July 11

We ventured out to our town's Summerfest today! Gavin and Braden had a great time riding all the rides!



I love this picture on the roller coaster. I really hope they stay best buddies for a very very long time!

July 10

Meena C got Braden a cool lego set for his birthday. He used his imagination to build this forklift ALL BY HIMSELF! He was so proud of it! Way to go bubby!



Then we got our first sweet corn of the summer! Braden was a big help in shucking it (knew he was a true Cornhusker :):)

Blake just laid around watching the clouds while we did all the work! Slacker!

Then I caught this cute picture of the boys together...they really do love each other!!

July 9

These beautiful flowers are both in my backyard! I love the hydrangeas! I thought the rain on them was pretty neat looking! Refreshing!

July 8

Stormy day in Iowa - there were some wicked clouds and awesome thunderstorms!

July 7

Sleeping baby - love the butt in the air!

July 6

As promised...these are the REALLY muddy pictures! Follow the progression!!!

The contemplation...

The decision! Oh what a mess...



Thank goodness for Aunt Katie...she isn't afraid of a little mud :) She even helped fish his shoe from the mud when it got sucked off his foot!

The aftermath...

The clean-up (again thank you Aunt Katie!)





Oh the joys of childhood!!!

July 5

The sun finally came back out so we headed over to Mimi and Bapaw's house to swim!

July 4

After a VERY rainy, chilly, dreary 4th of July we headed downtown for the fireworks...



...and this is what we saw...colorful clouds!

It was very disappointing! The cloud coverage was so low that the fireworks just lit up the clouds...what a bummer! We did convince Braden to leave early and we avoided all the traffic though!

July 3

Hope you enjoy the gazillion pictures the next few days - there was just so much fun to be had :)

Sparkler fun (notice he was very festive with his towel!)

Cousin Mark doing fireworks with Braden

Waiting for the VERY LOUD train! He jumped back after it started blowing it's whistle repeatedly!

Hanging with Mark Twain


Watching Jamie and Addy play mud volleyball! This is serious business here! It is pretty fun to watch (I've never had the desire to play, but Chris has played in years past!)

Katie and I enjoyed a few cold drinks from the beer (bicardi) truck!

Ok this picture needs a little explanation...I dressed Braden in this outfit for watching mud volleyball fully expecting that he would at some point get muddy. It is very hard to avoid the mud down there even if you try hard! So this is how it went:
Braden: "Mom, is it ok if I get my shirt dirty?"
Me: "Sure honey, it is ok if it gets dirty, it's an old shirt"

So instead of just waiting to see if he got dirty - he immeadiately began to dump dirt all over his shirt...just because he could :) What a goon...stay tuned for the REALLY dirty pictures (I will be posting the mud fun on the 6th - when I didn't get a picture taken for the day!)

July 2

We headed to Missouri for the 4th of July weekend! It was the first time most of the Missouri family had a chance to meet Mr. Blake! Mimi and Bapaw were thrilled to finally get their hands on him - and I think he impressed!



Then Braden got to continue his birthday celebration with presents from Uncle John and Aunt Katie! Transformers and a cool helicopter (I think Uncle Matt might try to steal this one!)

July 1

We finally got to do Braden's birthday party today! It was a little cloudy and chilly this morning but cleared up enough for them all to have a great time at the Splash park! Meena C came into town to see the boys and enjoy the fun!

Braden with his buddies!

Gavin enjoying the water :)

Braden, Sally and Gavin

The babies - waiting till they are big enough to run around too!

Cute Blake!

When the water got a little cold - there was always the hill to roll down!!
Presents and cupcakes followed! Thanks to everyone that came and made his day special! We really appreciate all your friendships!

June 29

Blake showing off his skills! It is really hard to work on tummy time with him since all he wants to do is roll over! He's got it figured out!

June 30

Braden always thinks there is something wrong with my car that he can fix :) Here he recruited his friend Josh to help and Blake was taking it all in waiting for the time when he can join them!!

June 28

I bought Chris this bike for his birthday 3 or 4 years ago...and finally it made it out of the basement! He and Braden took off on a bike ride around the neighborhood! I think this will be a good father/son activity!

June 27

Blake showing off his new rattle to help with grasping things! He thinks it's pretty cool!

June 26

Sitting up like a big boy in his stroller!