Sam's birthday!

So, unbelievably, Sam turned 8 this week!  He opted for a Captain Underpants theme, so Mike got to work on his cake designs on Friday afternoon...

 He agreed, it was nice not to be working at 10pm at night, worth the half day he took off work!

 Philie's genius decorating idea, it was hilarious to see underwear all over the house.  Yes, they were clean and new underwear!

 Another Dr. Rodriguez masterpiece!

 Happy Birthday to our goofball and goodhearted Sam!

 During the party, discussion of "The Rock of Roselle" came up.  This is a rock in a parking lot that many people overlook and strand their cars on top of due to it's placement.  The Rock has it's own facebook page and it makes us chuckle.  Our friends the Townsends shared this phenomenon with us.  So, Mike had to get out the whiteboard to describe how this local site works to our family...

 On Sunday (his actual birthday) Sam awoke to some presents from us, including a Crate Creature, a disc swing, and a Pikachu blanket!

 Sunday we went also to Ravinia with my mom, my brother, and the Worst Family.  The CSO was playing Tchaikovsky and ended with the 1812 overture with cannons, so fun!

 Hattie and her lose teeth freak out Uncle josh!

 The excitement of my week was borrowing my dad's power washer.  I know these pics aren't exciting to anyone but me, but it was awesome!  I was able to do some cement, the whole deck, and part of our fence!

 You can really see the difference: right side is clean, left side is dirty!

 Sam has really been enjoying his gifts this week, loving the Legos!

So now we head into the end of summer with a 10 year old, an 8 year old and a 5 year old!  Looking forward to a visit from our CA friends this weekend!

Summer fun just keeps on rolling!

This week has been filled with pretty usual summer stuff!  We did swim lessons for Sam and Isaac.  Sam was a daredevil and did the high dive any chance he could get!

 Isaac still needs some more practice to feel comfortable in the deeper water.  Suffice it to say, we've signed him up for some indoor lessons in the fall.

 We did some backpack shopping in preparation of the school year and our new kindergartener!

 Bamma celebrated 7-11 with us!

 We tackled 6 Flags on a SUPER hot day!

 Sam was a bit traumatized by the "Battle for Metropolis" ride that featured a 4D joker that spooked him.  By the time we hit the teacups, he had recovered but you can still see the trepidation on his face!

 Sam found Sam!

 We met the Schwantzs and the Richmonds at the water park for some fun and ended the day with a funnel cake sundae!

 The next day, the Richmonds came our way and we did Bison's Bluff while Noah had karate.

 Then we went back to our house for more fun.  The moms reminisced about our trip to South Carolina way back in 2006 and even pulled out the old video for some laughs!

 The trampoline was a big hit, with even Mike and Bob making appearances!

 It was a late night of s'mores and firefly catching, so the crew was pretty sleepy the next day!

 Isaac was hit with a "party fever" the next day and had to sleep it off!

 Sammy has been working on his signature this summer.  Looking good, dude!

 Our garden has been blossoming beautifully and has been host to many butterflies.  There's a monarch in the middle there if you can see it!

 Barry the tortoise continues to eat and grow.  We finally decided to measure him so we can see how big he gets eventually!  He is 10 months old now and just about 3 inches in length (his shell).

 Mike got a new car this week, super nice!

 We hosted Mr. Xavier for a day this week, he was so much fun and loved watching swim lessons!

 My favorite 5 year old flower bringer!

 We got the copies of the professional pictures from the lake house/anniversary party and they are so awesome!

Here are the beautiful bride and groom!  Cheers to 50 years Lou and Mary Jo!

And now we prepare for Sammy's 8th birthday!

Our Week at the Lake!

We have returned from yet another fun week at Diamond Lake!  We arrived on Saturday, June 30th just in time to head to Lou & Mary Jo's 50th wedding anniversary party! 

 They had everyone in coordinating colors and had a photographer there to take lots of pictures.  We did some fun groups, like "the outlaws" (crazy people foolish enough to marry into this family)!

 And all the kids!

 I did some amateur work with selfies!

 We also did some large group photos on the dock!

 Can't wait to see the "real" photos!

 Isaac had a fun time chatting with his two great uncles!

 Cake made it safely in my mom's car all the way from Kirschbaum's!  It was a really fun night!

 Our ride back to the rental house even had some early fireworks!

We enjoyed some kayaking with Uncle Josh!

 We also gathered on the island for a birthday celebration!

 Brad recently went to Peru and found some crazy masks for the boys!

 Happy July Birthdays!

Isaac spent much of the week asking folks either:

1. What is your favorite organ?

2. Are you living THE life?

He enjoyed floating in the lake most of the week!

 Lots of snuggle time with Bamma in the early mornings!

 So, really the only negative of the week was a nasty spill my cousin DeeWee took.  We have a long history (40+ years) of taking turns riding a kids bike down the dock, over a ramp, and into the lake.  We had many successful runs before DeeWee took the wheels and fell, hard.  He ended up with a dislocated shoulder and a broken humerus that required surgery.  Glad to report he is ok and on the mend!  Perhaps that tradition of bike riding is now something of the past!

 Uncle Josh had a nice skiing run!

 Bamma got her snuggle time during the day too!

 We played "Speak It" with hilarious results!

 Uncle Brad, CJ, and Meredith helped the boys do some fishing in the channel.

 We had a cooking competition (Kids edition) with the theme being "magical desserts."  Isaac and Bamma made some chocolate frogs!

 Noah made magic wands!

 And Sam did rice krispie treat lighting bolts and snitches!

Great job, guys!

 The boys really loved playing on the beach!

 The night of the actual 4th of July, we had CJ sleep over and did some smoke snakes.

 The ice cream truck also stopped by!

 We did a sunset cruise with everyone!

 Then back to the house for sparklers and more smoke snakes!

 We taught CJ how to play Indian!

 Thursday we spent driving around Shipshewana, an Amish area in Indiana with lots of fun shops to explore!

 DeeWee returned to show Dr. Isaac his bandage!

 The kids got to work decorating the float for the annual Island parade!

Isaac got many trips around on Pops riding mower!

 Love the Lake!

 We hosted Adeline and Meredith at our rental for dinner in exchange for help with the smaller two getting to bed on time!

 On Saturday, July 7th we left the rental and headed for a day on the island.  The boys love the barge ride in the car!

 All set for the Magical themed parade!

 That evening, the boys helped Pops prepare the popcorn for the fireworks!

 More sparklers and lots of glow sticks!  The fireworks were awesome as usual!

 And so the sun sets on our vacation week at Diamond Lake!  Great times with cousins, grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and everyone!