is still a hit. He loved hiding in our flowers until he destroyed them. The kids all love him, though Jake is still mostly afraid of him. He giggles as he runs away from him and jumps on something too high for Max to get up on, but he still runs away.