I got tomatoes!

One of the many things I loved about living in Lemars was reaping the goodies of Marv's garden. Every Tuesday I would head over and pick the fresh produce. Even more than the produce I enjoyed chatting with Marv and Geneva and catching up on the news. I miss doing that but as I take care of my own plants now, I know Marv is watching over us and not letting the deer get all my hard work;)

Runnin' off steam

Being another hot day outside we went indoors to the playground. She enjoys being in the ball room as long as the big kids aren't there. 

She wanted to stand up and lick the caterpillar after she saw some other kids do it but fortunately she followed my directions when I told her "no."

Then she spent quite a bit of time walking around the caterpillar on his feet. Which is super funny because she does this to me too. 

Weekend fun with two gingers

Friday night we had the Smiths over for the evening. Everlee called it a "party! Be fun!"  It sure was. We played at the park, watched the construction, and played outdoor games. After bath time chloe and Cooper helped put Everlee to bed by helping sing to her. They were so soft and gentle with her. It was absolutely adorable:)

Saturday morning sillies with Steve while Brigett got things ready. 

We made the 3.5 hour trip to Lemars for the Harms family reunion. One red head slept for 3 hours of the trip and this little red slept for 30 minutes! 

The minute we arrived to the Jelkens home it was off with the clothes and on with the swimsuit. There were all girls under the age 5 to play with. Lots of water time, swinging, sliding and this crazy cow riding. She also didn't let Steve or Tyler get to far away as she watched them win both games of bags!

Then we spent the night with gramma K. After the fun filled day Ev went right to bed but the next morning enjoyed spending time with gramma. They walked to the mailbox, played with blocks, and did lots of exploring. Thanks for all the hospitality. 

We had a wonderful weekend filled with many laughs and enjoyed sharing it with Everlee:)

Playing school

Chloe and Marissa had a great time playing house and school with Cooper and Everlee at cousins play date today. 

There's so many funny things Everlee says on a daily basis. Today after nap we were reading books and one was "good night iowa."  One of the pages talked about RAGBRAI. I asked Everlee who rides there bicycles across iowa? With the most serious look on her face she says, "daddy and grampa Greg". That I would like to see;)

I'm Stuck!

After lunch today we made our way down to the park. I haven't seen Ev get up here by herself before but she did it today. After sitting there for a while and trying all sorts of ways to get down she tells me "I'm stuck, help please". 

4th of July festivities

Friday morning we packed up and headed to Storm Lake for the weekend. Our journey took us six hours!

After set up and grilling we met up with the Kneifls and Smiths to play with the kids while the adults enjoyed Rich and Jason's reunion. The men clearly had babysitting under control;)

Saturday morning we made our way to Lake Shetek for Marvs memorial boat ride on the Whynot. 

Geneva was very happy we made the ride up and so were we. 

This is the way you have a drink. Skip the glass and drink straight from the bucket. 

This "souped up" golf cart is Steves cousins, Jeff's. He owns the campground there and this is his get around vehicle. What a sweet ride!

After the boat ride we spent a little bit of time at the cabin seeing more family. Oakleys first 4th of July. 

At Jeff's campground. We had a beautiful  4th of July and were so happy that mom and dad made the trip with us, bumpy roads and all;)

With rain in the forecast for Monday we decided to head home a day early. Before leaving town we had to visit Villager and get my favorite ice cream: raspberry pineapple swirl. Yummy!

Cousins Thursday

Everlee always looks forward to having Chloe and Cooper over to play. We cover all our bases: we go upstairs, downstairs and outside. Today they had alot of fun using all of Andy's art supplies he brought over. 

Another fun thing today was cousin Tyler showed up just as nap time was starting. Everlee asked him to sing a new song. He sang "take me out to the ball game."