Weeks of Summer Part 4

 The end of the month has been a whirlwind, I can't really remember most of what we've done but just about every day has included a visit to the neighborhood pool. I've also been taking the boys to the picnic our ward has in the park each week so they can get to know more kids they'll be in school with this fall.
Ethan has already said he's got so many friends he doesn't know what to do with them all. Last Saturday we had 5 families over for a BBQ & had 30 people here. We are loving our neighborhood & are getting to know a lot of great people.
 Jeff was out of town last week & on his way back he stopped & picked up our niece & nephew so they could stay with us Thursday-Monday. By the time they went home Ethan was ready for them to move right in with us & is asking when they are coming back. On their first day of their visit we went to Settler's Park & had a picnic, played in the water, & ran around the playground.
Braxton particularly liked the ship sails that would fill with water & dump down on his face...

 Ethan made a smiley face out of his PB&J

 Owen wanted a picture of himself eating his Cheetos

 There were several mountains to climb...

 

Owen decided to stay on the ground, but he always wants a picture of himself, then he wants to see it right afterwords. 

On a side note, he has basically been potty training himself the last few weeks, but it's still a work in progress. 

 On Saturday we visited our friends at the Zoo.

We even brought along our own exhibit of wild animals:

 Little Vaughn-ster came with us since we also got to have him for the weekend. On Sunday when we were at church the lady behind me wanted to know the ages of all my kids...I had to tell her several times that they weren't all mine.

 Watch out!

 Ethan gets a drink from the elephant's trunk while Addie stands nearby & cools off in the spray...

 & our good friend the Condor was STILL STANDING exactly like he was the last time. He must like the warm sun on his feathers.

 All of the excitement proved too much for Vaughn & he napped in the stroller...look how cute he is with his little tongue sticking out while he sleeps!

 Jeff took the kids into the Butterfly Exhibit but I think he was the only one who actually had one land on him...

 There were some funny turtles wandering around...

 & of course a picture on the Kimodo Dragon is a requirement for a trip to the Zoo...

 & all our little chickies in the nest...

 There was also a lot of bike riding (which resulted in a lot of skinned knees & a lot of bandaids) We went to the pool just about every day they were here, & there was even a watermelon eating contest:

 Ethan was practically heartbroken when they had to go home, but I'm sure we'll be seeing more of them over the summer. Those 2 are pretty entertaining & it was fun to have them stay!

Now we're off to enjoy the 4th.

Happy Independence Day!