Summer is almost over...

 Summer isn't actually almost over for everyone, but for us it is. Joey and Kylah start school on Thursday since they are now doing "year round" school. They are so excited to start, and we are so excited for them. We think they will do so well at their new school and be surrounded by awesome friends and teachers.

So, since summer is almost over for us, we have been trying to fit fun and adventure into every day.

One night after dinner last week we went on a family bike ride. We borrowed a friend's bike carrier so we could all go.

Joey and I both rode our own bikes.

 Kylah had her bike to ride, but one of her training wheels broke so she couldn't ride her bike. She was pretty excited that she got to go in the carrier with Norah. So, Joe got to pull about 80 pounds of cute girls behind his bike...  :) I wish I would have gotten a picture of him riding! I think he got quite the workout.

On Tuesday last week we hit up the Rogers Aquatic Center with my friend Tricia and her three kids. We have a lot of fun with their family because their kids match up exactly with ours. Walker and Joey are both in first grade, Jade and Kylah are the middle girls (age 4 and 5), and Jewel and Norah are both 2. It's fun to watch our kiddos together.

Norah and Jewel both did awesome all day at the waterpark in their matching floaties!

Joey got to spend the night at Walker's house and Jade stayed at our house. They all had so much fun. Tricia took Joey and Walker for donuts in the morning. :)

Friday was a rainy day so we headed to Jump Zone with my friend Laura and her kiddos Dayson and Brynlee. They took a break from jumping and got to eat these awesome popsicles!

On Saturday we joined Leigh and Brad and their family for another fun day at White Water in Branson. You may remember a few months ago when we went with them to the same water park. We took Norah this time, and she did great. She really is a trooper doing fun things with us with no nap. As long as she is going and has something to do she is great!

She is right at 36 inches so she got to do some fun adult slides with us as well as play in this fun kiddie area. The only part she didn't like was the lazy river (which is a favorite of the other kids!) because of the dropping water falls on her head. She was hilarious on the ride home re-enacting for us why she didn't like the lazy river. I tell you, when she wants to be cute she is cute!

Lunch and snack time was fun in the back of our car. 

 We stayed until about 6:00 and then went to eat supper. On the way home, the kids watched a little Veggie Tales and then were out. I love it! They slept the rest of the way home, barely woke up when we put them in their bed, and then slept until after 9 the next morning! Apparently we need to wear them out more often!!

We bought school supplies Sunday afternoon, and the kids are so excited to start school. Joey keeps saying that the next few days are going to go so slow. :) I love that he still is so excited to start school! Kylah seems pretty excited too. We'll see how she does when reality hits that she has to go EVERY day to school. :)

camping

 We went camping with the Matchell's this past weekend. Devil's Den is only about 45 minutes from us so it was the perfect place to get away and camp. We haven't been camping for about two and a half years (you may remember our freezing cold camping experience last time...) This one was a little warmer. :)

Joe didn't get off work until 4, so Brian set up both tents by himself. Luckily he had some good helpers.

As soon as the tents were set up we set out on our first hike.

There were a lot of fun and daring things to do. A few times I just had to close my eyes and let Joey be a boy. :)

Christine and I took the littler girls on a lower and smaller trail while Brian took the big kids up higher on a bigger trail. These girls were pretty cute!

After a hike we went back to camp to get the girls' swimsuits so they could swim in the creek. We were blessed with cooler weather than is normal for July. There was a possibility of rain, but all we heard was some thunder rumbles and no rain!

I love how well Mikaiah and Kylah play together.

We roasted hot dogs for supper and then of course roasted marshmallows and made smores. These roasters look pretty serious.

Daddy helped Norah roast her hot dog.

And then it was time for a little caving before bed. Norah looked like a real caver!

Most of the bigger caves were closed (something to do with bats...), but Christine and Brian knew of a good cave that wasn't closed. We went that first night and then went back again the next day.

Here was the tight squeeze to get in to the cave. I was pretty proud of myself that I went in there and didn't freak out!

We got all four of us adults in there and all six kids. They loved it!

Serious cavers.

We had to duck in a few places.

I think Joe and Norah were being the scary monster here.

Joey, Jakin and Anna had fun running around with their glow sticks and then had to take a break to look at the stars.

These three told me they were ninjas. They were pretty cute trying to be stealthy.

And of course Mikaiah and Kylah wanted to be ninjas too!

Pretty sweet ninjas.

Christine and Brian were so helpful with Norah. I think Norah started to prefer Chris over me...

 Norah was the little photographer for this picture. She's getting pretty good at using my iPhone...

We had such a fun time camping. We did make one mistake and thought Norah would be able to sleep on the ground with the other kids. We should have brought a pack n play for her. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep that night. We had a few meltdowns the next day but still managed to have fun. We made it home and took some great naps!

Fun pictures

 We sometimes like to take silly pictures of ourselves with my phone.

 Norah went in and got her sunglasses when she saw me wearing Kylah's pink sunglasses (it was sunny and I didn't have mine!)  :)

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We are camping right now with the Matchell's so I'm sure I'll have some fun pictures to post soon of that adventure! :)

Blueberry baking

Well, Katie wanted to know what I was going to do with all those blueberries we picked last month. After eating a ton of them fresh I froze the rest of them. Last night I got the itch to bake so I made these blueberry-lemon muffins and blueberry scones with lemon glaze. They were both really good, although the kids thought the glaze on the scones was too "lemony."  :)

We have about 4 muffins and 3 scones left today, so I'd say they were a hit!

fun with friends

 We have had some fun with friends these past few weeks. Christine and Brian and family came over last week for dinner. The kids always have fun playing with the hose on the trampoline. 

(Our kids do this often and apparently last night Joey left the hose on overnight. I am not looking forward to getting that water bill next month!)

 The little girls enjoyed their dinner at the picnic table.

 While the big kids sat on the bench. We always love hanging out with the Matchells!

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A few nights later we had some friends from church over. Their two little girls are precious and are the same ages as Joey and Kylah. Kennedy and Kylah love playing together and are two kindred "2nd child" children. :)

 Trinity and Joey get along great too. And Trinity loves taking care of Norah. Win win! :) We had a fun night hanging out, eating and playing cards.

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We met Amy and her kids at a park yesterday. We did a little geocaching and playing at the park. Then Amy and I looked over and all our kids were sitting on the curb like this. In the parking lot there was a mobile gym setting up. I've never seen one of these before but I guess they do a boot camp right there in the parking lot. The kids really wanted to do it (and Amy and I were wearing flip flops so of course we couldn't do it...)  :)

Precious.

We love our friends!

sand volleyball

All three kids got to come watch sand volleyball this week because both mommy and daddy played. They did great playing together, and Joe and I had a blast playing volleyball together. Up until now only I have played because one of us had to stay back with Norah. Next year I think we will both definitely be playing. :)

more water fun

 We have really enjoyed all the streams and trails around here this summer. A while ago we went out for a bike ride and walk after dinner. Of course we ended up in the stream.

 Family pic in the stream.

A few days later the kids and I tried out a new trail and creek in Bella Vista with Callie and her kids.

This one ended with a waterfall. It was beautiful, but only Joey could get back there because of the high and slippery rocks.

They all can enjoy this size waterfall. :)

I've got to say, this has been the most fun summer I've had since having kids yet. They are all old enough to walk and be adventurous, and I don't have to always take a stroller! I'm thinking summers will probably even get more fun as they all get older.

fireworks

 A few days before the 4th our church hosted their annual fireworks show. We were glad they did it before the 4th so that we were in town to enjoy it! We were also glad that it meant the Adair's were still in town to enjoy it (they are off on their adventure to Ireland right now...)

These two girls are just so sweet. I love their patriotic outfits.

 And Norah and Matty are always adorable together. Norah always makes this "cheese" face for the camera. Matty is looking at her like he's wondering what she is doing.

And then he joins her! :)

Meredith and I doing our self portrait. This picture makes me realize how much I miss having her around! I'm sure she is having a wonderful time in Ireland, but I will be glad to have her back!

Back to these two cuties...

Joey and Connor wanted to make silly faces too.

I love these laughs that make them still look like little boys even though they are on the verge of being big boys.

Joe and Dave enjoyed hanging out.

Joey was so sweet to Norah and let her sit with him to watch fireworks.

Kylah enjoyed the show but as always had her ears plugged. :)

Baby Andrew was there even though I did not get a picture of him. :)

The fireworks show was amazing as always and we really enjoyed it.