July 2015

We stayed in Austin for the rest of July which was nice. The kids had various camps and their normal activities but otherwise, it was nice to just take a break (well, a break in my book at least... I know, I keep us busy!).  

The first week back, Evan did a soccer camp with two of his best buddies. We were lucky that the weather wasn't too hot... yet to hit 100!

Evan lost ANOTHER tooth! I think right now (as of 12/3/15 when I'm writing this post, he has lost 7 teeth and the 8th will fall out any day!).

Caitlin does a gymnastics class and in July they do a showcase where parents can come in and watch everything. Here's some pics from the showcase:

Trampoline - probably her favorite!

Doing backbends and kickovers

Beam

And her medal! Congrats Caitlin!

 

Evan also did his very first swim meet! It was fun to see him get to compete for the first time and he LOVED the whole experience. Great job Evan!

And not to leave the little ones out... we did a VBS at the end of July. Even Ryan and Chelsea got to participate... good practice for the fall when they go to preschool!

July 4th Celebrations

We made it back to Texas just in time for the 4th of July. The kids and I joined the Matz family for the Round Rock parade - always a hit... a cross between parade/Mardi Gras as all the "floats" throw candy to the kids! Due to all the construction downtown, the parade moved to Old Settlers park. We had a great time and got in/out pretty easy!

Waiting for the parade to start

Swat/Police/Fire trucks are always a hit

And even some Star Wars characters made an appearance!!

Texas parade is not complete without covered wagons and horses!

That evening, we went over to a friends house to celebrate some more. We'd missed our friends while we were away!

Evan and his best buddy Alex

Caitlin and her best buddy Ellie- I'm not sure what kind of pose this is!

They even had a water slide - Ryan was in heaven! He LOVES the water.

Group photo with Bomb Pops - da bomb!

And no 4th of July party is complete without sparklers!

Overall,  a great way to celebrate America's birthday - friends, family, and bomb pops!

Driving back to Texas

On our way back to Texas, we made a few stops to see friends and family. Our first stop was at Cousin Ann's house in Indianapolis. My mom had been staying there after her knee surgery. We were grateful to Ann for taking such good care of her and letting us stay with them for the night! My Grandpa also drove up for dinner so we enjoyed spending time with him too.

Tom took the kids down by the water to look at fish and even on a boat ride!

Ryan and Oma blowing bubbles

On our driving trips, we always try to find neat places to stop and get out some energy. Here we found a fun park in Fort Wayne, IN.  It is a playground/water park. Although very fun, we had to try really hard not to let Ryan get in the water!!

After leaving Ann's house in Indianapolis bright and early on the 3rd, we drove straight through to Austin. We did make a stop in Dallas to have dinner with a friend of Bryce's. It was a great way to break up the trip and let the kids run around - always a good idea.

And then we were back from our adventures. Another successful summer trip to the Midwest!

More Midland Fun

I'm really trying to catch up on the blog!!  Maybe even get through Summer before Christmas!

For some reason, the weather does NOT seem to cooperate when we go up to Michigan - it's like it knows we are coming and hence turns cold and rainy.  But, we make the most of it.  One day, we went downtown to Midland and the Farmers market - always a hit, especially when there is a guy making balloon creations!

Then, we walked over the Tridge - it's a three-way bridge where 2 rivers intersect - pretty cool! 

And after that, we got to go play footgolf! I'd never heard of footgolf before, but they have it at the golf course where Papa works in the summer.  It was so neat! We had a blast playing.  I found out they even have one here in Austin that we will need to go try sometime (if it ever stops raining!).

 Another fun activity one day was car washing! Who knew? I guess I should put my kids to work at home more often. Although it might be Papa and Mema who make it so fun!

And even though we had some rainy/cold weather, we still managed to get out and try some fishing off the dock.  Just like in Ohio, the fish were biting like crazy! We pulled in tons of fish and the kids had a blast!

One day, we went to Papa's work and then to a park - Evan discovered the game Battleship and loved playing it!

And Caitlin discovered Mema's hair rollers which we HAD to try...

And just like that, our week long visit was over.  It was time to drive back to Texas. We were sad to leave but knew we'd see them again in Austin just a month later for Evan's birthday! 

Wixom Lake - Midland, MI

We are never really sure what kind of weather we are going to get in Michigan.  We always hope to get to enjoy the lake, but it's never guaranteed.  This year, we had only one day where the weather allowed us go to tubing and swimming!  But, we made the most of it.

Bryce took the kids out first in the big tube which they love

He even showed off a little bit!

 We even let Ryan go on a tube ride this year!

Although this is what he would have done all day if we had let him!

 Evan even got to ride on a jet ski with Daddy for the first time! The neighbors were kind enough to let the boys go out together. He loved it!

It was a great day on the lake. So glad we got at least one day in before the rain and colder weather came. I love to see the joy in these kids when we do fun things as a family!  The whole time they kept giving the "go faster" signal. Hope next year we can get some better weather to enjoy more days like this on the lake!