Tommy and Sheena

Jamie's cousin got married and we were delighted to be included in the celebration!  There were festivities at a park following the ceremony and it extended beyond the typical: football, tag, and all sorts of fun running around.  Jamie's cousin, Bruce, even did a magical flying maneuver in an attempt to avoid Caleb.  

 The best man managed to play football, in his tux, without doing any damage to the rented clothing. That's skill :+)

 The newlyweds... out of the wedding attire and into fun-having clothes

Family Weekend

Jamie's family planned a weekend for all of us to hang out.  It included the first camping experience for our family of four.  That spiffy tent with the orange was one I bought for Jamie last year.  It was our first time using it.  The weather was absolutely perfect, we camped in Marc's backyard (read: readily available, clean, bathrooms), and it was very quiet.  A good first time for all of us.

 My boys are always ready to wrestle any available cousins

 Campfire bonding

 S'mores and a very cheesy smile

We also enjoyed a bit of time a local state park before the ridiculous heat overtook the whole Midwest.  

Amusement Park Fun

We had such a delightful time in perfect weather at the Amusement Park near Jamie's hometown.  The boys loved the rides, the food, the company...  Thank you Grandpa and Grandma!

Swimming lessons

The littlest Guilds took swimming lessons at the beginning of June for two weeks.  Swimming is our "thing".  They both love it and learn it easily.  It is interesting to watch the focus and determination that Jonathan puts in to swimming in contrast to his take it or leave it attitude with tee ball.  We are taking some additional lessons next week to hone the learned skills, but here are a few photos of the greatest part of lessons: getting to go down the slide and off the board on the last day!

 Caleb, down the big slide by himself

 Caleb, off the diving board... a little hesitation but then he hopped right in!

 Jonathan, mid-air

"Cards for Sale"

One day a week ago, or so, Jonathan made cards.  Lots of cards.  Then, he asked me if he could set up a stand and sell them.  He made a sign that said, "cards for sale.  10 cents a card."  The sign was taped to the front of the table and he brought out his cash register with money in it.  He recruited Caleb to "work" with him.  They dressed up (basically this meant a tie).  I thought we would just quietly sit there and wait for a few kind neighbors to happen by.  Not so much.  You can watch the video to see what we did, instead.  Between the dog walking business and this, we are quite the money making family :)

Whew!

June is over.  It is blur of family visits, swimming lessons, making dinner for all sorts of random guests, and working on several projects.

I have many photos to upload, but first a story...

We visited an amusement park with Jamie's family when we were in Iowa last weekend.  The boys had a delightful time, but one ride was not on the top of J-man's list: the Frog Hopper.  Today we were in the car and went down a large hill... Jonathan said, "Ooo, that hill makes my tummy feel tickly like the Frog Hopper.  Caleb, do you know what causes that tickly feeling in your tummy on hills?  It's tiny little hands inside your stomach that move around and tickle in there.  They only do it on hills or Frog Hoppers."  Caleb: "Oh."

Summer

We are gardening, cooking stuff, swimming and learning how to swim, Jman is playing tee-ball, and we are having good times with friends and family.  We hosted our neighborhood block party last weekend and it was a grand time, but we were so busy with our "hosting" duties we took no photos.  Our garden is growing quite nicely, and we are taking notes for next year.  So far we've eaten some green beans, peas and lettuce.

What else?  It seems as if there is quite an overabundance of activities and such in June for us.  We are trekking to see family a couple of times, and have entertained some folks from our neighborhood, and had some visitors.

A few funnies from the littlest Guilds...

1. Caleb asked if we could grow a couscous tree.

2. Jonathan asked where metal came from as he said he had never seen a metal tree or a metal plant or animal.

3. The blackbirds have been a source of much consternation as they ate most of my flowers (with a bit of help from the squirrels).  The boys made up a song after we watched them peck all of the flowers in one bed to pieces: "blackbird, blackbird, you are yuck!"

4. During the aforementioned block party I looked up to see Caleb peeing in the bushes of one of the neighbors.  Our REPEATED conversations about how peeing outdoors is only for when we are in the woods may have not yet hit its mark.

5. We went fishing one Saturday morning with Nate, Carla and the boys.  Caleb loved the worms so much.  Unbeknownst to us, he put two in the cup holder of the car.  We got in on Sunday morning and the smell was disgusting.  We looked all over the car and couldn't find the culprit of the smell... only to later find two very toasty worms in Caleb's cup holder.

 Our bean plants

 We may all be Boxcar Children... we all four love the books, and we've been reading them aloud.  I found this gem of a cookbook at a book sale for 25 cents.  Money well spent.

 Look at those peas.  I find it a miracle that I planted those seeds and these plants are the result.

 The two munchkins, ready for swimming lessons.

Jonathan, running the bases at his first tee-ball game.  He is having a great time!

On we go... to more summer fun!!