Summer Lovin'!

The kiddos started their 1st day of swimming lessons today. They "swam" at an outdoor beach where Jason spent many summers as a child. It wasn't even 9am & the temp was already reaching towards the 90's! Ugh, just humid & not 1 cloud in the sky.

Once we arrived, Zander was scared to actually go into the water because of the "sharks." He's watched Nemo 1 too many times & is convinced there are sharks in the little lake.

Speaking of Nemo, when I went to register the kids yesterday, of course they were so excited that they had to pee. Once we went into the bathroom, Z pulls his shorts down & instead of going tinkles in the toilet, his little Nemo fish which he carries around everywhere (kinda like Flounder, remember Tracy?) plopped into the toilet. McKenna told Z that it was just like the movie & Nemo was trying to escape from him. Instead of letting Nemo escape into the sewer, Zander MADE me fish out his fish from the public toilet. (no pun intended, yeah right) Surprisingly the toilets were immaculate, & after I washed my hands 5 times, so were my hands (& Nemo). Oh the things we do for our children! Once the kids finally made their way to the "sea" as McKenna called it, they had a blast splashing in the water & making their mud pies.

I love these pictures below.

Here they are patiently waiting for their swim class to begin.

Gage didn't mind the beach so much either. I wasn't sure what he would make of the sand, seeing he hated the feel of grass. Look at him just checking out the sand on his little fingers wondering what to make of it.

Surprisingly, he just loved it. (Yes, he tried tasting it as well.) He loved the water even more. The day prior we went to the Meyer's household (Jason's sister's family) & the kids had a blast splish-splashing around in the kiddie pools. I swear Gage just gravitates towards Karlee. I think he loves that someone else is little like him (Well, even though she makes him look like a giant).

This past weekend I attended a wedding in Madison for a friend of mine from high school. It was an outdoor wedding at the Overture Center for the Arts. Unfortunately, Jason had to work, but I had so much fun hanging out with my high-school friends & reminiscing about the good ol' days. I must be getting too old to have as much fun as we did, because here I am 3 days later & I'm still sore!! (lots of walking & there might have been a glass or two of wine) Our hotel was right across from the Capitol. It was a beautiful wedding, with a beautiful bride & groom, beautiful company & beautiful weather.

Thank you for the beautiful time & congrats Taylor & Sarah!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad 36yrs! (23rd) , Happy B-Day to my brothers Kevin (24th) & Brian (26th), my Mom (27th) & my Father-in-Law Lee (21st)!

Whoah, that's a lot of occassions in 1 month for 1 family!

Growing up too fast

Well, I said I would try to post more frequently...

I can't believe it's already been 3 weeks. Wow, this summer is just flying by.

Speaking of flying, the family we bought our house from stopped by last week & "Mr. Seller " had his air glider thingy with him. The kids thought it was really neat & couldn't resist getting in it for a photo opp. Well, a couple of days ago as we were eating lunch, I heard a noise that sounded much like an airplane. When we looked outside, we saw "Mr. Seller" flying above our house. There is an Elementary School next to us & his kindergartner was having her recess. He flew above & waived to her while she was playing, then cruised on over to us. It was really neat.

Last week we also went to visit my Grandma Lepak. The kids love visiting her because she always treats them with her candy stash from her bingo winnings. She was so happy to see Jason too. (I think she secretly has a crush on him) I can't believe she's almost 97yrs old!

The kids were so good that we decided to take them shopping when we came back to Appleton. Mental note, rewarding kids with chocolate covered frozen bananas in the car is not a good idea.

When the kids are not good they are little devils. They were getting into the pens yet again & when I took the pens away I couldn't resist. Having a red pen in my hand didn't help the situation.....Jason got a kick out of it when they woke up in the morning & his little demons greeted him.

Gage has been full of surprises lately. We brought out an old toy that McKenna & Zander used to help them with walking. I wasn't even sure if Gage would know what to do with it.....well.....he does! Watch the videos at the end of this post. My little baby is almost ready to walk! He cruises all over the floor with it. He's also a master at going up the stairs AND crawling ON TOP of tables! Such a little stinker he is, & he's only 10 months old! I took him to the Dr's yesterday because I thought he had pink eye (again). Turns out my little 24.2lb chunky monkey has really bad allergies. Poor thing wouldn't stop rubbing his red glossy eyes for the past month now. I hope whatever it is he is allergic to will go away soon. Gage loves mimicking Kenna & Z. He will yell at them already if he feels he needs to be heard. It is SO funny! Oh how they are growing up too fast! Updates: Gage has 4 top teeth coming in to add to his 2 little sharp bottom teeth!

He also gave in & now crawls on the grass.

Gage is also officially sleeping through the night! Amen!

Jason had his annual Neenah Street Ball this past weekend. I started my blog around this same time last year. I can't believe it's been a year already.

The kids had a blast. This year they played on a different court section & it was right by the water. It reminded me of when Zander was born, because the hospital was right across the way. I remembered walking the hallways & hanging out in my hospital room just waiting for Z's debut. I would look out the window across the river & there was a fountain that kids would gather throughout the day to splash around in. Little did I know,...fast-forward 2 years & I would be on the other side of the river watching my little one splash around in that same fountain.

(See the hospital in the background?)

There were also some blow up jumping "toys" to play on as well.

(Grandpa Bartel & Gage with Z looking out the window)

Seeing that my mind was on giving birth to Z, I couldn't help but think of just that when I took this picture. (see what I'm saying here? LOL!)

(My little man)

(Zander & Brecken always have fun together.)

Lastly, guess who made their annual appearance? Our frog! When we moved into the house last year, we were outside & noticed a frog on the deck. The kids were just in awe. It came to visit again & the kids just loved it! Of course I had to run & get my camera. I wonder if McKenna knows the story about the frog who turned into a prince......Hopefully next year I will post about it again.

Check out Gage's latest moves....

My little stinker!

Almost walking!