Camping

This weekend our family had our first camping trip of the season. With all the weddings and other things going on we had a very late start. We camped with my mom, Mike, friends Dale and Deb Warden, and Wyatt. The campground was flooded, but our spots were still dry. We did get some scary storms both nights. The Wardens lost their awning Friday night. Ben and I were outside at 2am in the wind and lighting rolling our awning in. Lesson learned....even if it is clear skies and perfect weather when you go to bed you still need to roll up the awning because the weather can change in an instant. The weather was also hot, so I put up a really small blow up pool for the kids. They decided it would take too much time to put on their swim suits so the girls just took off their shirts like Wyatt did and jumped in.

Cinderella

The other day Emma wanted to play Cinderella. I was supposed to be the Evil stepmother. What an easy way to get your 4yr old to vacuum!

Kentucky

Last weekend Ben and I went to Lexington, KY for the Bischke wedding. We left the girls with Aunt Jessica and Uncle Josh and did a road trip with Megan and Chris Walterbach. The drive was long, but it was made more fun with the friends we got to ride with. Once we got to Lexington on Thursday we went out to dinner with the groom, Jon, and some of his friends. Friday was filled with shopping, pedicures and manicures for Megan and I and golfing for Ben and Chris. Friday night we went to the rehearsal dinner which was at the home of Bob Evans the CEO of Churchill Downs. All I can say is BEAUTIFUL!!! The horses, view and house were wonderful. We could have done without the heat, it was over 100 degree heat index! On Saturday Ben, myself, Glen and Arlene, and Megan went to the KY Horse Park which is the home to the 2010 Equestrian Horse games. It was fun but a little pricey for what you get. Saturday evening we went to the wedding which was down the road from the hotel we stayed at and then took a bus to the reception at Spindletop Mansion owned by UK. This was another beautiful place and the reception was like something from a movie. Sunday we were able to get up early and head for our great state of Iowa!

Science Center with Wyatt

This week I have been watching my Nephew Wyatt......all I can say is God gave me girls for a reason! I am not sure I was cut out to take care of little boys. His energy level is off the charts. My girls give me a little rest time during the day where they play or watch cartoons, Wyatt will have none of that and you have to keep him busy at all times. He loves to ride his bike and does it without training wheels (he has been able to do this since last summer when he was 3!) but when you live in town you can't just let a 4yr old go where he wants. I knew there was another reason I wanted to live in the country. Today after I took the girls to gymnastics I decided to take the 3 kids to the science center since it was rainy here in the morning and the parks were muddy. We went there for 2 hours and they had a blast. We then got in the car and Wyatt asks can we go to the park when we get home????? I was so exhausted was he CRAZY! We compromised and I filled the little pool and put the sprinkler under the trampoline and they played for a couple hours outside. Then he asked "can we go to the park" as I am about to collapse on the couch from being so tired. Luckily grandma Kathy came and picked him up soon after he asked! Yes, we will be going to the park tomorrow and I think I will make him run around the park several hundred times, I am sure that will not even put a dent in his energy!

Happy Birthday Elise

Last Thursday I took Emma and Bella to Elise's birthday party at Backyard Adventures which was very similar to where we had Emma's party. They played at cake and watched Elise open presents. We all had a great time with friends!

Sara and Dustin's Wedding

On June 5th we celebrated the wedding of Sara and Dustin Harskamp. Emma and Bella along with Maryann, Harlan, and Gordon handed out bubbles after the wedding. Then we danced the night away at the reception. They had so much fun dancing and you could hardley get them to stop. Congrats to Sara and Dustin and may you have a long happy life together.

Emma's 4th Birthday

What an eventful day for Emma's 4th birthday. It started out with the girls waking up really early so Emma could open her presents. She was sure that she would be getting Kit the American Girl doll and her dog Grace and Jesse from Toy story. And of course mommy and daddy came through. Except we let her open Jesse which Bella got her and Kit, but I saved Grace the dog for her party so all day she thought she was not getting Grace. (Yes, I am soooo mean, lol)

Next we went to get our hair cut by Shaunelle. Since Shaunelle is moving to AZ after next week we had to work in one last haircut before we have to find someone else to cut our hair or take a trip to AZ to get our haircut!

We then went to Grandma Kathy's work to celebrate the retirement of a good friend, an old co-worker and one of my former work mom's...Shirley Shafer. I am so happy that she gets to retire and hope that she enjoys every minute of it. She lost her husband to cancer a couple years ago and has been through a lot she deserves this.

Then after we went to the store got ice cream, lemonade, cake and pizza we were finally ready for the party!!!! It must have seemed like eternity for the girls to wait that long. We had the party at Rainbow play room where they have about 9 play sets. many of her friends came and had a blast. She received many great gifts many of them Barbies and they both have been playing with them non-stop since the party last night. Let's just say I am soooo sick of taking toys out of boxes and wonder why in the world they need to tie them into the packages so tight!!!

Memorial Weekend

This past weekend was so busy yet so fun. We went to the Blomgren's cabin on Sun Valley Lake on Friday and Saturday night. What a perfect weather weekend. We were able to go boating. I made Emma ride on the tube with Ben she was scared the whole time. We swam in the lake, the water was perfect. I also made Emma and Bella get in the lake, but both of them screamed the whole time. I am really going to have to work on this because the lake is my favorite place to be in the summer. The best part of being at the Blomgren's cabin is that we have 5 built in babysitters for our girls they love playing with the Blomgren 5 and you don't hear much from them the whole time. Sunday morning we went to my parent's house and got ready to spend our first night in our camper. I had dropped the ball on getting a camping spot at a real campground for Memorial weekend so we did the next best thing and plugged the camper into mom's house. We had a cookout with some family that night and I got to see my niece Lillie for the first time in a long time which was nice. We then slept in the camper eventhough there was a storm rolling in.

I did have a chance to reflect this weekend and think about all the people in my life that are no longer with us. I truly miss all of them and really wish I would have been able to celebrate just one more holiday with them. Melissa, Ed, Grandpa and many more you are on my mind everyday not just Memorial weekend.

Thanks!!

I wanted to say THANKS to Mrs. Mac for the beautiful flowers that she sent with Ben last week. They were so beautiful and the girls and I really enjoyed them. I also loved the mints...they are my favorite!!!