These are the days of our lives

Day 15:  Friday, June 12:  Horse lesson was rescheduled because of weather.  Friday dawned bright and beautiful.  Good day to spend an hour at the farm.  Andie rode, boys ran and spent time petting animals.  

Here is a picture of my kids listening to Neil Diamond.  Yes, I confess.  I love Neil Diamond.  I have fond memories of listening to my dad's records in the basement growing up.  Oh I sing along to Sweet Caroline with the best of them but love ones that aren't so well known.  I can sing "Song Sung Blue" constantly.  Kids were not as impressed with Neil Diamond which encourages me to keep playing it until they develop a healthy respect for the singer/song writer.  I think they said, "Mom, this is so weird"

We stopped quickly at the woods near Craig's office for a "play day" and took a quick hike, played with bubbles, and painted.

To finish off Day 15 of summer we went to an outdoor showing of Frozen at the local park.  Show started at 9.  We enjoyed a good hour and 15 minutes but left early because all of the kids were falling asleep.

Day 16:  Saturday, June 13th.  We spent the majority of the day at our church working on things outside (weeding, mulch, trimming)  Kids were rockstars.  The afternoon they spent in the "Learning Club".  Put a chalkboard in the playhouse and you have a school.  Thanks Angelyn for the idea!

And....getting ready to camp in the mountains in a few weeks.  We really couldn't see the kids sleeping in their current sleeping bags (princesses, lightning McQueen and Toy Story) Which are great for around the house things but thought they would need a little more warmth in the mountains.  These should last awhile.  Had to bust them out and pretend we were already camping of course.

Day 17:  Sunday, June 14th:  Time to leave for a mini-roadtrip to IA.  Pretty last minute.  Trying to find a time to get down and see some friends in IA when I remembered Isaac had a bye for baseball this week on Monday so I decided to take two days to do a quick trip down while Craig did a few things around the house and put in some time at work.  I love road tripping.  I love going somewhere different with the kids for a few days.

Day 18th:  Monday, June 15th.  We had such a great time visiting our friends this day.  Woke up at the house of our former neighbors who will forever hold a place as neighbors in our hearts...the Lee's.  Then spent the day with our good friends enjoying time talking and playing and holding a very new baby...yay!!  Really enjoyed slowing down and visiting with friends over the two days we were there.  Usually when we come to IA we have different events to be at, lots of people to see, etc.  This time I wanted to take time to really see some friends.   Unfortunately I only captured one picture this day and realized it too late.  Oh well we will have to come down again sometime!!

Day 19:  Tuesday, June 16th.  Red Letter Day.  After a little bit of a rocky attitude start (with my oldest...which threw me through a bit of a loop)  we were off to one of my favorite places with lots of my favorite faces....Ledges State Park with our friends.  Too bad our kids just don't get along at all Kayla!!  Just kidding.....they played for hours and were sad to leave one another.  I am excited because we will be together in another 5 weeks for an extended visit/adventure/our husbands think we are crazy trip together.

Caleb was a baby last time we were here and so it was fun to see him just go for it this time.

And by "go for it" I mean lose articles of clothing which I don't think I can show on the world wide web.

Isaac and Connor spent a good amount of time constructing a dam.  I was super impressed.  Took a picture and then watched them have an equally fun time destroying the dam.

Oh Caleb.....

Girls enjoying a little Ledges Mud Spa treatment.

And a tadpole hunt (and a lost and thankfully found Keen) to round out the trip.

It was sad to leave our friends in Iowa.  I enjoy the history we share, the laughter, and the memories.  I get a little sad when we leave but know we will always be friends.

Day 20:  Wednesday, June 17th:  Recover from Roadtrip day around here.  ALSO.  And this is huge.  2 of my crafty friends invited me to craft with them.  Non-crafters......you know the feeling when you think about crafting.  Overwhelmed, cold sweats, knowing you are going to spend more money than you want and it not turn out at all the way you envisioned it.  So when you are a crafty person....and you invite the non-crafty over....it is such a great feeling.  I felt like I might actually have a successful craft.  And it was easy and totally turned out great.  Angelyn and Erika....you rock and now I have this beautiful wreath in front of my house: