Another Last First

After years of convincing herself that scooters are the only way to ride on two wheels, Camryn has finally broadened her transportation horizons. Despite all of our efforts to teach her how to ride a bike for the past several years, she decided last week to put all of her trust in Papa (the man with two non-bending knees and limited running-alongside-a-bike capabilities) as her teacher. And, by golly, she got it down pat! Since taking off the training wheels, this girl has joined a neighborhood gang of biker chicks and can be seen riding her bike everywhere all the time. She insisted that we ride bikes to the school (more than a mile each way), and I caught her trying out some new fancy moves along the way. 

Way to go, Cam! 

Baseball Busy!

Mason is killin’ it in baseball right now! 

Mason's season is in full swing--finally!--with four games in the past four days. It feels good to be back to sports. And it feels great watching Mason tear it up on the field! He hit two legit home runs in two games, threw a kid out stealing third, and made an out on a guy running home. He looks amazing behind the plate, did well pitching (he is not a pitcher), and is second to none with a bat. I hope this kid stays hot!

{Game recaps. Love seeing his name on there!}

{His coach texted Caleb and me last night. Seems Mason has made marked improvement...}

{After hitting his first homerun on Friday without video evidence, Mason demanded that I record his every at bat. Good call as I was able to catch his second homerun on film for him. I will not apologize for the screams and cheers of a very proud momma!}

July 4th

With all activities shut down for the Fourth--looking at you Covid--Caleb decided to use that as an excuse to buy way too many fireworks for our own neighborhood party! Through our village's police department Facebook page we learned that most fireworks actually are legal in Illinois. Among those that are illegal, however, are Roman Candles. 

{Here are the boys lighting off Roman Candles. Caleb's advice as he handed Mason his first round: Even if it sparks and burns your arm you can't let go of the candle, and you can't wave that arm around to brush off the spark that is burning your arm. Solid safety advice.}

{Camryn stuck with the holiday staples: sparklers and snappers.}

Not pictured: Caleb leading by example by lighting off bottle rockets between his fingers, Mason going against his better judgment and lighting off a whole package of sparklers at once ("Is someone welding down there?" asked a neighbor as an explosion of light lit up the dark sky), and that time Jacob lit off a Jumping Jack that went straight up his shorts. 

When not trying to blow up their bodies, the boys were busy fishing and Camryn was busy making fish faces. 

A fun Fourth for all!

June Wrap-Up

June flew by. Here is us doing the things.

{Red rocks no more. Caleb and I spent a weekend filling a Dumpster to the brim with remaining rocks out of our backyard landscaping. These rocks have been a thorn in Caleb's side since we moved in nearly six years ago. They are now gone, and I have discovered yet another project I will always hire out in the future!}

{This girl. It appears she has gone quarantine crazy!}

{Car parade. Our community has a weekly car show downtown, but it was canceled this year. Thanks, Covid. So to make lemonade out of lemons, the car show now parades through different neighborhoods. And we were able to catch front row seats to fifty classic cars driving down our street a few weeks back. A fun reason to get out of the house!}

{Losing teeth. Mason yanked four teeth during quarantine, and all of them lost a tooth this past week. Losing teeth can be an overly dramatic experience for Camryn, but after she lost her front tooth last night, Caleb made her record a video to her future self with a reminder that losing very wiggly teeth does not actually hurt. Time will tell if she buys into her own words!}

{Pool days every day. My parents installed a heater this summer so the water is kept at a temperature suitable for adults (ahem, me). Double that with dads available to launch kids into the water, and this is turning out to be a pretty solid summer!}

{Nature is all around us! Camryn discovered this group of bunnies living in our front flower bed. And because I care so very deeply about the lives of bunnies, I let the kids play with the bunnies for bit before we delivered them to their new home: The prairie behind our house where I hope they make friends with the hawks and owls that live nearby. The boys have also been doing a bit of fishing. Mason is currently on self-proclaimed hiatus after he hooked a fish by the eye and can't seem to overcome the grief. Rest assured, the empathy he shows fish in a pond far exceeds the empathy he shows for his siblings.}

{Stretching. Camryn is determined to master the splits and has spent several hours watching stretching videos to limber up. Of all our kids, she is the only one who has ever wanted to practice something without being forced to the point of tears. Get after it, lady!}

{Rainbows everywhere! After having a mostly dry June, we finally have had a few rainstorms that have left behind no shortage of rainbows and beautiful sunsets. Love!}

{These two. Camryn and her bestie demanded the need for matching clothes. They came home with these matching gymnastics outfits, which is perfect for all of the hours they spend tumbling together on the trampoline!}