Garden Galore!

Our squash vines are taking over. No squash yet though. The second picture is of our pumpkin vines and sweetcorn. Everything grew alot while we were gone last week. We are eating Zucchini out our ears. You name it, and we are eating it with Zucchini. Josh says it is the first time ever he has eaten Zucchini for breakfast.

Caden has been doing some chores for us to earn money. He says he is saving money for a dirt bike. Josh told him he'd pay him $1.00 to weed the carrots. You can see the scowl on his face!
If we pay him $1.00 a day for one year, he'd still be about $300. short of the money he needs for a dirt bike. I guess we'll get as much work out of him as we can, and he'll learn how expensive a dirt bike really is!

Julia Hanging Out

Julia and her baby were outside having a little conversation this morning.

Okoboji Highlights

We had a great time on vacation last week. The camper was getting a little small by Friday. We thought our house seemed huge when we got home. We spent the week doing lots of activities...see the pictures below for details!

It was a 4 hour drive to Okoboji. We made stops for potty, for ice cream, and to play at a park on our way. Here are the kids with orange push-up tongue's, and Noelle listening to all the jibber jabber.

Caden and Macy wanted to spend the first two days playing at the beach and swimming.

Noelle was very popular throughout the week. Randy held her for us during every meal. He said he would adopt her if we'd let him...NO WAY!

We spent one afternoon at Arnold's Park. It is a small amusement park. Josh insisted that I get an arm band with the kids and ride the rides with them. Macy's favorite was the Tilt-a-Whirl. She liked all the rides that would spin round and round. I was a little sick from all the spinning. I twisted Caden's arm to ride the log ride with me. I was the only one who would ride the roller coaster. I would much rather be airborne than spin!

We ate breakfast and supper with the other Orchard Hill Church families that were camping. Each family had to wash dishes and serve a meal once during the week. Josh was the volunteer for our family since I was busy with baby duty. Here is proof that he really can wash dishes and put food on plates!

An Aunt and Uncle of ours have a vacation home at Okoboji. We spent an afternoon out on their boat. Tubing was so much fun! Macy and Caden were very brave to get on the tubes. Caden even got to drive the boat!

Naps...don't forget naps! We all took naps throughout the week! We wore Noelle out...she slept alot!!

We met with our church family campers in the evening for worship. We did not make it through the full hour on any night. We would sing one song and disappear to the camper to crash. Here is the tired bunch!

Okoboji....Here we come!!!!

We are headed out on Sunday for a week long camping trip to Okoboji-Gull Point State Park.

We will be camping with 33 other families from Orchard Hill Church...that includes 80 kids!!!

We are very grateful for our friends -- the Meesters -- who are lending us the use of their fully stocked camper for the week. We will be spending mornings and evenings with the other families for meals, worship, and small groups. The rest of the days will be our own family time, so we are hoping to do some fun, kid friendly activities!

The kids are so excited. Macy says that tomorrow is the best day of her life!!!

Macy climbs again....

At least this time it is only up the lilac bush! There is a frog in the bucket. Macy is mothering a frog!

Happy Baby!

I am so thankful that Noelle is a happy baby. She layed on the floor for an hour yesterday playing with her feet, while Caden and Macy played around her.

Daddy's Turn

We have not turned on the air in our house, so Josh thought this looked like a good way to cool off.

Fun in the Sun!

My good friend, Jamie Steele and her kids, came from Dubuque to spend Monday with us. The kids played hard and had so much fun. I think the slip n' slide was the favorite activity of the day. Jamie and I talked a lot....ate some good food....and watched the kids, of course!
Poor Josh and Micah had to be at work while we had all this fun!

Kisses

Noelle was giving out big, wet baby kisses this weekend. Mom was the lucky one to get most of them! She is such a happy baby!!

Monkeys

More Peas, Please!

Julia was a big help in the garden last night. She had her first taste of picking the peas and eating them straight out of the shell. She thought they were yummy...the onions on the other hand she didn't care for. She picked one and threw it!

Mommy Time!

A good friend took Caden and Macy for an afternoon this week, so I got special time with my babies. I don't think Julia missed them! She has been pulling some new tricks since she turned two...one being climbing out of her crib and two being giving Noelle toys to play with and then snatching them back really fast. Noelle loves toys. It is fun to watch her play. She cries pretty hard when Julia takes them away from her.

Macy stuck in a tree....

...and Daddy to the rescue! Tree climbing is a favorite activity in our yard. I think Macy is getting braver everyday. It made me nervous that she was wearing flip flops, so I made her sit up there until Josh got home.

Sweetcorn Patch

We can't wait to eat all of this yummy sweetcorn! The rain and humidity are making it grow really fast lately. This sweetcorn patch is grounds for fun...hide and seek, mud clod fights, racing up and down the rows, yelling at the dog to quit knocking over stocks, fights over who gets to water it, and pulling button weeds.