Sunday, June 16, 2013

Father's Day with the Cubbies!

We surprised Dave with tickets to the Father's Day 
Iowa Cubs Game.  We got the father's day special,
so we all got to sport some awesome cubbies hats!

We all had a ton of fun.  The girls enjoyed the game,
I enjoyed the cool seats in the shade.
Dave loved being with his girls!





Yea, that's right. I'm wearing a ball cap!

Later that day, we celebrated with some s'mores.
Happy Father's Day to the best daddy ever!!



Friday, June 14, 2013

LHF for the big girls

Living History Farms camp is one of our favorite summer activities!
I still have fond memories of attending this camp when I was a girl.
This year, all three girls went.  Of course, they couldn't all
go the same week, that'd be too easy!

Claire really wanted to try the Victorian Camp, which
is for middle school girls.  She and her friend, Katie,
did it and loved it.  They learned all about being a lady in
the Victorian times, and even how to speed with a fan.
Moms were welcomed to a tea on the last day.
It was a great time, and some pretty decent finger food, too!

My beautiful victorian lady!

Claire and her friends, Katie and Ellie

Ella went this week too.
She joined up with several friends for the usual
LHF camp.  
They had a great time exploring the farms and the town.
Always a great time!




Sunday, June 9, 2013

Family Fun Day at the Ledges

One of our favorite Rouse House traditions is Family Fun Day.
Each spring, we all play hooky (yep, no work/no school)
and we go do something fun.
This summer, we decided to have a summer edition
of Family Fun Day.

We've been getting a ton of rain, but we thought
we'd try to enjoy some of the Ledges anyway.
Dave grew up in Boone, so this is always a favorite
of his.  I, on the other hand, am a bit more comfortable
at home, but I love family days, so I suffered through it!

A great day was had by all.  We hiked, waded through
water, found some cool creepy-crawlies and 
enjoyed our time together very much!

Claire bear is getting so big!

Love my family!

Ella was very brave going over the 'rapids'

So, was buggy!

My family!




Friday, June 7, 2013

Softball!

Softball! We love softball!!

At our house, spring is for softball!
We have all 3 girls playing this year.

Claire is playing "majors", with Grandpa coaching.

Ella is playing, "minors" in rec and just started on an 
8U team for WAC.  We're very excited to see how it
goes and if it is something she'll continue next year.

Avery is playing coach pitch, with me as a coach!
Yikes! I've never coached on my own. So far, after one 
practice, I think we're doing okay.  
No pics of Aves yet, as I'm too busy coaching.  
Maybe later..

Claire had a great season, and really improved all around.
She is a great catcher and really enjoys being behind the plate.
Her fielding, throwing, and hitting all improved as well.

Too busy helping coach to get any good pics.
Thanks to my friend Becky for these..


Batter up!  
 Ella had a chance to play on Claire's team for the last couple games.
Thanks to many rainouts, our season ran into summer break and we 
lost a few players.  She did awesome!  Hit well and even fielded
a couple balls in the outfield!
Ella hit like a champ!


Having some fun in left field!



LHF Camp - Avery

Avery is finally old enough to attend Living History Farms camp!!

This is a very special camp for our family.
The big girls have been attending for many years,
and I went to the same camp when I was a little girl!
I still remember it as being one of my favorite summer camps!

Avery was so excited to finally get to go to camp,
and especially with her best friend, Owen!
The big girls are going next week, because that is when the
camp they wanted is offered.  But, I couldn't make Avery
go without Owen, so I'm making the trip to/from the farms
for 2 weeks.  A small price to pay for that smile!


First day and they are ready to go!


Avery had a great week, despite the unseasonably cold temps!
Personally, I think cooler is better and with only 1 rainy day, we can't complain.

I was really impressed with how much Avery learned.
She is such a smart cookie and loves to learn and experience new things!
Some of her favorites were the newborn chicks, the cows,
the "stinky pigs" and the indian camp.
She learned a ton about our native americans, and was very detailed
in her explanations of their home, hunting and tools.
I loved hearing all about it especially when she told me how 
people moved into their homes so they had to move,
"probably to another city".  :)

A week older and wiser!

Last day and everyone had a great week!
Avery wanted to eat out with just me, "somewhere special".
She chose Red Robin for their cheese sticks.
Ahh, special.

My big girl. Love you!



"There's a stye in my eye"

We really had way too much fun with Avery's stye in her eye!

Here are a couple of the songs we came up with 
to help pass the 4 long days she suffered...

"There's a stye in my eye, dear mommy, dear mommy.
There's a stye in my eye, please help me mommy!"

"There's a stye in my, I don't know why.
It makes me cry, that stye in my eye!"

Love you, Buggie!




Thursday, May 30, 2013

Oh, what expectations do we set?!?

Thanks to our awesome neighbors, we kicked off summer with a bang!
20 kids, some fragile pottery, loads of paint, and minimal supervision.
What could go wrong!?!
We had a blast painting some special presents for the 
dads/grandpas in our lives.  
I'm getting pretty good at sitting back and letting
them paint, without my help.  Believe me, it has
not always been like that and I'm very proud of myself!
Now, what do we do for the rest of the summer????
I think I take a few too many pics of Aves...

Sweet, sweet Ella.  She always has such a hard time with things
like this.  Decisions and details, not easy!
But, once she settled on a idea, she did a great job
and appeared to enjoy herself.

Avery had fun painting her 'crazy fish'!

Ahh, Claire.  Such a funny girl.

Ella, very proud of her final product!

The final products!