Painters and Pyromaniacs

Some of our summer activities have included painting the treehouse and building fires.

We are Bulldogs!!!

Tate and Garett have enjoyed football season! Dad is the assistant coach and is out there 3 nights a week for 2 hours plus games on Saturday. The boys have had some knocks and scrapes, but they come home glowing with news of tackles and takedowns. We'll see what our spirit is after our first game...August 30th.

Angel

 Mom and I made this nightie for Marissa. Isn't she the prettiest little girl in the world?

Celebrating Mom's birthday!

Tate is being a Roman soldier.

Bulldogs

The boys are playing football this year! They are in the Bantam level of Bulldog Youth Sports. They practice every day for 5 weeks, 2 hours a night. Is that crazy? Then, when school starts, they practice 3 nights a week and a game on Saturday. I think we have all lost our minds. But aren't they cute?

Tate just finished his new favorite book.

Mom teaching Marissa some fingering on the piano.

The kids went to a "Prairie Camp" last week down the street. A neat family was putting on a camp everyday from 9-noon teaching kids in the neighborhood about the California Gold Rush. Tate met a little boy named Jameson there and had him over for a playdate.

This is a demonstration of the kids' fortmaking abilities.

Wagonmobil(e)

Tate leaves little pieces of paper all over the house of his invention ideas. This one is called a "Wagonmobil(e)". He wants to make a wagon/bicycle combo that works on water and on land. Kind of like the DuckBoats from Boston.

Marissa flopped down in the back doorway to prove that she was exhausted and no longer had the energy to move.

Breakfast with Princess and the Boys

Kevin made breakfast with the kids outside. Marissa felt the need to get all dolled up for the occasion where Tate dressed down a bit. Like the socks and sandals?

Pirate Jack

Tate wrote his first story in his journal about " Pirate Jack" and his Dad.

Painting!

Being Silly

Camping

 Our fun night of camping...Garett got attacked by 15 mosquitoes after having lost a battle with a bungee cord.

The light-turner-oner

Tate's "light-turner-oner" invention. He is proud of it.

This is a picture of all the kids' cousins.

I actually went tubing with Kevin and my sister-in-law, Amy.

Tubing with our cousin, Sam.

Jet-skiing with Dad

Jet-skiing with Dad.

One man's trash....

Tate's personality. In a word: trash. He loves trash. He loves to recycle and create new things. I can't get through a parking lot with the boy because he collects everything from the ground from door to door. So it did not surprise me when we went to the lake over the 4th of July and as soon as he found land, he found as many leftovers as he possibly could from previous lakegoers and made it into a flag.

Locals

Locals know how to dress in Chattanooga. They wear bathing suits when they go to the Aquarium because they know there are little waterways and canals and fountains where the kids play after they tour the aquarium. This little secret they keep to themselves so that they can spy all the out-of-towners that come and play in their street clothes in the water.

The amazing fun at the Chattanooga Aquarium. What a great place!

Bunny Ears

Marissa was trying so hard to pose for the camera. She is so oblivious to the fact that her brothers are having a glorious time with bunny ears behind her. Their expressions are of pure joy at getting away with it. 

Pool time

Dad and Marissa swimming at the hotel pool in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Tate

Tate high in a tree on Dad's old dairy farm in Lexington.

Garett

Garett in Dad's tree in Lexington, Kentucky.

Marissa

We stopped at the house Kevin grew up in Lexington to show the kids where Dad lived. These pictures are the kids playing in one of Dad's trees on the farm. 

Baseball

 A little game of bat and ball. Unfortunately, the mosquitos made most of the homeruns.

Marissa and Mr. Froggie

 Marissa loves when she catches a frog. I honestly think frogs are her favorite creatures.

Don't all little girls stand on the counter and smile?

Science Experiment

Our little electrical circuit actually lit a lightbulb! Hooray!!!

Summertime with Sherlock Holmes

Volcano Explosion

 We had a fun time making a volcano and erupting it in the backyard. It was very cool!

Bike

Tate used his birthday money to buy a new bike which turned out to be defective. We had to return it and he was a bit bummed. Dad found this bike for Tate and he was so excited he leaped to Kevin to say thanks. They spent this weekend getting it all "souped up" they would say. He added a bag, a light, pegs and a light up disco bell.

Rain Gutter Regatta

Tate has had a great year in Cub Scouts. After his awards and badges ceremony, they got to do their last activity: rain gutter regatta. They turned water bottles into boats and sailed them down gutters. He did not win, but he was a good sport. It was a fun night.

Raingear

It was raining while I was weeding and mulching. Tate decided to make me an umbrella hat. Here it is!