One More T-ball Post

 Carter's t-ball brought some of the only structure to our summer. I loved having a couple mornings with a destination and the boys all seemed to enjoy it. 

 Mr. Consistent. He hit it on the first try towards short almost every time:)

 Rounding second. He went for a home run most times as well:)

#1 Fans!! 

 Woohoo! He got a medal:) 

Way to go Carty Man!

Remembering Nehemiah

Carter came upstairs the other day after drawing this picture. Then he said, "Mom, why did you ever name a kid with so many letters in his name? Nehemiah is so long and hard to spell!"

I love that they talk about him and think about him and long to meet him someday.

More of this Good, Good Summer!

 We were on the road far more than we imagined this summer but it was still such a good one. Maybe we just appreciate summer so much more up here in the tundra!

 A quick rest after running around in a field. Lots of races this summer. Lots of tears over losing races as well:)

 A picnic at the park with cousins!

 All ready to cheer on the Sioux this fall as they are signed up for the Junior Champions Club.

 I came out to find the three of them shoulder to shoulder eating their snack. Ahhhh! 

 They came out to tell us that they drew a picture of two girls. One for each of them of course. Oh boy! 

 Shopping with dad. Three boys in a cart! Always an adventure. 

 "Mom will you take our picture?" The answer is almost always YES! 

 Meeting the ND Football team.

 I spent a weekend at my college basketball coach's lake home with a bunch of former teammates. What a fun reunion!

 Driving around town dressed up as a pirate, ninja turtle and superman. Just another day! We went into the post office and got a lot of looks:)

We only made it to the public pool once this summer. I'm guessing we'll do that more as they get older!!

Boys and rockets!

Carter's 6th Birthday

For the third year in a row we have been on vacation over Carter's birthday. He is loving the double birthday with both sets of grandparents! I didn't get any from the party with the Carroll's but here are a couple from Mimi and Gramps cabin.

 Birthday breakfast trumpet call from Gramps!

 Who doesn't love a candle in a muffin??!!

 Presents! Carter did such a good job sharing his toys and even let the brothers help open the gifts and blow out his candles. Wow!

 A soccer net from GiGi!

 Playing with his new Lego set. Carts asked for a picture with it all put together:) He spent most of his birthday playing with this new Lego set!

 A new Superman backpack for Kindergarten

 Cake time! I love how Carter is sort of holding his brothers back in the first picture. He let them help but didn't want TOO MUCH help:) 

Our sweet 6 year old! I cannot believe how fast these years have flown by. You start Kindergarten in a week. Tears. You are such a great big brother, looking out for Coops and Cros and helping me out. You are intense and competitive but also sensitive. You long to hear praise and it seems like words of affirmation are the way to your heart. You are confident and very social. You love to meet new people and surprise adults when you put  your hand out to shake and look people in the eye while asking their name and saying things like, "Nice to meet you!" You love to learn and are so excited to go to school. Your favorite things are coloring, legos, puzzles, and playing sports. We love you more than you know Carty Man, and we are so proud of the boy you are becoming. You would not like that I just called you a boy. You would correct me and say you are either a big boy or a young man:) We LOVE YOU!!!!

Family Vacation-Carroll Cabin

Next stop....The Carroll cabin! We had beautiful weather here as well. I can't remember the last time we had 8 great days in a row!

 More jumps and dives into the lake. Cooper is a maniac! In the best way possible:)

 Trying out Carter's new super soaker water gun. 

 Cuties warming up on the dock

 Loving on their Nana!

 Dock fun. Cooper has his dive down. Carter prefers going feet first still and it bugs him that Cooper can do it so well:) It's good for Cooper to beat Carter once in a while!

 Boys on a boat

We took the boat across the lake to a nice beach and did some swimming and playing. Nana loves cuddling with wet boys:) 

 We drove over to Rutgers Resort and used the pool a couple of times. 

 Tim got a great work out throwing boys up in the air over and over again! 

 We played bocce ball and other yard games.

 It's hard to see but Nana and Papa put a little door at the base of a tree and put a gnome in it. Occasionally he leaves treats for the grand kids. They love it! 

 Movie time with second cousins! Murphy and Jenni were up visiting my Aunt Mary Jane and they came over and hung out with us for a day!

Dancing to Papa's beat!

Family Vacation-Spark Cabin

It has been our tradition to take a vacation the first week in August. For the past three years we have split the week and spent half of it at the Spark cabin and half at the Carroll cabin. What a blessing to have generous parents with cabins! Our first stop was the Spark cabin and we had beautiful weather the entire time!

 Grandpa took all the boys canoeing! Cros had a blast! 

 We went on lots of jet ski rides and took the boys tubing behind it as well.

 Loving time with Mimi!!

Tim made up two games for the boys. "Wet dock, wet dock" where they have to get the entire dock soaked as fast as they can. And "Deck catch, deck catch" where they see how many times they can catch a ball off the deck in a row. Hours of entertainment:)

 Muscle men! 

I borrowed Steve's 1960s boots and Tim borrowed Mimi's floral hat. Why? I don't really know...but we think we are funny:)

 My sweet babies!! 

 Fishing with Gramps. The older they get, the easier and more fun vacation has become! 

Ooopsie Daisey!

Dive and jumps. These guys are fearless and love when I get pics of them in the air! And yes, Carter is pushing Cooper in the water. Coops asked for it though:) 

And what is a trip to the cabin without a campfire??!!