24th of July

We went to Sarah's house for the 24th. We played several hours at the reservoir and then we had dinner at her house. It was a really fun day!

Blaze.

I was happy that Jackson was being so nice to Peter, helping him build . . . whatever they were building. I don't remember.

Max . . . I think 1.5-2 years old is like the prime baby-cuteness age. I can't get enough of this little guy!

And his hair . . . Andrea says in the middle of October we're cutting it. I know it has gotten too long, but it feels so wrong to cut off the curls. 

Lauren and Cache came to play too.

Max was trying to put Alanna's hat back on, but having a hard time.

Guess he thought it was her fault instead of his or the hat's, so he started pulling her hair. Maybe I should've stopped him instead of taking a picture . . . 

Back at Sarah's we made a slip and slide. Her kids probably put half a gallon of dish soap on there. I kept asking "Are you sure it needs that much?" and they always replied with a matter-of-fact "Uh-huh."

Grandma CeCe brought fun water-gun wand things.

It was a fun time!

Visit from Fred and Jill

While I was growing up, my parents were always talking about Fred and Jill from time to time but I never knew them very well. I have a vague memory of going fishing with Fred and his sons in Indiana when I was younger and I picked up the phone a few times when he would call to catch up with my Dad, but besides that we didn't interact much. 

In recent years, Fred and Jill have come out to visit a few times and they send fun things in the mail to us. Jill has sent jewelry to all of the women in the family and she always sends fun party-favor things too. It's been really fun to get to know them better. 

So anyway, they came to visit this summer and we had a family get together. Here are the pictures:

Notice the lightning McQueen pit crew shirt that I got Peter for his birthday. It was a rip off but I just had to get it for him. Peter and Max LOVE being around their cousins, and it's so fun to see the next generation growing in number.

My Mom has kept the grandkids very busy back behind the creek this summer. Jackson and Paul are taking Sarah to the path that they made to a secret raspberry patch that Andy discovered a few years ago in the middle of the swamp.

Cache is THE FUNNEST little baby ever! I love him! He so big and handsome and full of energy and he always has a big smile.

Coming out of the cat tails.

The kids gathered a bunch of cardboard to make a fort back in the trees.

Caleb at the grill.

Jill had a fun idea of putting the watermelon slices on a big popsicle stick. Good idea!