summer bucket list - chuck e. cheese

if you ask the kids what they want to do "special," they will answer, "chuck e. cheese!" so today we went to have a little fun. we arrive right when they open and leave in time to go home for lunch. it is quiet, not too crowded and there are lots of free tickets and token given out by the manager. we also brought in four cec reading charts for some extra tokens and the kids' free refill cups. so for $22 we get drinks for all of us (i had to buy one) and 150 tokens. it is a lot more fun for me too because manning can almost do all of the games on his own so i just have to supervise instead of having to play every game for every kid - at once.

madelyn and mason were there too, but they weren't interested in the 'little kid' games where manning was hanging out so they weren't in any of the pictures.

cramming in lots of summer fun into this last week before school. love.

80th celebration at church

our church celebrated 80 years of ministry at all three locations today with a single service and a family picnic afterwards. there was only child care for kids 5 years and under, so madelyn got to hangout with us on the 2s and 3s hallway. the kids all made hats for the celebration which were a huge hit with the little kids.

once all of the kids were picked up, we went out to join the picnic. it was hot, for here, but it was gorgeous and sunny. and we got snow cones while we waited in the hot dog line. i held out at first, but i was sweating by the time we reached the snow cone line and got one for myself.

it is nice to have found a church where they love God and His word so much. a great celebration! love.

sunny saturday

with no plans and a warm day, the kids and i went down to the pool while matt took care of some yard work. we took some video so that daddy could 'see their tricks.'

the kids swam for a few hours and then dried off on the playground before riding bikes back home. manning is finally big enough to really use the playground equipment and was enjoying himself immensely. we had fun until maddux hit his lip on the slide and started bleeding a little.

we had some lunch and played outside while daddy finished up the yard work. the kids went inside to take a little break from the sun and rest a bit. we decided to have an early dinner of sandwiches before heading back to the pool for some swimming with daddy this time! love.

hoola-hooping

last movie in the park - the lego movie

we picked up the big kids from vbs and raced over to the last movie in the park of the summer - the lego movie! mason has been counting down all week and was over the moon when he learned that his favorite lego store was going to have a "lego walk" there too! (think "fire walk" but with legos.) i guess there wasn't the turn out that they were expecting (although it seemed like one of the larger groups) and they gave us an entire pizza for our family instead of a slice each. we were about an hour late, so we had to be quick to pick a spot for our blanket and take in all the activities.

our first stop? the "lego walk"! for some odd reason, mason feared falling down.

and then madelyn and maddux took a turn...

we picked up our popsicles and popcorn after making bracelets out of legos. it was already getting fairly dark and we had been given a warning that the movie would start in five minutes. the kids could barely see what colors the legos were that they were stringing into bracelets.

again we made it through the entire movie! we had such a wonderful time! i am so thankful that our public library and local businesses and churches are so generous to the community. love.

wrapping up another vbs week

here are the three bigs wearing the shirts they made during vbs on the last night. next year all four kids can attend! matt and i have enjoyed a nice dinner out and a long walk this week while they were at vbs. it serves as a little bit of a respite for us - even with manning. having only one child seems so much easier! the kids had a wonderful time with so many of their school friends and praising God together. love.

it pays to be alone with mommy

with the three bigs at vbs and daddy at golf, it was just manning and i for a few hours. we picked up some dinner and then i let this special boy have an ice cream cone before a long bath with the whole tub to himself (all three are very rare treats!). he was just in heaven. i love this little guy. 

i took the video for two reasons, the first, because he is just too cute and the second to show some of his speech. this is actually fairly clear speech for him. such a happy guy. love.

picnic dinner at the park

i really love having cool summers. after spending half my life sweating, i prefer this much more! and i spend a great deal more time outside. this afternoon i had a meeting for work but once that was over, i took the kids to the park to play and have a picnic dinner before going to vbs. they thought that this was fantastic - and so did i!

there was much climbing, swinging and sliding by all before we sat down to eat.

this has been quite the carefree and fun day. love.