iowa and nauvoo

I decided to have an adventure this summer and drive to visit a friend in Iowa. It was a 51/2 hour drive. I was pretty nervous but then I did it and now I've done it and I'm like, "bring it on driving!" The kids were awesome. we listened to books on tape and music and that's it. I'm always so proud when we can do it without dvd. I guess I just feel like that's how I traveled as a kid and I want that to be the same for them. Or maybe, I just forgot the dvd's and I'm so glad they made it without!

 Look at those skies. Seriously, Iowa is very beautiful

 Our kids played so well together. My friend (one of the longest friends i've had...since 4th grade) was 37 weeks prego and we just hung out and talked and let the kids play. It was perfect!

 The day we got home from Iowa we had some of our good med school friends come to Nauvoo with us. We had fun at our house on Friday and then headed to Nauvoo on Saturday. We stayed late and went to the pageant. Again, it was perfect!

 Chloe and Luke were buddies when they were newborns to 2 1/2 and it seemed like they had known each other forever as 6 year olds. So fun.

 Me and Danika (in the red) bustin our move in the sack race.

Summer Fun

 I LOVE Smores. It's a bit of an obsession. I just love them. So, I came up with a smore's cake. It was pretty ridiculous! I mean look at that thing.

Back in the day I used to make Chloe dresses out of Brad's old shirts. Well, then she grew to tall and  I couldn't use the hem of his medium shirts anymore. Enter XL shirts. My friend gave me this men's dress shirt (I know considering the pattern) and I came up with this cute summer dress.

 Brad is such a good kitchen mopper.

 And I will be sad to see baseball end. Coaches pitch was actually quite fast paced and action packed. I think Chloe found her sport. She plays catch and practices hitting every night and day.

The Freedom Ring

We finished another round of swim lessons. Chloe is ready for swim team and thank goodness EZ will put his head under. All bets are off when he is by himself though. He is mr. water confident when he isn't in class! 

 Chloe can dive off the board like a pro.

 She was there...causing trouble:)

 I managed to make my first dress without using a men's shirt. I actually cut a pattern out, measured, lined the bodice, and...are you ready for this...put in a zipper. She makes any dress look cute.

 He is fierce on two wheels.

 She is all smiles now that her second baby tooth is gone. She went in the bathroom and about an hour later came out holding the tooth. When she gets her mind set on something she goes for it.

 sleepovers in the bedroom

 4th of july pancakes.

 4th of july parade in west peoria. We arrive 2 hours early!! so we had time to hang out at the park and we met some nice people to save our seats and tell us that there would be lots of candy thrown. And indeed there was. So much candy that we left lots on the road.

 That night we headed back to Bloomington for the fireworks and a fun little patriotic show they do there. We had some good friends come with us which made the night that much better.

Happy 4th of July, America.

Hoofs

 Miss Belle loves shoes on her hands and I had to document it somewhere. She is also a big fan of bike helmets. I love watching her discover new things. That's been so fun about having 3 kids. We get to watch all the discovering again. She makes me well up with tears over how happy I am she is in our family. She gets lots of Lola love, that's for sure.

 She also really like to climb up slides and ladders and she sends herself flying down the slide. I'm the parent there watching but not intervening. She's a pint size little thing and people constantly ask me if she is a year yet. She also likes to get in the pool and dunk her head under.

orange, pink, and lime green

 It started with the outfit Chloe chose to wear that day. And then the sky was a perfect color, and then I decided we should scramble some other outfits together, get everyone dressed and cute, and...head out for a summer photo shoot.
And could the pictures be any cuter?