Fourth of July!

I love the Fourth of July! The more I learn about the founding of our country and those who worked tirelessly to make it happen, the more amazed I am at the miracle of it all. Those brave souls who took a leap of faith to claim the independence of the United States of America truly put everything on the line. There was no guarantee of success, and if they failed they would be traitors. Our country has a strong history, that continues today, of brave people willing to give their all for the safety and liberty of others. It certainly makes me proud of my country!

The Hobbys were kind enough to host us, the Pinegars, the Lloyds, and the Gundersons for the celebrations. It was fun to celebrate with the Hobbys because this was Amos's first Fourth of July as an American citizen. We had a fantastic cook out, watched the fireworks from the Bethlehem Steel Stacks, and talked the evening away. 

God Bless the USA!

A Weekend of Birthdays

Two major things happened at the beginning of this month.

1. Sam turned 30!

2. I was finally able to surprise him!

Sam's birthday is July 2, so the Friday night before, I told him our friends, the Coopers, were going to watch our kids while we went on a date, and that they would be working in their backyard so we needed take the kids straight to the back. When he walked in their back gate everyone started singing "Happy Birthday!" We had a cook out, the kids played, and we just had a good time being together. It was perfect!

Amos Hobby with Cambria, Sam and Mila, and Danny Cooper. Just some of the wonderful people here.

 I put 25 candles and 5 sparklers on the cake. The wind blew out almost every candle.

The birthday wish.

I modified a recipe I saw on Pinterest and made an ice cream cake with Reese's cups in the ice cream, a thick chocolate graham cracker crust, fresh whipped cream, chopped Reese's cups, and caramel drizzled on top. It was delicious although it looked like one of those "Nailed it" memes you see on Pinterest where they show what something was supposed to look like and how it actually turned out.

What it was supposed to look like...

 Nailed it!

It melted like crazy!

On his actual birthday, the Coopers really did watch our kids and Sam and I saw Man of Steel in 3D. It was really kind of them since it is a long movie. We enjoyed it!

I can't believe you're 30 Sweetheart!

The next day our friends, the Hobbys, had a birthday party at their house for two of their children, Cambria and Nathan. They are moving to Australia at the end of the year so instead of buying more stuff they would have to pack up they had horses for the kids to ride. It was so much fun for Mila and Emmitt, and they got to ride over and over again!

Emmitt's 3rd Birthday!

Emmitt turned 3 on June 22! We had a wonderful day together!

The birthday boy!

 Sam took Emmitt frisbee golfing a couple of months ago. Naturally, it has been like the highlight of his life and he frequently brings it up. All week Emmitt had been talking about how Dad was going to take him "golping" so for his birthday we went mini golping. 

 Throwing a stone in the water. I caught him in the act!

 Mila did a victory dance every single time her ball went into the hole no matter how many putts it took. It was entertaining :)

 The place we went to had mini train rides so we did that too.

 During the ride. Emmitt was so happy! He loves trains!

They also had an ice cream stand so of course we had to enjoy that too. This beauty is called the "Train Wreck." Five scoops of ice cream, your choice of toppings and plenty of whipped cream and cherries. 

 Emmitt has been on a pirate kick for a while. I love it! In our family we often say in a piratey voice, "Aaarr, me pirate's booty!" and the kids think it's hilarious because we're saying the word "booty." Well I think Emmitt just laughs because Mila does. We don't really use the term booty. We prefer bum, but I digress.

His cake.

 We got home pretty late so I had Sam bathe the kids while I decorated the cake. That's why they are in jammies with wet, crazy hair.

Emmitt LOVES Curious George. I sometimes think Emmitt should have been named George since the two have so much in common. Being a literal monkey is not one of them. I don't believe in that kind of evolution :)

 At long last it made it to the $5 bin at Walmart!

 Out of everything he received, his favorite gift without a doubt was a basketball hoop. He talks about it constantly. And I mean constantly.

I love how Mila's leg is popped up. Mila is so girly.

We played until it was waaay too late. What a happy ending to a fun day!

Emmitt continues to be busy boy, but he is still very affectionate and gives lots of hugs and kisses. He is talking so much more, but he still mixes up some of the letter sounds which makes his speech so adorable. His favorite color is blue. He likes to get going right when he wakes up. He loves green smoothies and he drinks one with me every morning. The rest of the day he would be happy to eat only cereal (that's not what we do). He loves anything chocolate (which he rarely gets since it keeps him up at night). He has two favorite shirts: a blue one with a gray elephant on it, and a gray one with red and white baseball bats and a blue baseball. He always wants to be outside. Daddy is his favorite person in the whole world. He also talks about Papa and cousin Conlon all the time. He loves to carry things around in his pockets. He likes to have some sort of ball with him almost constantly. He loves to run and chase. But his very favorite thing to do of all is pester his big sister.

Last year.

This year.

Summer Camp

The last week of June we participated in a co-op summer camp. It was a blast! Each mom chose a country and prepared information, a craft, a game, and a snack from that country to present to the children. The moms learned a lot too! There was a lot of interesting information. In all we learned about the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, France, Canada, Germany, Morocco, Italy, and China.

We played lots of games including baseball, spinning a hula hoop like they do tires in the Dominican Republic, and Un, Deux, Trois, Soleil!, the French version of Red Light, Green Light. 

 Mila and Emmitt enjoying the flags they made and a chocolate sandwich, a favorite French after-school snack.

Emmitt eating the gingerbread decorations shortly after putting them on during the Germany lesson.

Mila with her leaning tower of rice cakes made during the Italy lesson.

Doing some Chinese exercises.

Emmitt and his camp buddy, Taylor. Taylor was such a help in keeping Emmitt's interest.

Emmitt and his partners in crime, Jacob and Bryce. They were more interested in this gate than anything else that was going on. Unless it was snack time :) I've also been informed that Emmitt and Bryce pair up together and make nursery quite interesting.

 Fun week!