Drive-in Movies

Saturday night we took the kids to the drive-in movies. It was so fun. I think I have only been to the drive-in once before, but I love stuff like that and knew it would be something fun for our family.

 So we loaded up the back of the car with sleeping bags, pillows, chairs, popcorn and drinks.

 And we headed out to see the disney movie Brave.

 The kids were so excited. Mostly because they wanted to see the movie. They didn't really know what a drive-in was. Shan wasn't very excited at all. He was just going because I wanted to. He thinks I'm pretty "back woods" when it comes to stuff like this!

 We got there about 45 minutes early and found a spot. Then we got all set up!

 They still have the old speakers that you attach to your car window! I was in heaven, I love stuff like this.

 The kids loved the drive-in. They loved hanging out in the back of the car and watching a movie. I loved that I didn't have to worry about them being noisy.

And by the end of the night I was getting hugs and thank you's from all the kids. I was the hero. Even Shan was saying how much he enjoyed it. And yesterday I even heard him making plans with my brother about the "next time" we go!

Madagascar 3

Jenny and I took all the kids to see Madagascar 3 on Wednesday afternoon. They loved it. I could hear Michael cracking up through most of the movie - though afterwards he denied it.

 You can't really tell but when we take all our kids somewhere it's a ton of kids - eight. It's been pretty fun hanging out with our cousins and Jenny has been brave to bring go so many places with a new baby and a two year old! We're glad, because it's been fun.

Play group

Our ward does a "play group" on Wednesdays. They just go do something different together every week. It's been good for the kids to go meet other kids in our ward. This week we went to the park. They have had fun and enjoy playing with the other kids.

Swimming Lessons

 These pictures are totally our of order, but I don't want to take the time to put them in order. Sorry! The kids got to do swimming lessons just a couple weeks after we got here to Kansas. On the last day Carson and Michaels class got to jump off the diving board. Michael has great form with his dive. I was so impressed! When I try to dive it looks more like a belly flop!

He also can do an awesome front flip!

 Carson is a little more nervous when it comes to diving, but he can do a pretty neat twist in the air!

 This is Kambrees swimming class.

 And her certificate and popsicle after the last class.

 This is Blakes class. He was lucky to be in class with his cousin Sammy. As you can see he froze the whole time.

 This is Michael on the high dive. He was so brave and jumped right in!

 Blake and his sweet teacher.

 Carson and Michaels class. They didn't have enough people sign up so they combined the two classes. It was fun for them. And Carson only attended the last week since he missed the first week because of scout camp. So they were happy to be together!

 This is Kambree and her cute girl class.

 Blake - love that kid.

 Carson practicing his dive.

 Kambree loved being in class with Bailey and her new friend Piper. They had a lot of fun together...maybe more than the teacher would have liked :)

 All the kids together after swimming lessons. They had fun, but since class was early we'll be happy to have some lazy summer mornings back.

Swimming at the Neighborhood Pool

This is a ton of pictures - but it's what we do at some time during almost every day. We've really been enjoying being able to just walk right down to the pool.

 It's always better when Shan comes to the pool with us. He's way funner than mom in the water!

 We had to go get some pool toys and floaties. We are use to using Grandma Millers because we usually just swim at her house!

 The kids have been doing lots of laying on the cement to get warm. They love this.

We finally gave in and let the two littlest wear floaties. And they loved them. Blake is getting super brave at jumping right in the water! And they both swim up and down the length of the pool tons of times while we are there.

Ernie Miller Nature Center

Today we headed to Ernie Miller Nature Center. It's only about five minutes away from our house and it's been on my list since we got here. We were all excited to finally go.

 It has a few cool owls, some frogs, snakes and salamanders to look at in the building. The kids really liked that.

 Then we decided to go on a little hike. Now it is Kansas - so there aren't really any hills, but it was fun for us all.

 

We all liked the cool bridges and it was fun to walk under so many huge trees.

 

 They have a cool amphitheater on one of the hikes. So we stopped and the kids worked together to put on a little play for me. They got a little goofy, but it was fun. I don't think Kambree was doing a play, it was more like a dance recital.

 We had fun and decided we need to come back again sometime. Maybe we'll even let Shan come!

Fathers Day!

Sunday was fathers day. We celebrated Shan with breakfast in bed and some presents. We gave him bocce ball and a new blender(his request). After church we had Kurtis and his family over for lunch and to celebrate with them and then after that we were invited over to have dinner with the Becks and a couple other families they had invited. It was nice to get to know some people in our new ward a little better. They are all so nice.

 I couldn't help compare Shans fathers day to my mothers day this year. Shan was in Kansas and didn't come home that weekend. So I woke up to this......

Carson had made me breakfast in bed...two pieces of cold toast and some barely mixed orange juice. But I loved every minute of it. He was so sweet to do breakfast for me all by himself. That breakfast will always be one of my favorite mother's day memories.

I think I was the lucky one!

Sweet Brothers

The other night when I went to bed this is what I found. Three sweet brothers snuggling in Carson's bed. They really are so lucky to have each other and to be so close in age! I am so glad they love each other so much.

Deanna Rose

Since we have been here we have been busy unpacking and unpacking. We also have been swimming almost every single day. Our new neighborhood has a swimming pool and the kids are loving that. But I never remember to bring my camera with me...next time.

Anyway, we were invited to go with some families in our ward to Deanna Rose. We invited Jenny and she brought along her friend Melissa too! It's a cool farm that is free to come explore. Forgive Kambrees hair because we headed straight from swimming lessons to the farm! And I'm glad we did, because the kids had so much fun and have been begging to take Carson back (he was at scout camp!)

 This is a little school where the kids could pretend they were in school back when they used chalkboards instead of paper. Whenever that was?

 This was Blakes favorite part. He LOVED these little tractors. They just had them sitting out for the kids to drive around a little track on. They were so much fun.

 And this was Kambree and Michael's favorite part. For a dollar you could buy a bottle of milk and feed the baby goats. Oh my! My kids ate this up. I thought they would be scared, but no they LOVED it!

 Blake even kept picking up the goats to put on his lap. It made me wonder if we shouldn't have bought a farm instead of a house?

After we checked out the farm we stopped at the park next door and had a picnic lunch. It had a little stream and trees next to it and I couldn't keep my kids out. 

They had such a fun day and I am sure we will be back before the summer is over.