Kendyl's first swim meet...

Kendyl is doing swim team this summer and had her first meet this weekend. She swims every night for an hour and they have been training for 3 weeks now. The first week she could not swim the length of the pool without stopping to hang on to the side of the pool to rest. Now, three weeks later, she is swimming the entire length in a swim meet.

Here she is getting ready for her first race. She swam in three events, freestyle, back stroke and breast stroke. She did well, but said she was nervous.

She is waiting under the tent for her turn.

Diving from the pool deck, not quite ready for the diving platform.

Gotta love the swim cap! :) Swim team has been a great way for her to really become a better swimmer. They focus on training and technique and the coaches are good at encouraging the kids. It is definitely a time commitment though, since she swims every day.

This is her swim team, the Viperfish, and her two coaches. Good swimming Kendyl!

Children's Museum...

On Friday we took the kids to the Children's Museum. We haven't been since Brityn was a baby so it was like a whole new experience for all the kids.



The first exhibit you come to are some physical mazes. This is Kendyl going through the rope maze.


Here is Ryder going through the stone maze.

They have pvc pipes set up so you can hit the tops and make music, like Blue Man Group. Ryder thought it was great that he could whack something and not get in trouble.

They have a really cool bubble exhibit where you can make gigantic bubbles, including one you can stand in. Here are the kids blowing on a wall of soap trying to make bubbles.

This is a bucket and pulley system where the kids turned wheels and loaded up the buckets with blocks.

Their set-up was like a little village with a store, a bank, a mechanic shop, a water shop with plumbing, an airport security station, and several more learning stations.

The kids really liked doing their own shopping at Smith's.

The bank had an ATM where the kids could swipe a bank card and withdraw money.

There were also 1 million pennies in the glass case behind Brityn. That would be $10,000 if you do the math.

This was one of their favorites. You lift a bowling ball and then drop it which creates a blast of air that shoots the tennis ball up into the air.

It was funny watching the kids try to lift their own weight.

A little help from Dad.

There were so many fun things to do here. We spent all morning playing in all the different exhibits. And the best part was I didn't have to clean up any toys after we were done!

Our summer garden...

This year we decided to try our hand at growing a few more things in our backyard. We don't really have a dedicated garden space, but we did plant a couple of tomato plants, a pumpkin vine, and a strawberry plant in the raised planter bed.

So the other night we were in our backyard and discovered...

...our first ripe tomato!

Drumroll please..........................................


Tada! The very first tomato out of our backyard!


Even Ryder is impressed, although I think he mistakes the tomato for a strawberry because the next thing I knew, he was trying to eat it like one!


Our peach tree is full of growing peaches. However, we have lost all our peaches the last two years to the birds--and I mean literally--the birds ate them all! So unless we figure out a way to ward off the pesky birds, we probably won't taste any of these fruits.


Our pomegranate tree has a bunch of little pomegranates this year. Not sure if they'll last until Thanksgiving when Steve likes to make his favorite pomegranate salad. Maybe I'll have to try making some jelly.

Father's Day...

We have an awesome dad! He plays with us and takes us places and helps us with stuff all the time. We look forward to the minute he comes home from work everyday and then we shout, "Daddy's home!" and come running. Our dad is lots of fun and teaches us how to play games, and pump our legs on the swings, and how to ride bikes, and how to swim and jump in the pool. He is cool and we love to eat icecream and popcorn with him. He always lets us help him with his projects and we help him clean his office every weekend. We love spending time with our dad--he's the best! Happy Father's Day Daddy! We hope you liked all of our cards and your homemade breakfast. We tried to be good and do all the things you wanted to do. Sorry about not letting you get in a nap--maybe next year!

A day at the lake...

Last weekend we took the kids out to the lake. We packed a picnic lunch and all the beach gear and headed out. The weather was perfect and the beach wasn't very crowded so we found a nice spot and let the kids play.

It was really fun to let the kids play in the water where the waves are not as big as in the ocean. You do trade the soft white sand for a rocky beach, but that didn't seem to bother the kids.


We even brought the boogie board out and let the kids pull each other around in the water.

Brityn even did some solo "surfing".

Kendyl is here soaking her feet after playing in the water.

Even Sawyer had a relaxing time.

Ryder was a happy little boy, throwing rocks to his hearts content--as long as he didn't throw any at his sisters!

It was amazing that the kids were all playing together nicely and Steve and I were able to just sit back and enjoy ourselves. It really was a great day and only cost us the $5 entrance fee to get into the park. And now we are all planning the next time we can go back!