Another fun filled day in Peoria

We had a fun day on Sunday with everyone. Peggy got to hang around the house with us all day so we had a lot of fun. She headed home at about 4:00 so we went down to check out a free play area down the road.
The kids have a cool set up in the basement so that they can paint. Megan and Maleah had a good time and made some very nice pictures.
Alex and Cameron were busy playing with their squirt guns outside. They were complaining about the heat so this was a good way to cool off.
Rena got tired from all of the action so she decided to get in a quick nap.
The kids are on all of the caterpillar equipment. They were covered in sand when they were done.
Maleah was not happy about the sand on her feet but she still kept getting back into the box.

We made it to Illinois!!!!!

Well, we made it to Illinois. We were a little worried when there where only five people left sitting in the airport but after we figured out that the lady at the ticket counter was pronouncing our name wrong we got to get on the plane. We didn't get to sit together but we were atleast all in the same row.

Megan got a window seat. She just didn't know anyone that she was sitting with.
Alex and I were right across the row so we could wave to each other.

We spent most of Friday doing nothing. We went and found an outlet mall that I had been wanting to see and then we picked Peggy up from work and we headed downtown Naperville to walk around and eat some dinner.
They have a really cool display of frogs, firefly's, and waterfountains. People could decorate them however they wanted and they are spread throughout the downtown area.
We got a picture of every single one of them but I will only bore you with a few of them.

Going someplace with Peggy is a lot like it used to be with my Mom. You will notice her in the background talking to some people. Every time we turned around she saw someone else she knew. It is always fun to get to meet all of her friends though. :)

Maybe these would actually be dragon fly's. I just don't know. They were all decorated really cool though.
Peggy's neighbor took this one for us. We met her when we turned another corner!!!!!
The kids are always goofing around and Peggy is eager to get in on the action.
This is the baseball frog that Alex really liked.
This is the butterfly fountain that I really liked. Megan liked them all so I can't show you her favorite.

We got to go over and see Riley first thing this morning. She is so cute. It was fun to get to hold her and play with her. Kari is looking really good for just having a c-section two weeks ago!
Carter, Alex and Noah didn't really care to hold the baby. They were more worried about their video games.

Megan picked out this outfit for Rylee so we had to see how it fit her. It's a bit big but it looked really cute.
Megan wouldn't give her up so I just had to take the pictures. I eventually got to hold her for awhile but only after I stole her from Megan's arms.
She looks so peaceful and quite.........

We made it to Peoria at about 4:30. Everyone is so excited. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get to Stefanie's house but it went by really quick. Peggy even got a couple of naps in and she was really excited about that. She said that it had been two years since she got to take a nap on a road trip so she was taking full advantage. I was glad to be the driver so that she could enjoy her rest time.
Jeff was starving when we arrived so our first stop was to pizza for dinner. Stefanie and Peggy are anxiously awaiting.
All the kids back together. They had a really fun night playing together.

We will keep you posted as we make it through the week. We are only on day 2 so there should be a lot more to come.

Back to the Lake

We got to spend another fun weekend at the lake. Everyone has such a good time when we go and the kids love getting to play in the water so much. None of them thought they needed sun screen this time and it was nice and toasty out so they are all at home covered in aloe now. I saw a few red buns yesterday and a couple of bright red faces. Maybe next time they will actually listen to us.
It was beautiful outside so we all got to get some time in the water. We have a lot of floaties so there is always something for everyone.

Sometimes you have to fight the kids for the fun stuff but they eventually give them up.

It was Pat and Matt's birthday's so we got to celebrate with both of them. Michelle made a cake and we got to have ice cream. It was really good!!!!!

The guys had a hard day on the dock.

We all went in and bought a new tube to tow behind the boat. You can get three people on it at a time. The kids really enjoyed it. They only got to make a couple of trips around the lake and then the boat broke down so Mike started pulling them with his little raft. It was pretty funny to watch.

Pat got his very own floaty for his birthday and it had a huge hole in it so Tony tried to melt it back together but it didn't work. I guess he will have something to look forward to next time when he replaces it for a new one.

Some of the kids. I think they are waiting for the cake and ice cream.

The snacks are always tasty. You can't go wrong with junk food.

Matt got some good presents. I think that he liked them all.

I think that Pat liked his gifts to. He got a lot of scratch tickets and only won on one of them. I hope he had fun scratching atleast.

Mike and Pat are taking a break. It was alot of work to set up the trailers.

It is always fun to just hang out by the camp fire. We never seem to run out of stuff to talk about.

We always have a good time. We really appreciate Michelle and Mark inviting us for the weekend. Hopefully we get to go back a couple more times this year. We need to use our new floaty some more!!!!!

4th of July

We spent the 4th of July at my friend Michelle's house. She lives next door to her parents and they have a huge party with tons of family and friends. It is a lot of fun.
This is the best picture that I could get of the boys again. I don't know why they are so hard to get along with. One of these days I will get a good one of them.

The girls never have a problem getting their pictures taken. They just turn around and smile on que.

There is always plenty of food. They just turn the garage into a buffet. It is amazing how much food is there. You definately don't go home hungry.

I think they are fighting over what it the best thing to eat!!!!! :)

Michelle, Kathy and I. Don't we look full and happy???? :)

There is a horse shoe tournament that lasts for hours. Mike's team didn't win but they did have fun. They were the first team to play and the first team knocked out.

The kids love to go in the pool also. It didn't rain on us all day but it was a bit chilly. That doesn't seem to bother any of the kids though.

If you attend the party you have to watch a video about the 4th of July so that everyone knows why we are there. Most people roll their eyes when they announce that it is time to watch but it is a good video and the music with it always make me cry. I think that the kids like it too even though they won't say so. Although they might just like the fact that you get homemade ice cream as soon as it is over.

The kids start with the sparklers while we wait for it to get dark. They had tons of them so the kids were busy for a long time.

The girls are always ready for their picture.

It finally got dark enough to watch the show. They had a lot of fireworks so it was really pretty.

That was the finally. We had a great day and tons of fun as usual. Now we will wait for next year to do it all over again.

Videos of the kids

I took some videos of the kids. They take forever to upload or I would send more. Here are a couple though so you can see how good the kids are at Rock Band and the Slip and Slide.

I think someone should give her a recording deal!!!!! :)

I don't know what he was trying to do here but it didn't work.

Random Weekend Pictures

Well, I am now posting my random pictures of the summer. I didn't have anything good to write so I just sat out in the sunshine last weekend and took pictures of the kids. The sun finally arrived here so we made a trip down to Target on Sunday and bought the kids a slip and slide and a small pool for their feet. They had a great time playing on it and I had fun laughing at them. It was pretty funny. Megan on her way down the slide. She flipped over the end a few times. I was pretty funny.

Alex is just relaxing at the end of the slide. He made it all the way down without hurting himself.

Megan is ready for another trip down the slide.

Before the slip and slide the kids were enjoying themselves playing rock band. It is pretty darn funny also. They really get into it and they aren't very good. :) Don't tell them I said that.

They take turns singing and playing the instruments. They are pretty good at all of the words on the songs to. It is fun a fun game to play.