Playing catch-up

Phew...I just spent at least 10 hours over the past two weeks trying to get this blog updated!  Sorting hundreds of photos is hard work!  But I'm through August and I'll call that caught up!  September still has a week to go, so I'll work on that next!  :)

Well, we made it through the summer!  The girls played hard and fought hard and Logan joined in as much as he could!  The girls took swimming lessons and an art class at the YMCA.  They also took two different 1-week long afternoon summer camps at the YMCA...one about flowers and one about scrapbooking!  And they played soccer into the summer as well.  It seemed to be the right amount of running...enough to keep the girls from getting too bored, but not so much that they got sick of it...although it was "almost "too much for me while dragging around a toddler!  Logan was mostly hauled along for the ride and I'm looking forward to having him in his own classes this fall, now that the girls are back in school!  It was non-stop for me, which is why this blog got so far behind.  When Logan napped, the girls wanted attention, or the house needed attention, or their was supper to be made!  With the girls in school, I've used some of Logan's nap time to get caught back up on my photos and blog!  My workouts also fell to the wayside over the summer, but I'm happy to be getting back into jogging with Logan now that the girls are back in school.  Chad was super busy with a remodel on one of our rental buildings, so we didn't see him much for a good chunk of July and most of August!  He also traveled in early June for 10 days.  The family time we did have together was so wonderful!!

All three kids grew a ton over the summer!  Logan's vocabulary has exploded and he's stringing together lots of two-word phrases and even a few three-word phrases!  I am blessed to have been able to spend the summer with them watching them grow, learn, play, explore, and be kids!  They grow up way too fast!

However, as much as I looked forward to summer, by the end of summer, I looked forward to school starting!  Thank goodness for seasons!  We're back into the swing of school again and by next spring I'll be looking forward to summer again! 

So long, summer of 2015, it's been fun!

August Miscellaneous

The girls are relaxing in the sun!

Having fun at Funset Boulevard!  These bumper cars were perfect for the girls...small enough and not too jerky!

Showing off their new haircuts!

The girls had lots of fights over the summer and this particular fight was over who would be the first and last to put their money in the parking meter.  I think I gave them each two quarters and I bet it took them 10 minutes to get the quarters into the meter!  Good thing we were early for swimming lessons that day!

I broke down and got the kids a larger pool like their cousin, Liviana.  They've wanted one ever since swimming in hers!

An indoor snack picnic!

This little guy likes to chew his blankets...even when he's sleeping!

Visit to Michigan

The 3 kids and I took a 10 day trip to MI in August to visit my family!  Chad was busy working on our rental properties, so it was the perfect time to get away!  The kids did amazingly well in the car and we had a jam-packed 10 days of fun!  I bet Grandma was ready to relax after we left, lol!

Here we are at Kaufman Park, near my parents house.  This was a park I went to as a child and they just recently updated the playground equipment...it used to still be the equipment that I played on as a kid!

We went to Plymouth Park twice!  This was another one of my favorite hang-outs as a kid!  They replaced the diving boards with slides and my girls LOVED these slides!  Lydia wore a life jacket but Makayla decided she didn't need a life jacket!   You can see her below as she's swimming (looks like she's almost drowning) to the edge of the pool.  She rode the slide over and over and kept swimming like that til I finally decided she looked too tired to swim another stroke!  After the pool, we headed to Grandpa's favorite ice cream shop!

Makayla shooting out of the slide!

The next two photos show Makayla shooting out of the slide!

Lydia shooting out of the slide!

Practicing diving!

We went to the famous Cops and Doughnuts shop in Claire, MI!

Watching the city workers trim tree branches using a bucket lift!

Making paper airplanes with Uncle Pat!

Here's Logan about to fall asleep in his food!  We were having so much fun that he decided NOT to nap for all but 1 or 2 of our 10 day visit!  I finally quit trying to put him down since it wasn't worth the fight!  His naps consisted of cat-naps in the car as we went various places!

Here's Logan refusing to sit in the high chair or use a sippy cup!  I guess he's becoming more strong-willed!  Sometimes it just wasn't worth the fight!

Hanging out at the Fun Zone at Plymouth Park.  We always like to take a photo in the Lydia boat!  The park was recently upgraded, so we were happy to see the boat was still there!

Fun at the Midland Center for the Arts

More fun at Plymouth Park's Fun Zone!

One of our 4 trips to Grandpa's favorite ice cream shop, Cottage Creamery!  I am not a huge ice cream fan, but their Almond Joy ice cream is very yummy!  The girls had fun trying different flavors each time!

Hiking at Whiting Forest!

The girls both got their ears pierced at Claire's in the Midland Mall!  They've been waiting for a LONG time for this!  Neither of them cried!  And luckily, they each got both ears pierced at once!

Walking at the Tridge (three-legged bridge) in Midland and playing on the playground.

Here are the kids with my parents!

Here we are with my Grandma!  We got over to visit her twice and once we took her out to lunch!