I know, lots of posts lately! That's summer for you. It's especially exciting and note-worthy being in the new house. Not to mention, this is probably the last summer/month/week/who knows, that I'll be home with the kids, so I'm taking lots of pictures.

We finally got the kids swing set over here from the other house. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Rieck! The girls missed it, and absolutely love being able to play on it again.
Lila: Woah, one handed! Woooaah! This is the first year she's wanted to go on a big-girl swing. She's slowly working on pumping her legs.
Seriously, look at this kid. She always takes the most gorgeous pictures when she's on the swings.

Check it out: a bird made a nest with 5 little eggs in my hanging basket! I don't know what kind of bird it is, but it'll be fun to get a chance to show the kids the babies when they hatch.

Love. I found the kids on my bed watching The Wizard of Oz, like this:

Turned the corner the other day and found this. I knew they were playing, but had no idea they were making such a mess... or that we had so many Barbies! We're apparently short on clothing, though.
Today I promised the kids a picnic at the park, but because of the rain we had a picnic on the floor instead. They liked it just as much, and after, we went and saw Madagascar 3 at the theater. They ate an entire bag of popcorn! I've never taken them to a movie by myself before. They're at a good age, so it worked out well and was really fun.

Summer has begun!

Elsa getting off the bus on her last day of Kindergarten!
I brought the kids to the all-school, end of year party. They had crazy hair, face painting, bouncy castles, dance party with dj, and tons of food and drinks, all free. The kids played in the playground for awhile, and I took a pic of the scene. This is just a quarter of it.
One of the things you could do was just... blow bubbles. They not only had bottles of bubbles, but a basket of bubble gum. Kinda different and simple, but the kids loved it.


Saturday was over 90 degrees, so we went to Rush City Water Park. We'd promised Lila we'd go once she stopped sucking on her fingers, and she has! I used that bitter nail polish, and to my surprise, it worked immediately. She had her fingers in her mouth about 80% of the time, so it was a huge habit to break. I never thought anything could break her of it, so it seems like a miracle! A very well-deserved day.
Elsa, Tim, and Lila in the little kid part of the water park. Special note to uncle John: the colorful cones on the right are the "cups that dump". :)

Here Elsa and I show off our muscles. The kids conquered the water slide! Lila was afraid at first, but by the end it's all they wanted to do.



Grandma and Grandpa went to Nebraska and got the girls some cute cowboy boots! They love them and wear them all the time, even in the 90 degree heat. Lila says,"It's too hot, I need a new dress!" I say,"No, you need to take off those boots!" :)

 


We went to a birthday party for friend Maddy on Memorial Day weekend. Lila took a swing at the pinata.

Candy chaos!

A good old-fashioned gunny sack race!



Cousin Avery came over last weekend and the kids danced and played.


Lila has gone from being afraid of the kitties, to being OBSESSED with them!


Here's a cute pic of Lila and George. He gets most of the love (and strangulation) because he seems to love it. Ringo is too smart and stays away. :)
 


Auntie Emma came over the other weekend and the kids showed her the kitties and played with water. We've had some HOT weekends recently.



We had a retaining wall that needed to be built since we moved in. The weather has finally cooperated and our awesome neighbor lent us his Bobcat, so here is the beginning. Tim took all the stones out of the foundation of the old barn last spring, and they've been lying in a pile ever since.

Here is the wall with the stones up close:

And here is the whole wall! I love it. The boys did an excellent job.


Elsa's other bottom tooth came out yesterday! Two teeth in less than a week. I'm hoping the new ones grow in soon, because the top two are loose, too! She's such a big kid now.

 Yesterday morning we went to the park in Osceola to have a birthday breakfast for Shane. The weather and food was great, and the river was beautiful. The kids liked wading in the water at the beach and got their clothes soaked. Afterward, we went back to grandma and grandpa's house and went swimming in the pool. It was such a fun weekend.
Cousins: Lila, Avery, and Elsa.

A visit from the Tooth Fairy

Monday night, Elsa lost her first tooth! She was working it all night, determined to get a visit from the tooth fairy so she could "get some cash"! Lila was very happy and proud and gave her a sweet hug.
Wasn't it just yesterday she got those bottom teeth?! The other one is super loose too, and will probably be gone within a couple weeks.