Summertime, and the living is easy

 I haven't taken too many pictures this summer of our normal routine.  Summer ends Wednesday and we are back to school...Not really wanting to give up on summer yet.

 Most afternoons, since it has not been very hot and our entire front yard is shaded, we all go outside and play.

 The kids love to just hang out, color with sidewalk chalk, ride bikes, and Addison sometimes gives all that up to sit on my lap.

 I took a picture of her when she was getting sassy:) She didn't like that at first, but the tantrum stopped.

 Bailey reading his Fablehaven book (he's on #2!)

 "House" by Bailey

 This is Addison's favorite bike.

 They all usually fight over who gets to hold the sidewalk chalk bucket.  Addison usually wins, which cracks me up

 Kate, being Kate

 It only took the summer for Nathan to learn how to peddle. He's even more of a maniac on his bike now.

 Just another example of Addion's favorite spot, at my knee

 Emma worked hard to decorate Daddy's flower area.

 Nathan and Kate giving "Hugbuddies"--A Grandpa Dave phrase 

 Kate thinking she could attempt "The Hill" She backed out and came back on the grass two seconds later

 Bailey would not let me get his picture, so I had to sneak them

 She loves to play!

 Nathan's "I want some miwk" face. This face always gets me

 Take my picture, Mom!

 He still likes to be silly, even at 9 years old!

 We had Bailey weigh himself the other day--80 pounds!  Wow! I think he must be made out of stone.

 The little twinners, girlies, aka Kate and Addy

 Kate thought she could roll with the big kids

 Emma working hard on her decoration project

 Nathan and Addy giving "Hugbuddies"

 Me and my chair.  I love to sit out there with them.  If they start to get crazy in the afternoon, we alwyas head right outside and everyone feels better. 

People pass by and give us nice smiles in our neighborhood every afternoon. We look like a little daycare!

Next Wednesday our summer ends and we head back to school.  The kids haven't even started REALLY fighting yet, but I guess I should quit while I am ahead.  A part of me is already counting down for next summer!

Confidence Cup

Emma has been taking a Jazz/Hip Hop class at Tricks for the past month and a half.  Can I emphasize enough that she LOVES it?!  The video would not upload (but is on FB!) to the blog, but here are some pictures...

 They have a cute little stage that the girls get to stand on to accept their trophies.

 Emma won "Most Energetic"

 Emma always makes friends.

 Right before her performance

She loves this trophy and now has started carrying a purse just so she can carry it around with her.

Check up, check in

The girls are closer to 20 months old, but we had their 18 month check up today.  All five kids are now at the same doctor, yay! The only problem is his office has so many fun climb on toys that they never want to leave the waiting room. Sometimes our outings are very rambunctious and we had a lot of back and forth, all over the doctor's office, with someone screaming or crying at some point most of the time. But they were very patient and we made it through!

 Addison: 23 pounds, 33 inches long

Addison loves to play outside and especially loves her bike.  She is a very good eater and I wonder how she can be so much skinnier than Kate since she usually eats more. Recently, we had Addison evaluated for her development. She has the same issues as Bailey did, we caught them earlier though.  They will be coming out to the house to give her speech and occupational therapy. Since we have been through this before, we are a lot more prepared than with Bailey.  I am really happy she can start so early and hopefully have a jump start on catching up.

 

Kate: 25 pounds, 32 1/2 inches long

Kate's knees are always scraped and bruised as she loves to play hard.  She can be bleeding and keep moving and playing anyway.  Kate can do all the talking for both her and Addison, as she is quite verbal about what she wants.  She is a little clone of Emma more and more everyday.  At least we have a blueprint!

Catch Up!

Bailey's party at Sunsplash. Our first time there!  It was really fun and Bailey had a great birthday.

This is what Bailey's "pet" (a crawdad) shed a few weeks ago.  He's getting bigger!  And he is still alive...crazy!

 Ice Cream Safari at the Sac Zoo with Grandma, Aunt Niki and Uncle Joe, cousins Leena and Johanna.

 Emma took some pics

Addison doesn't like having rice vacuumed off of her:)

Seven People, Three States

Robert James McDonough

1917-2010

Ben's grandpa passed away last week and we headed to Utah for the funeral.  I took my camera to the funeral and took NO pictures of all of the family we saw, ah! It was a very quick trip and we wished that we had more time to see everyone.  The kids had their moments but probably did better than they should have since we traveled so much. Nathan is named after Grandpa Bob with his middle name McDonough.  Bailey and Emma still call him Nathan McDonalds, though:)

Kate wouldn't sit on the couch to get a group picture.  The kids always love staying in hotel rooms.  We have now graduated to only being able to stay in suites with our large brood.  This is their "room."

After the funeral we changed and went to a local park for the kids to get their "been in the car forever" energy out.

 We love the mountains here! The weather was not too bad especially when the cloud cover came in.

 Addison would not be more than two feet from me most of the time.  She refused to play and just sat in my lap the entire time.

Kate played so hard she reopened the scab on her knee.  Kept going though!

Then, it was time for some food! 

 These are the best breadsticks!  We ate here many years ago and remembered these.  I now have something to attempt duplicating at home.

This was the first restaurant on the trip everyone ate and was happy.  It's hard to please five little ones (and mom and dad!) I think it's called The Pizza Factory?  They have more than pizza though plus the giant booth allowed them to still move around while eating.

The next day we were going to stop halfway on the way home and stay the night, but the kids were doing so well that we just kept driving.  After a Monday of everyone getting used to being back at home, we are ready to start our week a day late!

Happy Birthday, Bailey!

The Big 9!  

He is still sleeping right now or else I'd take a picture of him from today.  However, this picture is from Spaghetti Factory, one of his favorite places ever.  Bailey is a great big brother and all around helper.  We love you, Bailey!