What we did in June/July/August .... Part II

We spent a lot of time with family this summer too! In June, we (the kids and I) drove up to Iowa for some time with my family and Chris's family. My parents have a home in Pella and my in-laws are in Altoona so it makes it easy to go back and forth.

Hannah and Isaac had so much fun helping my mom in her garden. Digging for worms, picking blackberries, pulling weeds...it was a blast!

Spending time with Cousin Noah was great fun too! My sister lives just outside of town and has a nice acreage. Perfect for finding toads and chasing butterflies. At one point, Hannah had 17 small frogs in a large mayonaise jar. How the child who can't find her shoes when they're on her feet finds these quarter sized toads is beyond me!


I was also blessed to spend time with a great friend I haven't seen in 6 years! Yep, vet school graduation was the last time we saw each other, both with infants in our arms. Cara's Ross was born 1 month before Hannah and Claire was born 6 months after Isaac. Sadly, I don't think we got any pictures of the kids playing together. It was great to sit and chat with a good friend! Facebook and email just don't compare with sitting on a picnic table at a park!

My mom drove back with us and spent a few days in Texas before flying back. It's always so good to have her around, and Hannah loves having sleepovers with her Grandma.

The last week of July, my sisters, parents, nephews, niece, and our family headed for a vacation house in Arkansas. Although it wasn't as close to the lake as we were expecting, we had a great time kayaking, swimming, tubing, chasing fireflies, playing games, visiting a National Trout Hatchery, caving, and catching up. If only I hadn't burnt my big toe the second night we were there!!



My older sister Becky and her two kids came back from Arkansas with me. You would have thought that a flat tire, the middle of nowhere Oklahoma, 5 kids ages 6 and under, and 2 women on the side of the road was an ominous start to our time together...but we had a blast! (Except for that of course!) We had two and a half great weeks of watching our 2 three-year-old boys play trains and mostly love each other, and our twp 9/10 month old babies crawl all over the place. Hannah had to make do with visits to her friend down the street. :)



To finish up our fun-family-filled summer, the Hannah and Isaac spent the last week of the summer in New Mexico with my in-laws. They made it back on Sunday night and Hannah started school on Monday. So we literally had fun from the first day of summer to the last! Isaac still asks when he can go back to the "house in the mountains" and Hannah came back with oodles of stories and lots of crafts she had made.