lawn mower rides. swimming with fishy's. boat rides. g'pa and g'ma block. baby frog.

saturday, july 17, 2010. this morning joshua left to go get g'pa and g'ma block at the airport in peoria.

uncle ralphy gave the boys 2 rides each on the lawn mower.

he let levi drive all by himself!

turning.

going up and down the hills. they would go super fast and ralph would have to hold them around the waist because it was actually quite steep.

dragonfly in the pond.

side view.

yay! g'ma's here!!!

purple cone flower. my new fav.

the boys taking the grandparents for a tour of the pond.

i like levi's REFLECTION in the water. this is one of two fishys that swam around the dock this afternoon. he is just above the blue not in the rope in this picture.

the fish swam all around joshua and abraham too! my worst nightmare, but right after these pics i was in the water again. knowing they are there is way less scary than an unexpected brush against my leg.

the fish is super close, but hard to see.

coming to the surface looking for some food.

levi was excited because he tied a not.

getting ready to jump.

big slashin'.

levi's new favorite thing to do. pulling a wagon around after filling it with as much stuff as he can.

papa found more clams.

the fish are still swimming even with all the activity, so...

aunt mic got frozen corn for the boys to feed them.

it's hard to see, but there are two here. at one point there were three!!!

time for a boat ride. watching joshua put gas in the boat.

eating guacamole from one of the clam shells joshua found. (mic washed it in the dishwasher 1st;)

joey with the amazing clouds.

so puffy!

i know i'm obsessed, but these are like the clouds when we were at lake shelbyville. always changing super fast and, well, ginormous!!!

brothers.

mason wanted me to get a pic of him on the swing!

pink clouds. purple martins.

joshua, aunt mic, joey, and mason having a swimming race from the middle.

joey went to check the crawdad trap. no crawdads, but he did find the tiniest frog i've ever seen!

unfortunately, this guy didn't last long:( abraham was a little too excited and too rough.

night time boat ride.

a little later benji, mandy, and ava came by.

levi had to show everyone how he could jump, so abe had to too.

this doesn't happen very often any more. abraham fell asleep in my arms!

the 4th of july

sunday, july 4, 2010. a fun filled day at the lake. we went to church in the morning, hung out in the water, had a pot luck meal, then sat on the shore and watched fireworks go off on the island.

the kiddos got donuts at church and ate them as we walked home.

papa making watermelon mojitos!

the boys on the slip in slide at laken's house 2 doors down.

soakers.

a water firework.

abraham using the rig that ralph made up.

gettin' water to cool me off.

he'd pour it all over my legs.

me with my watermelon mojito. yum.

levi up on the boat house helping catch the rope for joey.

joey on the rope swing.

levi using the hook to catch the rope for andy.

andy's turn.

more rope catching. i was so proud of him!

he was really good at it, of course.

g'ma erm with her mojito. go g'ma go!

levi catching the boat as it pulled in. he saw them coming and ran to the dock.

andy showing levi how to tie her off.

abe putting crazy bracelets on g'ma's wrist.

g'ma, abe, levi, and mason.

10x zoom on a purple martin.

the boat parade started at 5:00 pm.

red, white, and blue.

the couple was celebrating their 60th anniversary.

abraham watching the bath tub boat. complete with a bubble machine blowing bubbles.

a boat turned into grease lightening.

levi watched the parade from the boat.

abraham monkeying around in the play house.

levi rolling tom an inter tube.

the mixologist.

the set up.

desserts. this was early on. lots more were put out later. including 3 g'ma erm pies!

mason starting off the dinner line.

ralphy checking on his pulled pork and chicken.

garnish. which the kids quickly devoured.

the setting.

the guests.

abe went for dessert 1st.

garnish.

levi holding on to joey in the water and abraham on the step.

joey with the kiddos in the water.

splashing.

the boat coming in.

levi stayed in the water with joey a good long while. exciting to see him getting used to the water.

g. g'ma erm dunking abraham in the water. abraham just kept asking her to do it "more."

g. g'ma helping abe down the steps.

randy (uncle butchy) and joshua.

someone found levi a shell in the water.

abraham being retrieved from the play/boat house.

levi took this! after not going in the water for our 1st 3 trips, i finally got up the nerve to go in the fish filled lake. i was expecting the ground to be slimy and couldn't stand the idea of a fish brushing against me. but, the ground was pebbly/sandy and the water had so much activity i had no encounter with any fish:) the water was pretty warm and felt so good. today was the hottest since we've been here.

levi took this...

and this.

abe saying "tickle, tickle."

levi got himself a little dessert.

more sugar.

a jello/whip cream concoction. levi couldn't stop talking about it.

abraham and i walking around before the fireworks.

levi laying down watching the fireworks.

our group.

and another of our group.

abraham walking. jack crawling.

abraham snacking during the show.

levi sittin.

enjoyin.

levi starting to freak out about having to go potty. he only had to go pee, but wanted to go back to the house so he could wash his hands. he goes potty outside all the time at home and never makes a stink about hand washing. but tonight of all nights he desided to fixate on it! papa took him behind a tree, but levi pitched a fit for sooooo long that papa missed the finally:((( papa was not happy. papa took levi to bed as soon as we walked back to the house.

abey and me.

the finally!

such a good show. as always.

abraham and mason. right before night night.