Dog Days of Summer

Today we went to Great Grandma's house for some boating and swimming. A family friend was there with her granddaughter and we all went for some pizza in the boat. Look at these cuties!!

The kids were finally brave enough to jump of the pier into the river. I remember doing this years and years ago!

And of course, golf carts rides around the yards! What a fun day!!!

My Social Butterfly

I could not be more proud of this girl. She has had the busiest summer and I am so proud of her willingness to try new things. First, she took an art class in summer school even when her brothers were not attending. Then she did Twilight Camp with her friends. After that, she took a 2 week poms/cheer camp. Now, she told me that she doesn't enjoy the cheering so much, but she LOVES the tumbling and being with her friends!

I was a little worried when we went to watch her performance at the end of camp because her memory, unfortunately, is like mine.  Wow, she memorized the whole routine and did fantastic!!!

The best part was that she was with these girls. They are such a wonderful bunch of girls. I also love that they two girls have younger sisters that are the same age as Brooke. They will all be in kindergarten next year!

She may be a little shy and quiet, but that doesn't stop her from trying new things!!!

Family Pictures 2016

Well, this year was quite different from last year! For one, the weather cooperated!!!! We found the most perfect location and Aunt Caroline and the girls met us there to take some pics. She is truly so talented. She captures the light to effectively and it was the exact image I had in my head! Look at these stunning pics:

Now the question is which ones to get on canvas?!

We are sad that they are moving again. This time it is for at least 3 years! The good news is that the Ruta's will be back to visit frequently!

Another Day, Another Parade!

I found a parade that was happening today and we decided to go. It was close by in Lake Zurich and it was a beautiful day. This parade was so different from the others in that it was spread out throughout the town so that it wasn't crowded at all. 

We sat by the lake and the kids enjoyed watching people fish.

What made this parade super fun was that almost every float had water!  There were many floats that not only had water guns, but hoses! There was also a group across the street from us that were prepared and had buckets and buckets of water and water guns! Thankfully we didn't get too wet, but we enjoyed watching!

We definitely want to do this parade again!!!