A busy summer!

We've done so many fun things this summer! One of the first things was going to a strawberry field with some friends and picking a bunch. They were delicious! It was a cool and rainy day so we didn't take too many pictures.


Tball ended for Sam. He had a great time and loved being a Tiger! He's saying he'd like to do Tball again next year.
He slid into home in the last game! Sort of...


And he was very proud of his medal! Good job Sam!


We celebrated Father's Day. The kids love their Daddy so very much. He's loving and fun and a great role model for them! Loves!



We made this platter for him. He's always grilling burgers or steaks and we've needed something big to put everything on. It says "hands down, Dad's grilling is the best." And of course, those are the kids' hand prints.


The kids got to go skating for the first time with Noni & Uncle Josh and me. Sam was brave and tried the limbo! He's a little herky jerky but he was confident and did a great job.


Sophie took right to it and was skating by herself most of the time.


Jules, always our least physical, was pretty timid but by the end was going a little faster and shuffling along with just a little help.


She was excited to do the Chicken dance with Uncle J!


We had a family reunion.... hee hee


We're enjoying the neighborhood pool to the fullest!





The kids even took swim lessons there. The S's are natural little fishies but Julia is nervous! Sam and Soph will jump right in with no floaties and swim around but Jules won't go anywhere without her Puddle Jumper. (Still one of the best purchases we ever made)!


Julia says her swimsuit looks like a rainbow so she tries to make an arch. So cute!


There is a neat Lego display at Washburn University right now. There's also an art lab there and the kids got to build with a zillion Legos. Those are a popular toy with us right now!


We went to the NICU reunion, as always. So fun to catch up with people and meet new ones. We are forever thankful for the sweet care that the nurses and doctors gave our babes at St. Luke's!


The kids had their first overnight with friends. Sam went to Nik's house and got to sleep on the top bunk - woo hoo! The girls had Malena over. It was their "girl slumber party" and they were too excited! Here they are ready for bed.


And all konked out.


Our Worlds and Oceans of Fun passes have not gone to waste, though these couple weeks of heat have kept us away. Here's Sam with Nik & Malena.


Noni & Uncle J came once and it was a perfect day! We saw one of their shows there and Sophie got pulled up on stage to dance! She loved it :)


We went to the Topeka Zoo where they all got to hold a tarantula. Gross.


Don't you love Julia's look of terror? I understand! She did better than I would have.

We got to feed giraffes too - so cool!


Sam had his first cavity, which made me feel awful! Filling it was a breeze though. In and out in about 10 minutes.


Of course we had a Day with Thomas the Train! Thomas is still one of Sam's favorites :)


We took the kids to their first Royals game! We have been meaning to do this for years now. They sat through most of it and had fun.






Of course they enjoyed the awesome kid area there.





Sam liked hearing the players' names and numbers. He decided his favorite was Alex Gordon.


Sam even got a ball! Someone handed it to him but still cool!


4 year olds are silly. So so silly.


4 year olds are into technology.


4 year olds are imaginative. No, that's not Julia & Sam. Those are bears in a cave!


4 year olds are creative. This is a rabbit hole that Julia wanted to make pretty with rocks and carrots.


They are into Super Heroes so we had fun with some pictures.





The 4th of July was fun! This is Shane's favorite holiday and it was cool to have so many friends and family with us! We prettied up the girls' nails.


We had lots of yummy food.

There were a ga-jillion kids at our house!



We did a few fireworks and the kids held their first sparklers. Our neighborhood rocked the fireworks!



Sophie was a little nervous :)