What a great weekend!

It's been a great weekend. Friday evening we had a fantastic thunderstorm right around dinner time. We've been getting evening showers that come with little notice. As soon as we have one or two rain drops plop down, it's time to run inside because the sky is going to open up and pour buckets of rain! When it's not raining, the sunshine is fantastic! Keith and I joke that we keep the kids outside as much as possible to make up for all of the Vitamin D we missed out on living in Alaska for 5 years. Keith taught Joshua how to ride his bike with no training wheels. Joshua is lightening fast now! Keith is now working on the other kids. His technique is to remove both the training wheels and the pedals, to have the bike function more as a balance bike first. Then once the kids get good at balancing, he'll put the pedals back on.

This one is of Megan at the front door with her bike. She's hot and sweaty and wanted to come in side.

Here's a shot of Daniel in his Sabbath School classroom. His shirt was perfect for last month's lesson of Joseph and the coat of many colors. This next coming month is my turn to teach and I'm quite nervous. I'm sure it will be tons of fun, I love the 3 year old age group. This week we're going to go scrub down the classroom and get it decorated for next month's lesson. Next month is Joash the boy king.

Megan's room - updated

After cleaning out Daniel's room, it was time to tackle Megan's room again. She's a bit of a packrat (a gene which she inherited from her father). Her room looks right across the hallway to Joshua's room.

Before moving things around, her bed was right in the middle of the room, which didn't give her much room to play in her room. Now she's got plenty of room to spread out.

Daniel's room

At Target this weekend, we got Daniel a rocketship that mounts on the wall and stores stuffed animals. When I went to hang it in his room, I had to send him searching under his bed for his favorite animals. When then as piles and piles of things started coming out from under the bed, a huge room-cleaning extravaganza began. The result is a nice clean room.

His room overlooks the pool. He actually keeps his room pretty clean. Last month, I moved quite a few of his toys out of his room and sent them off to the church thrift store. Now he's just down to the few things he actually plays with.

Father's Day Fun!

For Father's Day, we all met up with Grandma and Grandpa and went to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast. It was super-yummy. The kids really enjoyed it. As usual, Daniel was really into the lettuce. Keith has been really into gardening and growing things. We went to Ruben and Shirley's house on Friday night and Ruben was showing Keith all the things growing in the garden. Keith planted an avocado seed in this container months ago. It is really getting big. (Pay no attention to the coloring sheet on the kitchen table - we've got a house full of artists!)

Last week we saw a comercial for the Topsy Turvy upside down planter and Keith said he really wanted it. When we are at Target with Grandma and Grandpa, we picked one up, along with a tomato plant to try it out.

We have Joshua on leaf-watch. Right now, the leaves are facing the ground because the plant is upside down, we are waiting to see how many days it takes for the leaves to turn themselves over to be "face up" to the sun.

Fantasy of Flight

Grandpa, Keith and the kids went to Fantasy of Flight in Polk City. I can see how this place is ranked one of the best kept secrets in Florida. From the pictures and the exciting stories - it looks like a great time was had by everyone!

I'm not quite sure who the pilot and co-pilot are.

Aren't they cute? How fun to be able to sit in the cockpit of some of the planes!

I love that Megan is semi-striking a pose and Daniel looks less than thrilled. I heard there were some parts that he wasn't crazy about.

Joshua flying.

The crew out for a fun-filled day!

From what Keith explains to me, when everyone walks through this plane, the "windows" are playing a video to make it look like the plane is actually flying through the air. Daniel was not happy and kept saying, "Dad, get me out of here".

Everyone had a great time looking at all sorts of planes, then having a picnic lunch. Keith forgot the camera, so fortunately Grandpa had Grandma's camera with him and managed to snap some pictures for me. Blogging is starting to become a family affair!

Joshua's Vacation to Palm Island Resort

Joshua went on vacation last month to Palm Island Resort with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma and Grandpa have been vacationing at Palm Island for many years. Keith and I went there on our honeymoon. The resort is beautiful.

Blue skies, palm trees, clear pools...what's not to love?

Joshua's such a cool dude. He was quite proud of himself, going on a big trip without any of the other kids.

He had a great time at the beach.

Joshua really enjoyed fishing with Grandpa. Joshua keeps his fishing pole in his bedroom, and is ready for the next fishing trip.

He's looking a little uncertain about the parrot.


I had to get a picture of Grandma in here somehow, since she put so much work into the trip. So here she is in the kitchen (as usual). Joshua came home bragging about all sorts of yummy things he had to eat while at Palm Island.

Summertime is in full swing around here

A huge thanks to Grandpa for sharing these pictures with me.

Summertime is definitely in full swing around here. Today it was hot, hot, hot. The radio today said it felt like 110 degrees outside today. Yikes! My car dash registered at 104 degrees and that was parked in the shade.

Here is a shot of beautiful Megan playing outside.

And one of Joshua enjoying some ice cold water. Notice the pink cheeks on both of them. We're making up for all of that Vitamin D we missed out on while up in Alaska.

The hang-out of choice these days seems to be Firehouse Subs. The kids are crazy about the decor and the free fireman hats.