The last hurrah

This past weekend we had our last Manthe family get together before Josh and Val and family leave for the Philippines.  Norah and Kylah got to go up early and spend the whole week with their cousins. Joey stayed behind with us because he had t-ball All Star practice all week. It was a nice break to only have one child all week. I think Joey liked the extra attention too!

Joey and I hopped in the car with Courtney and Jeff on Thursday night to head to Kansas so we could spend all day Friday there too (Joe waited until after work on Friday to come.)

Joe's mom wanted to get one last professional picture of all the grandkids. She made all of these outfits. Isn't that amazing!! The photo shoot went about as expected with 11 little kids, but we still ended up with some good pictures. 

After nap time, it was time to play in the pool. Obviously Norah is NOT enjoying herself! She was actually a little sick with a cough all weekend, so that could be why she was not enjoying herself. And, we'll pretend that that's why she was a bear all weekend too! (Apparently she was just fine all week until we got there; go figure!)

Aunt Courtney is always a good sport and jumped on the trampoline with the little ones. Norah, Naomi and Caleb are so cute together now. I love how they interact!

I'm going to miss this sweet little boy.

Joe's parents treated all of us to a fun day at World's of Fun. Here is the group picture I made everyone pose for. Always! :)  We were only missing James and Brianna who couldn't make it up to Kansas this weekend. 

Sweet girl loves her daddy!

Grandpa watched the little ones a few times. And he rode the Mamba, but I missed getting a picture of that!!

Joey is our little thrill-seeker these days. He rode all the rides he could, including any roller coasters he could ride. The first ride we came upon was this one that spun around in circles so fast that it pushed you against the wall and the floor drops out below you. Jason and Hannah were the only other ones brave enough to go on it (or the only ones that wouldn't get sick on this ride!)

We ended up splitting up so the bigger kids and adults who wanted to could ride the big roller coasters. They have a great little kid section called Planet Snoopy where the littler kids could go on rides made just for them. Norah was just tall enough to ride all the rides by herself which was really fun.  

Norah and Naomi (the little twin cousins!) had a great time together. They are really starting to play and interact together, which is so fun to watch.  I think Norah is learning her camera pose from Deacon...head tilted to the side while smiling. :)

Kylah loved riding all of the rides in the kid area.

Norah was a little unsure about this one, but then she wanted to ride it again, so I think she liked it!

 So cute!

We took a break around lunch to head out to the cars and eat our packed lunches. The back of our car has come in very handy this summer for lunch breaks!

After lunch we all stayed together to watch some of us go on the Boomerang. And by "us" I don't mean me.  :)  I get too sick these days!

I was glad I got to watch Joey do a roller coaster, though, because I caught his face on camera as they were coming down the first drop. I love this picture because it has so many people in it: Val, Courtney, Joe, Joey and Josh. Can you spot them all? By the look on Joey's face you would think he didn't enjoy the ride. But he came off with a huge smile on his face and wanted to do it again!

Those of us who can't handle the big roller coasters headed back to the kiddie area. Look! They had a spot just for me! :)

And then the rain started. It was a bummer, because the kids were still going strong at 4:00, and I think we could have stayed a while longer. But, as Val said, it was a fun, dramatic end to our fun day! Most of us took cover in the Snoopy Boutique where they put on a little show for the kids. And thankfully they sold candy so we could have a snack! Once the rain let up enough for us to walk in it, we made our way back to the cars and headed home.
(Side note: Kylah had nightmares about these mascots that night. She ended up sleeping on the floor in Nana and Grandpa's room! And she looked at these pictures as I'm blogging tonight, and she came out crying right after she went to bed because she is afraid of the mascots and afraid that she is going to dream about them again. Oh my.)

The kids (and adults!) were all exhausted when we got home. After showers they all zonked in front of the Ipad.

What a fun, fun day! Thanks Jody and Jennifer so much for taking us all!

After dinner that night Val and Jeff fried up some awesome funnel cakes. Since it rained and we left World's of Fun early, not everyone got to enjoy a funnel cake at the park. They were pretty awesome. As were the fried Oreos and fried Reece's.  :)

We all went to church the next day and then let the kids play one last time together at McDonald's. As always, they had a great time. Goodbyes are no fun! I think Norah's face sums up how we all feel about them leaving. 

We have loved having Josh and Val and their kids so close to us this year. Our kids play together like they have been together forever. It is hard to imagine them not being just a few hours away anymore. But, we know that the Lord wants them in the Philippines, and that's where they should be. We are so thankful for technology like Skype that will still allow us to see and talk to them as often as we want! And, thankfully, we will see them again for at least a full year in 3 years! We love you guys!

Joey the Rapper

  The other night Joey came out of our room dressed in Joe's clothes. He said he was doing a fashion shoe, but it looks a little bit like he was trying to be a rapper to me!

Norah wanted to get in on the action too!

Life is never dull around this place!

This house is open for you!

This past weekend my parents came to visit! They got here on Thursday evening, so we had a nice long weekend with them. Joey and Kylah were home on Thursday with their babysitter, so they made some signs for Papa and Gramma (all on their own!) It was so cute. All of the signs said the same thing, and there were about seven signs hung up around the house. The sign says, "Welcome Papa and Gramma. This house is open for you."  I have no clue where they came up with that saying, but it was pretty adorable!

 Gramma and Papa came in the middle of Joey and Kylah's birthdays, so they had some fun gifts for both of them. Here they are waiting while Papa and Gramma went to get their gifts out of the car.

Happy Birthday to you...

All of the kids (Norah included!) got their own candy bracelets and necklace. They were eating them all weekend. :)

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I love their excited faces!

Kylah loved these princess barbie dolls she got. She played with these all weekend long. She is my child who loves to go play by herself quietly, and she can play like that for hours. (Not so much my other two...)

Joey got this tool set as well. Of course he was out hammering nails on (and into) the deck all weekend. :)

On Friday night Joey had his last baseball game of the season. He was so excited to have Papa here. Here they are warming up at home before his game. 

On Saturday we went on some trails near our house for a bike ride and hike. Joey and Kylah led the way, and we stopped for a bit to explore some caves.

It seemed like a good time for a dip in the water...

While Joey was riding ahead of me, all of a sudden he stopped his bike and pointed to the ground. He almost ran over this big snake! Nope, we didn't take that one home.

 I'm not sure why, but this picture is so cute to me.

The boys all perfected their rock skipping technique.

 That evening Joey and Kylah painted the birdhouse that Papa and Gramma got for them. They strategically waited until Norah was in bed before they started. My mom and I have nicknamed her Norah the Destroyer. (You know, like Dora the Explorer...)  :)

Joey used his own hammer and nailed a spot to hang the birdhouse in the tree in our front yard. Climbing this tree is one of his favorite things to do now. (I'm just praying we aren't going to be seeing a broken arm in our future...)

I should have taken pictures of all the awesome food Joe cooked on the Green Egg this weekend: stuffed hamburgers, brisket, fajitas. It was all so good!

My kids love having my dad around. He is full of energy (and definitely riles them up!) :)

Here they are taking him prisoner and putting him in jail.

And a lot of wrestling goes on as well!

When they need a little down time, Papa lets the kids play with his Ipad or his phone. Here they are asking Siri all sorts of questions. :)

Thanks again for coming to visit us Papa and Gramma! We all had a wonderful time! We are excited to get to see them again in July for our annual Manes family vacation.

Baby feet

I love cute, chubby little baby feet.

Storms

 I am really enjoying my iPhone. One thing I really like about it is that I always have it with me to take pictures when I don't have my regular camera with me. The quality isn't as good, but I still get some fun pictures.

Last weekend we had 2 nights in a row of storms. Thankfully we did not get hit near as hard as Oklahoma, but we were prepared just in case. We headed over to the Adair's both nights to hang out in their basement when needed. Apparently I misspoke in an earlier blog post about how strong the walls of their house are. I think I said something like their walls can withstand 700 mph winds! I have been corrected that they can likely withstand something more like 300-400 mph winds. 300...700...it's all the same...  :)

One of the nights Norah and Matty both woke up so they were hanging out with us (all the other kids were asleep in the basement bedroom.)  They were so cute and safe with their helmets on!

The next night was forecasted to have severe storms again so over to the Adair's house again we went. This time Amy and James and their fam came to hang out too! (But I failed to get a picture...)  The storms that night didn't start until midnight, so while they waited the boys had a game of football going on in the front yard. It's so fun to watch Joey and Joe do things like this together. And it was fun to watch Joey make some catches!

These two little boys are so cute together! And they're both getting so big!

Joe's birthday

 Saturday was Joe's birthday. (Yes, we have one birthday after another from April to June!)

Joe got to go golfing on his birthday day, and then we celebrated at home that night with the Adair's. By "celebrated" I mean that Joe grilled us all steaks and made a fabulous meal! :)  I offered to cook something, but he wanted something yummy on the Green Egg.  

I did make dessert, though. Joe's favorite is strawberry shortcake made with the Bisquick recipe. The kids were a little confused why we weren't having cake, but when they realized there was still a yummy dessert to eat they were just fine.

Happy Birthday to You!!

Joe had a lot of helpers to open his gifts. We got him a comfy seat for his bike, and these Green Egg gloves (so he can stop ruining all my regular oven mitts!)  :)

My favorite part about canned whip cream!

We also planned an adult-only dinner out on Sunday night to celebrate Joe's birthday as well. We met up with the Adair's and the Matchell's for an awesome Italian meal at Carrabba's. It was a fun dinner!

Nope, we didn't plan our outfits!

 Happy birthday, babe! I love you!