June Celebrations

In June we had many reasons to celebrate with our families. First there was Father's Day, followed by my grandmother's birthday and Sara's birthday (both of which happen to fall on the same day). Here are some photos of our families together!

Brian opening his Father's Day gift.

Three generations of men

I didn't take any photos of my dad on Father's Day, but I wanted to include him too! Here he is letting Daniel drive the combine!

The photos below were taken at my Grandma Ruth's birthday celebration.

Four generations

Great-Grandma Irma and Daniel

Great-grandpa Johnnie and Daniel

The photos below were taken in KC when we celebrated Sara's birthday.

Mother and daughter

Birthday girl getting some help from two of her favorite men.

At T-Rex Cafe

Fun at the pool

Flat Stanley

Some of you might be familiar with the children's book, Flat Stanley. I have never read it but am somewhat familiar with the story. Stanley is a normal little boy until one night, his bulletin board falls on him and squashes him flat. He quickly finds that there are some perks to being flat. For example, he can travel around the world very inexpensively, being shipped in a large envelope.

This summer, our local library did a Flat Stanley activity. The kids colored, cut out, and laminated a little man, who we called Library Larry (instead of Flat Stanley). Library Larry went with us on all our summer travels, and then we took photographs of him in different places and sent them to the library to be displayed.

Here are some photos of Daniel and Library Larry!

At the zoo

Measuring Library Larry's wing span...3 inches!

Riding the train

Combining wheat with Poppy

At Cabela's

At the T-Rex Cafe

At Moon Marble company

Conversations with Daniel

Daniel: Mommy, I've got to tell you somethin'.

Me: What's that?

Daniel: There are some mean flamingos in America.

Me: Really?

Daniel: Yeah. Some in Africa too.

Me: How do you know about these things?

Daniel: Ohhh, I just made them up!

I'd say!

It has begun...

Daniel has started playing on his first organized sports team....and he is only three! Yesterday was our first t-ball practice. Daniel is one of the youngest on the team, but he seemed to have fun, so we will go back next week. When asked what he liked about practice, he said his favorite part was batting and wearing the helmet. He also liked running the bases "in the right order."

Star Wars Day

Some friends of ours hosted a Star Wars Day at the local library. We took Daniel and had so much fun! He made several Star Wars crafts, built with Star Wars legos, had a caricature drawn of himself as a Jedi, shot some Star Wars guns, and won some awesome prizes. His absolute favorite part was the light saber battles. He didn't let being the smallest one out there bother him one bit. This child is way more outgoing than I ever was, though the man dressed up as Boba Fett intimidated him just a little!

Family portraits

The last time we had photos taken of our family, Daniel had just turned two. I remember he would not sit still and would not stay in front of the camera. We managed to get a few good ones, but it was hard work! This photo session was completely different. Daniel posed perfectly, smiled every time, and pretty much hammed it up! Our photographer was quite impressed with him. Here they are...

Weekend Away

We were very excited to get away for a few days this past weekend! Brian is super busy at work during this time of year, so every moment he has with us is precious. On Friday morning, we headed to Wichita. Our first stop was at WSU where Brian's mom works. She had no idea we were coming, and it was so much fun to surprise her...especially since it was her birthday weekend!

Next, we headed to the Wichita zoo where we met Brian's dad. It seems like the weather is typically about 110 degrees when we visit that zoo, so it was refreshing to have cool weather instead. However, you can tell by our stocking hats and jackets that it was a little cooler than we had hoped for mid-May.

Daniel with his back to a real gorilla.

And cozying up with the bronze gorilla.

Three generations

Daniel at my favorite exhibit, the river otters.
He was running alongside them as they swam,
and it appeared they were playing with him!

On the way out of the zoo, we spotted these baby ducklings. They were so cute and came right up to us. Brian actually grabbed one of them (this would not surprise anyone who knows my husband), and the mother duck had a fit! He quickly released it and all was well again!

That night we spent the night in a hotel and went swimming. It was so much fun to swim together, and it reminded me of swimming in hotel pools with my family when I was young. Good times! And the hot tub...bliss!

The next day, we met Melissia, Sara, and Kevin at Exploration Place. None of us had been there before, and it was a really neat experience. We started by attending a workshop for little explorers. Daniel learned some neat things about magnets!

Brian is "flying" a plane.

Learning about water flow with Uncle Kevin.

Coming down the steps of the castle.

After Exploration Place, we ate some yummy Mexican food, and then went to Melissia's to see her garden and open her birthday gifts!

Feeding the coy

Sara sharing her sucker with Dennis, the cockateil

We had a wonderful time, and we are already plotting our next vacation. Maybe the Oklahoma Aquarium?