Dylan's new talent

It only took a little coaxing and 3 different days of trying, but Dylan can officially ride his bike without training wheels! YEAH! We took the training wheels off about 3 weeks ago (he would take his scooter for a ride instead of learning how to ride his bike, little stinker) and told him that he had to learn, He's only 6! He had a little bit of a hard time with the confidence of it, but once he realized that he could do it, he was off! He went all the way around the pond by himself! So proud of my little man!

On a side note, Lauren is doing great on her bike! (So proud of how strong her legs have gotten over the past year!) She will go around the pond 2 times without complaining of her legs hurting. Such a huge accomplishment!

June fun

I can't believe it's the last week of June already! We have been keeping so busy around here with all the summer fun activities! Last Wednesday night, we thought it would be fun to go to Tropicanoe Cove for family night. The kids had a blast, even though it was sorta busy. I didn't take my camera, so no fun pictures this time. It was tons of fun for the kids, because Jack and his family were there, too! The kids just love him so much.

Saturday, Dylan had another soccer game. He is doing great and staying with the ball more. I love seeing how much he is improving in such a short time period. After his game, we headed to Indy to the Indianapolis Air Show. It was so much fun and the kids loved seeing all the airplanes (despite it being very hot! Luckily we brought lots of water and an umbrella to keep us shaded from the sun.)! Ethan would see one fly by and start waving his arms at it, so cute! 

 

We explored for a while and then watched a plane walker (she walked along the wings of the plane while in the air!), a school bus with a jet engine that went 300 mph, 

 

and then the Thunderbirds flew in formation. 

 

We got to explore some of the plane and even sit in a helicopter. The kids loved it!

 

The kids liked all of it but the very loud jets at the end. They weren't too impressed with the sound of them. Poor Ethan climbed up me like a scared cat when one of them flew by really close to the ground! It was a great experience for our family! 

 

After the show, we headed to my parent's house for dinner and a swim! What a perfect ending to a great day!

Sunday was a busy day, too! Ricky had to teach the 12-13 year old class in Sunday School and then again for Priesthood. Then after church he had to help out in the Clerk's office to get everything caught up. As soon as he got home, our Home Teachers came over and then we left for his parent's house for dinner.

Today for playgroup, we met at Tropicanoe Cove again! (I had forgotten about it last week when we went!) The kids did great other than Ethan throwing a fit at the end, it was definitely nap time!

A while

I can't believe how long it has been since I have last posted anything! Not because I have nothing to post about, but because I am so crazy busy that I don't have time to post anything! I don't even know where to start! (Sorry this is going to be a very long post!)

Swim lessons started on June 4th for both Dylan and Lauren. They love them and are learning so much. Lauren is in Level 1 and Dylan started out in Level 2. Dylan told me on Tuesday morning that he didn't want to go to swim lessons. I thought this was very odd for him as he always loves going to the pool. He said that he didn't like his class because he couldn't touch the bottom of the pool in his level. Silly boy! I talked to the instructor, and she moved him down to level 1-2, but he was doing everything for that level. We have talked it up and he said that he will be ready for level 2 next time! 

 

Lauren is doing great! She did the head bobs and was so proud of herself! It was really nice to have 3 of her friends in the class, too! I love how my kids are growing! 

Dylan only got to go to swim lessons on Monday and Tuesday of the first week, because I planned a last minute trip for him and I to South Carolina for 3 days! I had been wanting to go visit my friend Jaime since she had her baby girl, Evelyn, back in February, but it just didn't happen. Ricky was gracious enough to take a few days off work to watch Ethan and Lauren so I could go! Thanks babe! I love you!  We finally got it all worked out where I flew down with Dylan and spent 2 days there and then we drove back with Jaime and her 4 kids! That's right, Jaime, me, and 5 kids drove 10 hours from South Carolina to Indiana!

 Dylan and I had a great time flying down there! We first went to Chicago, where we had a 3 hour layover, fun! Luckily we found a TV area for kids, so we found some food and hung out there for a while. Dylan loved the flight! It was only about 40 mins, but he was so excited about it! He was looking out the windows in awe.

The layover wouldn't have been so bad if our second flight would have been on time. It ended up being delays about another hour. We got on the plane and then they said we had to wait for a connecting flight that hadn't landed yet. Fun! Then, the Captain of the plane came over to us and asked if Dylan wanted to see where he sits. He was so excited! We walked up there and he let Dylan sit in his chair and push all kinds of buttons. I was looking at him wandering if Dylan was going to mess something up, but he did great. He even let Dylan say "Hi Everyone!" over the intercom system! Then when the Captain introduced himself in the air, he announced that Dylan was his Honorary Junior Captain for the flight! It really made his day! It was dark by the time we left, but it was really cool to see the city lights from the sky. It wasn't cloudy at all!

While we were in South Carolina, we had planned on spending all of our time at the pool, but it was only 60 degrees and raining the first morning! So much for working on my tan! We ended up going to a movie and shopping instead! Fun, fun! It was so nice to get away and to see our friends! It ended up being nice weather, just not warm enough for swimming! Dylan and Cameron had so much fun hanging out for the week!

 

 

Here's baby Evelyn. Isn't she a cutie!

 

The trip home wasn't bad at all! We mainly had to stop to feed Evelyn. The boys did great the whole time and we only broke the DVD player out after the third stop! It was so much fun catching up with my best friend! I miss her so much! It was funny when we would stop at a gas station, people would look at me with 4 boys and ask if they were all mine!

We got back on Friday night and they all stayed here. Jaime and I stayed up until 2 am talking and making headbands that are so awesome! The next morning, we went to the Purdue Fountains to play in the water since it was 90 degrees here! (Go figure!)  The kids had a blast, I think we'll have to go back soon!

 Lauren started another dance class with her friends Kiah and Brielle. It is only a four week class for June, but she loves it! It's fun to have her friends there, too! Dylan started soccer the same week. The first week of June (See why I didn't have time to post!) We signed up thru the YMCA for a six week session. He has really done well with it and enjoys it so much. He missed the first game as we had just come home from South Carolina, but had one on the 16th.

 

 Last Saturday, Dylan was invited to a pool party at a friend from school's house. I dropped him off and took the other kids home for naps. We headed back over there for a bbq, but it was raining and storming all night! We still had fun, but just didn't get to go swimming. When we got home, there was a rainbow in the sky. It was beautiful!

 Last week, Dylan had been bugging me to put the sprinkler under the trampoline. I just hadn't gotten to it until Friday. It had just been crazy and I didn't feel like sitting in the sun outside. They had so much fun and I'm glad I finally did it for them! Speaking of the trampoline, I finally got the new netting put up. It only took about 3 days to get it all done! It is not an easy task and I have the bruises and sore muscles to prove it! I feel safer having it on there, especially with crazy Ethan out there!

This week has slowed down a bit! Only dance and soccer! I love doing things with my kids and I'm so grateful for the wonderful opportunities we have been given!