June's Little Joys

SUMMER....

Where have you gone?!? I can't believe my kids start school in 2 weeks. It's definitely going to be bittersweet. We've had such an amazing couple of weeks traveling, visiting family, seeing all the sights, and making lots of fun summer memories. Now it's time to play catch-up on our blog!

Miss Elizabeth is just as sweet as can be! Here she is at 4 1/2 months old, dressed up and pretty in pink-- and just barely starting to try and sit up unassisted.

Zachary just adores this baby. First thing in the morning when he wakes up he sneaks into our bedroom to find her and see if she's up yet. His goal every day is to make her laugh. Sometimes he needs a few gentle reminders that she's still JUST a baby, but most of the time he's very careful with her and she loves the attention. 

How cute is this chubby baby in the Bumbo?!? Pretty sure she has us all wrapped around her little finger! Summer has been pretty fun with her around.

Right after school let out we were averaging 2-3 days a week at the HOA pool. And for many of those afternoons, inevitably a big thunderstorm would roll in right after we got to the pool!! It was like we were jinxed. We've learned a that the "Colorado Weather Rule" is if the temperature gets above 90 degrees you can pretty much guarantee an afternoon thunderstorm on its way to cool things back down.

Elizabeth got a new bathing suit since I was still using Lucy's old one (which was then passed to Leah) and it was getting a bit scraggly. She looks like a fashionista in her new suit!

Lucy is a good sport and takes her into the baby pool for me so I can keep an eye on all 4 kids-- whether they be in the big pool, the baby pool, or at the splash pad. Lizzie loves the water!

I tried my hand for the second time at mastering Zach's "hipster cut" and was pretty pleased with the results. His hair grows SO fast, I seriously cannot afford to get it cut every couple weeks! I think we're getting there, as long as it looks a lot like Uncle Taylor's hair he is content with my handiwork.

He has been playing baseball on a summer little league team and he does great! He is a great little hitter, throws the ball well, and has even gotten several outs when he plays one of the baseman. We're really proud of how far he's come, and that he seems to really enjoy sports like his dad and uncles. 

And in further "critter news" (it IS Colorado after all) we've had two unwelcome guests this month! This picture isn't very clear-- it is pulled from the Denver News, and it is of a mountain lion that was spotted in the Hobby Lobby parking lot about 2 miles from our house. YES!! I couldn't believe it when Jon was telling me about it. The police followed it until it ran into "open space" (they never captured it) so who knows where he's at now?? Totally freaky.

And then this guy showed up sunbathing right on our driveway as I was opening the garage door to pull in one morning. He was about a 4-foot long bull snake we'd seen earlier in the summer slithering out of our yard and into the street. I hadn't thought much more about him, but as I opened the garage door to pull in he startled and slithered right in to hide!! Jon had to come get him out, and long story short, we finally got him (hissing and spitting at us) into a large trash can. At that point Jon had to leave for work, so our attempts to "re-home" him were momentarily interrupted-- but I thought there was no way that snake could crawl up those slick plastic sides. Silly me! By the time Jon got home around 8 p.m. the snake was long gone and we haven't seen him since...

Our little garden is doing AMAZING. That side of the house gets full sun from about 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. and everything is just thriving so far. It's funny to see these pictures from June, and compare them to our garden now, because they've probably even tripled in size since then! Our tomatoes are taller than the fence now! It's been so fun to see all these green things growing back there and the kids can't wait 

to start picking.

The kids have been spending lots of time with next-door-neighbor Savannah (and baby Charlotte) which is great since with all these little girls in the neighborhood there is a constant girl party happening nearby. Poor Zach is the lone man out, and we're still working on finding him a good playmate so he doesn't spend what's left of the summer bored or tagging along with the girls.

My girls headed over to Savannah's house for a shaving cream party one night, and her Grandma sent me this picture. So happy we ended up lucking out with great neighbors to play with!

Right before it was time to leave on our epic road trip, the firework stands started popping up all over Parker. It's tradition now for the kids to have a lemonade stand and then take the money they earned and go buy fireworks for the 4th (with a little help from daddy too). 

This little pyro was pleased as punch to be picking out our "grand finale" to light off at the end of our show. He is ALL boy and loves ANYTHING that smokes, hisses, pops, bangs, or whizzes and we're definitely going to have to keep our eye on him in the next few years!