Good Ol' Fashioned 4th

Ok, so the photos are in no particular order if you can't tell...... We had a great day, the kids decorated their bikes & Mina's wagon so they could be in this little hometown parade, and then we listened to a concert in the park and then headed for the fireworks.  Mina was a bit of a skeptic the first few blast then she started to ohhhh & ahhhh and point with the rest of us as we munched on homemade carmel corn we made the night before (yummy!) I get such a kick out of the little things in life... I hope my kiddos do to...We are in a flurry of packing before we start our fun vacations... 

The past few weeks of cuteness..

                We love Summertime!!! and girl is having a blast!  We have been having sooo much fun this summer and it is only the beginning.  July will be insanely busy but this past month has been that slow mellow summertime fun.  Mina is such a joy... She adds so much love to our family, she is truly a blessing.  I can't imagine our house without her in it.  She is loving all of her new adventures.  Everything is so exciting for her... I am pretty good at taking photos but not so great at updating the blog, so here are a bunch from the past few weeks.  We went to a concert/ fireworks show which was super fun & Mina loved it.. They released a ton of balloons in the air which was a huge thrill for her, she also had her first merry-go-round experience which was a big deal... Seriously the girl loves everything!  Like sidewalk chalk, she can't get enough. And costumes... I am the ultimate bargain shopper, so each year after Halloween, I hit Old Navy and buy a bunch of these super cute costumes for next to nothing and my kids play in them all year long, Mina is no exception.. and this way the little man doesn't have to be wearing a princess dress like his sisters, which I am not saying he has never done.  but these costumes have gotten a ton of use around here.  Mina also got to hang with her buddy who came home from China just a few months before she did.  This little girl is so precious, I could just stare at her beautiful face, and she is sooo full of personality she cracks you up... She is such a love, and it is unexplainably cute seeing Mina and her play together, so fun! So here are photos from the last few weeks, before our July fun filled vacations start up... 

Bad Mommy Move!

Ok, so I was WRONG, I am not ashamed to admit it.  Even Papa told me not to mess with Mina's cute hair, but I couldn't resist.I cut the bangs, and now we have to wait twice as long for them to grow out,  and she has a new nickname "M squared" which stands for Mullet Mina... Can you tell, she is ticked, well at least she doesn't look so happy about it in this photo, can you blame the poor kid..I was having to put her hair back every day before but at least we had some options.. now we have one: a fountain head style ponytail right up front. This week is our last all out week of swim team so things will slow down a bit around here, Mina is going to miss the goggles and swim cap though, I have a feeling she has a future in swimming. I mean seriously who likes to wear goggles around like that.  She also like to go for bike rides, just like the others..... what a workout, riding these kids around on the bike. Too bad we can only take one at a time. Not like I could pedal up and down the hills with all 3 of them. Am I the only Mama in the world that still uses these bike seats? We look like a bunch of nerds, but we have fun so who cares, right???  

Father's Day weekend

We had a nice relaxing Father's day weekend.  We spent time hangin' by the pool which is always more fun when Papa is there.  Mina has this little inner tube shirt that is a "life-saver" for my summer sanity.  Girl is fearless!!! This thing is the best.  She can float/ swim all over the place, and I am not rescuing her every five minutes since she is thouroughly convinced that she can swim all by herself.  We are having a fun summer so far and looking forward to having some quality family time when we go on vacation next month.   After dinner we made homemade strawberry ice cream for Papa, which is his favorite. The kids all LOVE to help & Mina just joins right in.  She is a little worker bee, always busy and trying to get things done.  She has about 20 words now, and uses them when she should.  It is really cute.  Her word list is growing daily, but for now includes, Hi, Mama, Papa, Hot, All done, Night-Night and several others.   The last photo is a close up of Mina, Moms of little girls will get this,,,, so I am at a cross-roads with her Hair-do..Bangs or no bangs,,, if I decide bangs, then she is ready for a trim. If no bangs, then I have to keep it back all the time...  I am leaning toward trimming up some bangs, which is strange since neither KC nor I have never had them, but we also don't have good hair for bangs... anyhow, probably more than you needed to know on this subject...

JC T-ball

Our great friends from FL came to town last week, we had a lot of fun.  It was so nice to see them and have them stay with us.  The kids had a blast as well.  The girls have been friends since they were just a few months old, it is so neat to see them get back together and not miss a beat. We miss them very much.  True friends are such a blessing.  

J.C. had T-ball and it was my turn to go to watch him, and Papa's turn to watch K.C.'s swim meet. So here are some photo's of his practice.  It is quite comical to watch these little ones try to figure out all the little rules and tricks of the game.  The coaches have patience that I have never known. Sure is cute though, and he really likes it!

Swim Team

So summer is full swing here at our house!  Which means we are BUSY! KC joined the swim team and she is digging it!  I think she may have her sport.  Any sport that the "meet" consist of 4 hours of sitting and playing Poly Pockets and snacking with her friends and a combined total of 3 minutes of actual activity, this is right up her alley!  Actually she really loves the whole thing, even the very long practices 3-4 days a week. She is doing great and it has been really fun.  JC is doing T-ball (photos of that next week, Papa and I have to split up and I got the camera & the swim meet this Saturday) and they both are in Karate.  We are not usually so committed with our time, but they are having so much fun.  Mina loves to tag along, and I know that she is going to love to participate as soon as she is old enough.  She is such an active little one, and loves to be in the middle of the action.  She is jumping in the pool like she could swim a mile.  She is FEARLESS! which is a little scary.  But she is so full of joy, so fun. We are having a great summer so far, and have tons of family fun planned. "Big Brother" is spending the week in Maine, hanging by the lake and boating, tough life.  We miss him, but know he is having fun.  Happy Summer all, and stay cool!