Box em up, ship em out!

We happened to be over at Josh & Kjersten's place as they put together a new table.  Ergo, a large box happened to be free for 3 boy fun!

 Overnight to China?  Maybe...

 This guy has been climbing all over the place, and showing off his communication skills and general funny attitude.  How big is Isaac...?

We had some groupons that needed to get used up prior to the official end of summer.  One was for 2 Toots, the local train restaurant.

 We had a lot, A LOT, of rain this week.  5 inches in one day, followed by more throughout the weekend.  The cooped up campers needed a break from the indoors and we headed out for some excellent puddle jumping.

 Sam opted out of rain gear in favor of water shoes and regular clothes.  Look at his mad air!

 The neighbors couldn't resist joining in on the fun!

 Daren sporting his safety poncho.

 We tried floating some soap (miserable failure)...

 ...and making some aluminum foil boats (modest success).

 All in all, it was just wet fun!

 Today (Sunday) the monsters spent some quality time with Josh & Kjersten as Mike and I escaped for a movie, a massage, and some fondue.  Looks like the guys had fun too!

 The heat is on now, 90s all weekend!

So this week we head off into Noah's first week of 1st grade, and our first week of soccer.  Hold on tight, the crazy fall is just beginning!

Winding down our summer

We really have had a great summer.  Now that the word is out about our June trip to Disney, we're already looking forward to next summer!  We spent this week (mommy's last week of freedom) just doing some fun stuff around home.  We had Nico over on Tuesday, and the unseasonably cool weather forced them into hooded sweatshirts for outside time.  Crazy!

Isaac's personality has been developing in it's hilarity lately.  He loves loves loves this 3 musketeers cape that my mom got them a long time ago.  He loves to hold it his hands like this.... (thanks for the photo bomb, Sam)

 We have started tackling the task of bike riding with Noah.  He's not been the most confident on wheels, so this is a big step.  Armed with knee pads, elbow pads, and a helmet he's ready to give it a go without training wheels.  We met up with the Worsts at Busse Woods/forest preserve on Friday to get some tips.

 Fred (who's been riding without training wheels for at least a good 2 years) gave Noah some sound advice before we tried.  He did many laps with Aunt Philie and me pushing and encouraging him.  I wouldn't say he's "got it" yet, but improvements were made.

 The four older boys ride into the sunset of Summer 2014...

 We let the little people out and everyone was free to tear around the open field for awhile.  It was a gorgeous day!

 On Friday night the local park district here in Roselle offered a "Bounce back to School" event.  They had about 10 large inflatables for the kids to play on.  Free event and free hot dogs, YES PLEASE!  Sam even got into a bouncy, which is generally not his thing.

 Ever the daredevil Mr. Noah was all over the big slides.

 We are really loving having full, normal weekends together as a family.  The years of Mike working on Saturday and having bowling on Sunday were difficult, but now it makes us realize how lucky we are to have 2 whole days together again!  This weekend, Daddy came up with a project for the big 2, some bean art!

 They loved it and sat for a good 2 hours working on it!  Sam did a bird and Noah did bubbles (above) and a snake (below)!

 The cooler temps really have afforded us a lot of outdoor time, which is so great with 3 busy boys running around!  Yesterday Noah was back on the bike, this time with daddy giving him tips for improving balance.  Again, we're not 100% but we're getting closer!

So tomorrow (Monday) I head back to work.  Noah doesn't start for another week and Sam doesn't start until after Labor Day.  So they have a bit more time to play with Bamma and Mrs. Laura.  Here's to a great summer!  It was perfect!

Another full week of fun!

We are just drinking in this fantastic summer, the mild (80 degree, not 100 degree) weather, and some great family time before school starts up.  Isaac has had a slightly rougher week with some teething troubles, but he can always count on this brothers to lighten the mood!

And his daddy for some extra snuggles when the fever hits 102!

 Roselle has a little festival called "The Taste of Roselle."  It's small, but we had fun doing a few rides and having a few treats.

 My parents rented a lakehouse on Diamond Lake for a couple weeks.  The same lake where they used to own a home and where our extended family of the Benharts still have a few cottages.  The boys and I spent a few days up there during the week, getting some snuggle time with Bampa and Bamma.

 We bounced back to Roselle and used some free gaming time coupons from their reading program to spend some time at Game Works.

 I did some prep for an exciting Disney trip reveal, more on that in a bit!

 Lil man figured out how to climb up on the couch, so our days of taking refuge from baby terrible on the couch are over!

 Mike created another cake masterpiece for the company picnic!

 Then on Friday, 8/8, we headed over to the Worsts for our Water Playdate!  We had some army guys trapped in ice that needed rescue by chisel.

 They made the giant blob again, it was a big hit!

 Hattie tests out the water in the pool.

 Sink or float?

 The big guys really worked well together freeing the guys in ice and then creating some nice battlescapes for them to play in.

 Hugo crashed in his typical fashion and zest for adventure!

 Add in a homemade 2 liter sprinkler and it's a par-tay!

 Ever present water slide!

 Carwash/kidwash was another hit!

 Leo says phooey to pnuemonia-whatever, and gets in on sponge tossing!

 Table for two at lunch?

 Twinsies against sunburn!

 Happy Birthday to Miss Evelyn!

 After the water party, we got daddy and headed to the lake.  The terrible traffic proved for a 4 hour trip, but we survived and the next morning we told them the big news!

New flips for the big trip!

 We're going to DISNEY WORLD!!!!  Trip set for June 2015, so we have time to prepare and get excited (if it's even possible to be MORE excited!)

 Isaac is ready to roll in his new footwear, pretty cute!

 We headed to our fave spot, the sandbar!

 While we were out, Isaac napped and daddy discovered him after nap emptying out the contents of Bamma's makeup bag.  He had shifted the pac n play over enough to reach it.  NAUGHTY!

 When in doubt, FEED ME!

 Lots of card playing and magic tricks from Uncle Josh!

 Lake living is exhausting!

 Isaac was less than thrilled to pose with the turtles "Ike" and "Tina" when we stopped for lunch at Lunkers!

So, yet another week of awesomeness!  This week we settle in and enjoy a calm week of summer before I head back to work!