Bender Park Beach

There's a nice little beach practically over and down the road from our house. So when the temps were stuck in the 90s all week we knew where to go. 

Cooler by the lake and feeling great!

Sand Play..can we stay all day?

Daddy stops to join us after work.

Second visit:

Us, a sun bather, and a guy who paddled in on an ocean kayak who showed Lydia 1 of the 6 big salmon that he caught just 2 miles out. The cold west wind was great for fishing but it blew the warm surface swimming water away.  Fire on the sand...ice in the water!

A Swing...

 A swing...

and a miss.

 A swing...

 and a hit!

Now run before the other 3- and 4- yr olds figure out what to do with that ball!

John's Cottage

We got to John's Lake and Lydia wasted no time. Before the tent was set up and nightlights were in place, she's in her swimsuit and having fun with the kids.

The kids ran around together, broke into tents together, played Hide & Seek, etc.

 Bathing beauty Abigail didn't warm up to the water, but she liked wearing her swimsuit!

 We didn't know if our pizza pudgie pies would cook in the little Weber, but they did and they were delicious!

 ***

 The Girls: Ava, Aaliyah, Abigail, Natalie, Lydia

 Abigail was so funny and cute. When all the rest got bored getting photographed (except Ava) Abigail 'cheesed' and smiled the whole time through. She must have thought, "Hey, I'm aware of what's going on now, I know how to work it."

 Toss in the new girls: Nora & Carly

Add the two boys, Trevor and Egan, and the swing's about to bust.

***

Tubing with Zach, Angela, & Tracie, being pulled by Uncle John was fun, though rough. Canoeing with Ben and Lydia was smooth. We also took both the girls in the paddle boat. We saw lots of dragonflies and Abigail fell asleep.

Sarah and Matt took out the kayaks!

Stacy and Greg paddling off into the sunset...

4th of July Parade

Happy Independence Day, Americans!

Daddy and girls in the wagon.

 It was a perfectly warm and sunny day for a parade in Oak Creek, WI.

Lydia waves to the clown 

We plopped down in the middle of Peutz Rd next to our neighbors from across the street, and slapped on the sunscreen.

(Hopefully they won't find out I'm posting a picture of their behinds on my blog. They are great neighbors.) Ashlynn (girl in pink shorts) was kind to Lydia when all the big kids scrambled to pick up candy that was thrown into the street.

"Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of picking candy up off the street, eh?" said Lady Liberty on stilts.

But it was more than candy. Lydia enjoyed watching the cheerleaders, gymnasts, karate kids, and dancers.

We had American flags, but Lydia wanted to wave her ladybug wand. Betsy Ross just didn't design the flag with enough tinsel and glitter for Miss Lydia.

Baseball starts and other June happenings

ready for t-ball with her cool pink and purple mitt!

It was quite cute seeing all the munchkins (3 and 4 year olds)

This first day they played catch and split the group in two to run bases.
The coaches were great and Lydia ran so fast.  

My Abigail is a summer blondie and still likes her nuk.

Abigail puts a puppet on and pops through the curtain. Lydia can't miss out on the fun.

Went to Grandma Jan and Grandpa Bruce's over Father's Day. Lydia got to play with Emily!! Tea party was a hit.

And so was the swimming pool.

Abigail, Lydia, Emily, Kinsey, Hailey, Kailyn, Nathan, Jacob.

Happy Father's Day to Ben and his dad!

Happy Birthday to Stacy!

Been trying to take more silly pictures of the little ones when I feel like the time when they are so cute and so precious is slipping away. Just wish we could can the laughter and hugs and always remember the sweet and funny things they say and do.

LYDIA

AALIYAH

Chocolate ABIGAIL

Madison, WI

 I had to title this post Madison, WI because upon using the GPS, I found out that there is a Madison in almost every state. So anyway, we had a fun-filled day trip in Madison on Saturday: Farmer's Market, Children's Museum, Olbrich Botanical Gardens, UW Union Terrace, and Cousin Zach's Graduation Party.

We met up with Anna & Greg at the farmer's market. It crowded the entire capitol square, but wasn't hectic.
 

Lydia frolics in the street with her new Slinky.

The "Rock-It" had the girls engaged for a long time.

Buttons, music and sense of control...

...Lydia loved it!

View of Lake Mendota from the museum terrace. Very fun up there!

The peonies were all abloom in the event garden.

Lydia and Abigail stop at a water fountain.

The rock garden was fun to walk through.

One of the colorful iconic chairs at the UW Union Terrace. We got excellent ice cream from The Daily Scoop and then sat by the water.

15 Month Checkup

Abigail went to the doctor for her 15 month checkup. She's steadily growing, checking in today at 22 pounds and 30.5 inches. Lydia consoled Abigail with "it's okay" after her shots, and a bright orange band-aid on the left thigh made it all better.