Pineapple

I had cleared off most of the table after dinner, but not gotten to the pineapple.  Lucy got to it first.  She ended up eating a little more than 1/2 a can of pineapple, after dinner.  She had 2 good scoops for dinner.

She kept saying "pineapple yum".  

Recital and a little welcomed rain

Ally had fun with her 2 weeks of piano camp.  I am glad it's over though.  I like flexibility in my summer schedule. 

 In the afternoon we got a little bit of rain and had to celebrate. 

 It wasn't much, but we welcomed it with open arms.



Ally's piano recital

Ally's first piano recital

Miss Jo

Oh oh oh the Orchard's open

This picture is for all of you that aren't able to get apple cider slushies.  They were SO good.  The kids loved them. 

Want to hear how my Tuesday went?  

We drove Ally to piano.  Came home and packed lunch for us.  Picked Ally up from piano.  Did a few errands.  Drove downtown to have lunch with Matt.  Drove to the northside of town for a dr. appt.   As we were getting ready to get on the elevator, a lady was coming out of an office pushing a cart full of food.  The cart had delectable looking brownies on top.  The lady stopped me and told me to wait a minute.  She started scooping brownies into bowls and handing them to my kids.  These were so delectable that they were also extremely messy.  My kids devoured them in the elevator and finished them as we were in the waiting room.  I explained to the lady at the front desk, that the mess was NOT my fault.  I wouldn't ever hand my kids a brownie without a bathtub nearby. 

 Lu had a follow up appt to check on the tubes in her ears.  While the ENT was checking out Lu's tubes, I asked if she wouldn't mind looking at Jo's ears and telling me whether she had an ear infection.  She was happy to check them.  Jo on the other hand started screaming as soon as her ears were touched. Sure enough she had 1 ear that was infected and the other had some drainage.  So I called the pediatrician and they were nice enough to call in an antibiotic for me, so I didn't have to take her in.   Back to my day... Lucy's tubes are doing fine, her hearing is fine.

We got home, changed our clothes and headed to the splash pad.  Oh and Ally had not napped at all.  Ben and Lucy had taken a 20 minute nap and Jo kept falling asleep because she just wasn't feeling well.  So we get to the splash pad and Jo just wants to be held and falls asleep.  Ben is so skinny he gets cold easily.  So the kids ended up playing at the playground.  We stopped by the pharmacy and got Jo her medicine.  By the time we got home it was almost 7pm.  My kids are use to eating at 5pm and bed at 7pm.  They were TIRED.  But they did a good job holding it together.  We waited for Matt to get home and got them to bed.  Then I painted the ceiling in the family room.  Matt worked on the baseboards.  Fun, long, exhausting day.

Gymnastics

Ally really enjoys gymnastics.  She was really wanting a leotard for gymnastics, so Matt told her if she wanted one she could use her own money to buy one.  She was so excited to go to the store to get one.  She is the tallest in her class, by at least 4 inches.  Her legs keep growing.  I don't know that she has a pair of pants now that aren't going to be capris on her!  She said she wants to do gymnastics again, so we'll see how the next schedule works with ours.

She is loving piano, but hates to practice.  Does anyone really LIKE to practice the piano?  She's the youngest out of the 12 kids doing the piano camp.  The teacher said she's doing a great job keeping up. 

Miss Jo

Keeping busy

This is what Matt did on Saturday.  This was Ally's birthday present from us.  Matt's dad came down and helped build this.  Ally loves it.

 I was able to get a few good pictures of Lu.

 On Saturday while Matt built monkey bars, I painted the family room.  My mother in law entertained the crazy crew so I could get the room painted.  Now all we have to do is get baseboards, trim, fix the ledge and put the tv shelf on the wall.  It feels great to have the time consuming portion of the room done.  And we are satisfied with how the texture thing turned out.  It was super easy and went fast. 

Zoolapalooza

The free ride was the roller coaster. 

We weren't sure how Ben would like it, but he LOVED it. 

Now we know that he's a roller coaster lover like his parents.

Ally had fun, but once was enough for her. 

Ben rode it 3 times.

 After riding the roller coaster, we headed over to the splash park.

The 3 kids had fun.  Poor Jo got to sit in the stroller and watch the big kids play in the water.

Actually I think she prefers that sometimes.

Water fun

It would be an understatement to say that we've played outside a lot.  The kids are loving the pools, sprinklers, hose, parks, the new addition to the swingset (I'll do a separate post on that in a bit), water table, picnics, popsicles, bike rides and walks.  Josey likes the water when it is on her terms, like when she climbs in the pool herself or when she sprays herself with the hose.  The other kids are crazy about the water.  We got Ally this pool for her 3rd Birthday and the slide had a hole in it, so it found a new home in the garbage.  The kids were slightly bummed, but got over it quickly.

Ally's birthday

We dropped the younger 3 off at Grandma's house. 

She thought she wanted to eat at Chick Fil A, but chose Panda Express.

Then we went over to Chuck E Cheese.  She enjoyed it, but I don't think she thought it was as fun as she had imagined.  There are more games geared for older kids/adults.  She was bummed about that.  She like getting the tickets, but Matt and I got most of them for her.  She had fun, but she said next year she'd rather go to a baseball game.  We dropped Matt off at home, so he could get to church and then went to pick up the 3 crazies.  They had played hard at Grandmas and were dirty.  When we got home we continued playing outside until Matt got home.  Then had cake and ice cream.  Baths. And then gave Ally her gifts.  She's excited and can't wait for Matt to finish it, let alone start on it!

Ally is 6!!!

4 days old

 1 year

 2 years

 3 years

4 years

 5 years

 6 years

 We are so proud of the beautiful and strong girl that Ally is growing up to be.  She loves life and has such a deep desire to know more about everything.  She is always questioning why.  She tries her best.  She loves school and is excited to be in 1st grade.  She loves trying new activities.  She loves being a big sister and is awesome with helping her siblings.  She has a fun imagination and keeps the kids on their toes when they play together.

June 13

My biggest beautiful girl is 6 today!

 My youngest big beautiful baby is pretty much walking all over the place.  She falls down here and there, but prefers walking over crawling, most of the time.