Summer Fun!!!

This summer seemed to fly, didn't it? Seriously, where did the time go? Apparently, it went by so fast, I didn't have time to post pictures of all the fun we had. Here are some:

We tried a new variety of tomatoes in our garden this year. The tomatoes were gargantuan!!! They looked a little funny, but they still tasted good. Nothing like a garden-grown tomato, that's for sure!

That is one tomato she's holding, by the way.

We got to go boating with our good friends, the Bergmann's. They got a fancy, new boat this summer and they took us out for a day of boating. We couldn't have asked for a better day-- pure sunshine and no wind and hot, hot, hot!! It was perfect! We had a blast!

We all tried something new. It's called, a "jimmy-jammer". It's a cross between a boogie board, a knee board and a short surf board. It hooks up with a rope and you can do pretty much anything. The kids loved it. They just hung on for dear life and went crazy! We had just got into the boat and Brian asked, "Who wants to try the jimmy-jam first?" I was surprised to hear little McKay yell out, "ME!" So, he went and he loved it! He did it several times through the day. What a fun accessory to the boat!

Brian the driver

The ladies (and Mickey)


The Bergmann's girls and Makenna wanted to try skiing. After they saw me skiing and what a professional I looked like, who wouldn't want to try, right? The only problem was, the girls just couldn't even get up at all. We thought that once they actually got up, they could probably stay up. So, Brett got in the water and stayed out with the girls. He helped them get all situated, get their balance and kind of propped them up when Brian hit the gas. They all got up with this method! I was so proud of Makenna. She will try anything and seems to have no fear when it comes to things like this. She reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger. She ended up loving it!

Makenna actually skiing! I was so proud of this girl!

Mickey was worn out from all that hard work on the jimmy-jammer.




Thanks Brian and Kelly! You guys are wonderful friends! We had a blast! Can't wait till next year!

The inevitable......

Brett told me it would happen. He promised me it would happen. He tried to convince me to not do it. I did it anyway.

We got one of these:

And this happened:

Thanks to the Browning's for letting us borrow these bad-boys.

I told Brett he could say, "I told you so."

He's a gentleman and he didn't.

We never had a tramp growing up, but I had plenty of friends who did and we had SO MUCH FUN!!!! I've always talked about getting a tramp for our kids. Brett has always blown the wind out of those sails because of all the accidents he's seen, being in the medical field and all. But, when Brett's brother asked if we wanted the frame from their huge tramp and all we'd have to buy was the mat, I couldn't refuse! Brett reluctantly said, "O-kaa-aay." (Imagine that word being said in 3 syllables along with kind of a "something-bad-is-going-to-happen" tone...or a "you-must-not-love-our-kids-as-much-as-I-do" tone.)

Can you hear it?

Anyway, we got it and set it up. We'd had it all summer and had a TON of fun on it. Connor has even learned to do front flips on it. We've spent a lot of time out there as a family. We've played dodge ball and crack the egg; we've layed on it to count the stars. The kids practically lived out there during the summer with the sprinkler running under it. They loved it!

Then it happened.

We were out jumping for our family night activity. I jumped over by Makenna and tried to 'bounce' her. You know what I mean, right? Give her a little 'boost' to bounce her higher than she can jump on her own. It is such a fun feeling! Anyway, as I was in the act of doing it, she yelled, "NO!!!" I couldn't stop at that point and she totally rolled her ankle. Diagnosed by dad as a true sprain. Check out the damage:

And this was on one of the better-looking days.

I felt horrible as you can imagine. We were all inside consoling Makenna and she looked at me and could tell I felt like a big, fat jerk. She said, "Mommy, don't feel bad. We all make mistakes and we all have accidents." Hearing her say that made my heart melt even more. How did I get such a sweet daughter? In her time of pain and sadness, she was more concerned about how I felt. She is so incredibly thoughtful. Brett wrapped it up and luckily she went to bed and slept all night. We were worried about her waking up from the pain.

The next day she couldn't even stand on her leg. Obviously, she could not go to school. She was pretty upset about this, but knew it wouldn't work. So, when it came time to go, I offered to push her in our little umbrella stroller (totally too small for her) and let her tell her teacher she wouldn't be there and get any homework she needed to do. The boys and I walked to school and when we got to their class, Makenna was bombarded with kids asking her what had happened and hugging her and telling her to get well soon. Then, it was time to go. We said good-bye to McKay and Connor. Then it hit McKay. He said, "How am I going to go to school with out my sister?" He was genuinely worried about this. I told him he would be fine and then I said, "Mickey, no one else gets to have their sister in their class with them. You can be like everyone else today." That seemed to do the trick and he went to class.

As I pushed Makenna home in our too small umbrella stroller, it dawned on me that these twins are both very sweet and thoughtful people. Not only are they sweet and thoughtful, but they have a bond that I don't understand. They don't feel complete without eachother, they feel sort of lost without the other. I should have been a little more empathetic to McKay feeling worried about going to school alone. I don't totally get it, but now I understand better. I feel so blessed to have these twins in my life.

As for the tramp, it's still up and being used every day. We love it. Here's to no more injuries.

Beatiful Fall

These are just some of the pretty colors in our yard during the fall. I love this time of year! I feel like we have the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets out here.

Did anyone else see this beautiful sunset this morning?

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is so much fun! The kids are at such fun ages and really get into dressing up. This year Connor was a mad scientist, Makenna was a bride (surprise, surprise) and McKay was a skeleton. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Here are the kids at the school parade :

People kept asking us all day if her eyelashes were real.

YES! They are!


Look at all that loot!

Majestic Maine!

Well, here is the last part of our Boston trip that I never got up. We decided to drive about 90 minutes out of Boston to visit Maine. We just thought, "We can't be that close and not go to Maine!!!!" We had a wonderful little road trip and the scenery was beautiful. You know how you always picture the East Coast looking in your mind? Well, that is how it looks. The quaint, little sea-side towns, the nantucket-style homes, and everything is GREEN!! Beautiful, green grass grows everywhere! No sprinklers needed! It is beautiful.

Once again, I can't get my pictures to move. Sorry.

We decided to visit the Portland Headlight. One of the most photographed lighthouses in the world. It was well worth the drive.




This was a military fort, commissioned by President McKinley in 1899. Pretty cool.

Beautiful lighthouse

Brett enjoying the cool, ocean spray. If we're by the ocean he has to feel it on his skin.

Mirror Lake

**DISCLAIMER**

For some reason I cannot get my pictures to move around, so they are all out of order and that is how they will have to stay. Sorry!

This summer we went camping with our good friends, the Bergmann's. We love to hang out with these guys and have an annual tradition of going on at least 1 trip per summer. Thank you for the great trip, guys! Here are some highlights!

Who out there still roasts marshmallows? We roast starbursts! Try it and you'll never go back. I promise!


Makenna and Paige were the only ones brave enough to swim in the FREEZING cold water. I'm usually a sucker for any water, but I did not brave it this time. It was just too cold.


McKay showing off his fishing skills. If I knew my kids loved fishing this much, I would have gotten them fishing poles long ago. They could have casted and reeled-in ALL DAY!

Makenna showing her baiting skills. (She finally did it after she got over the stink.)

Brett fishing with Connor- he had caught one here.

Brett teaching Kenna the art of skipping rocks.

Hiking around the lake.

BEAUTIFUL!


Mickey and Paige




All the kids

Thanks, Bergmann's! We had a wonderful time with you and your family! We look forward to next summer!