Summer stuff...

Small town school districts got hit hard with snow days this winter. This means school carried over well into June. To date Kate has been soaking up summer for only 15 days so far. The transition has been rough at times but overall life has been pretty great. Chances are high I will jinx myself by writing this but I am a risk taker so I'll say it anyway... Kate and CJ have been playing really well together this summer. (Remember we are only 15 days in, however.) The girls start off most mornings playing on the porch or in the yard with our neighbor. The three of them do really well together. Again, this is probably a big, fat jinx. 

Our new neighbor has dubbed our yard as "The Vortex" because since pulling out the patio furniture and hanging a homemade swing from our Ash tree kids from all over randomly show up to play. One afternoon we had six kids running through the grass, taking turns on the swing, blowing bubbles and riding bikes through puddles. It was messy and noisy and perfect. I hope the magic of "The Vortex" continues because I would much rather know what my kids are up to than to have them playing elsewhere.

One morning Kate took an interest in some long forgotten blocks. She built towers and trains for hours and I'm not exaggerating. She was, of course, quite proud of her work and asked me to take her photo with one of her towers. She then decided it would be fun to have all of us girls in the picture. I set up the camera timer and we called CJ over. She was reluctant. She would pose with us and right before the camera flashed CJ would disappear.

This of course upset Kate because she was intent to have everyone in the picture. So CJ finally agreed to stay put and right when the camera flashed she pulled her shirt over her head and in her blurry hand she was holding a plastic, butcher's knife. The girl makes me belly laugh.

Finally we snapped one sans butcher knife and sans belly button...although I seem to have crazy eyes in this one.

We have also logged our fair share of hours at the pool these past 15 days. All three girls are fish. Even Natalie has taken a liking to splashing and getting splashed.

We have also been busy with t-ball, which I sadly don't have pictures of yet, and busy with visiting family. My parents' church put on a super fun play to raise money for a water project in Tanzania a couple of weekends ago. Natalie and I traveled to see it first hand while the other Crafts were at t-ball. My dad played a gangster named Leo, a.k.a. The Mouth, and he did a really great job. My mom was a co-director and had a small speaking part as a lady named Kitty. I am so glad we got to see it!

And finally all of the fun summer activities and hours logged outside have worn us out. I promise we didn't pose this picture. Natalie just couldn't keep her eyes open for one more minute.

Other things on our plate: We have a family vacation in our near future, I have already dug through two great books, I started watching a new series called "Call the Midwife" at the recommendation of several friends, I have run two 5K races with my father-in-law, our town had it's big celebration and we spent most of it with my parents, and we have of course visited two of our town's three parks about a dozen times. If only summer could last forever. I hope your summer is going well too!