Summer Fun

We have been having fun at Grandpa's house.
My girls are not afraid to hold bugs (spiders, no, but bugs, they love).

My boy would go down the slide and we all would cheer.

All cozied up.

Oh, and house hunting stinks. The end.

Homeless

These last two weeks have been a whirlwind. We packed up everything and moved it on out. We signed papers yesterday and we are officially without a home. Crazy business. The kids were really good sports about the whole thing, having all their toys (and everything else) packed away, coming along on endless trips to take stuff to our various storage places, and generally staying out of mom's way as she blazed through the house trying to get everything done.
Oh, we will miss our home. We've been trying to sell for almost a year now, so you'd think I'd be more prepared to say goodbye, but no. I was a hormone-crazed mess and had a really hard time letting go. If we had a new home, it would be more exciting, but we moved into Nick's parent's basement, which is nice and all, but it isn't 'home'. Ya know? Anyway. I will miss these:

And our fruit trees, and our garden...

By the way, we picked a bucket full of cherries before leaving and made the most delicious cherry jam. Oh, and blackberries and zucchini too, so we got to enjoy something from our garden before abandoning it.

We will very much miss our backyard.

Despite all this missing business, we are excited for a new adventure before us and have faith that we are on the right path for our family. Not sure where the path will take us, but it will be good, I know it.

And in the middle of all this, the girls have been doing this:

It's been a nice break for all of us, and they have been champions. I'm proud of my little fish. Ellie has been especially brave as her class may have been a little advanced for her, but she's been improving every day. I'll be sad when it's over.

And many many thanks go to those who have helped us out. Thanks to my mom for helping me pack up the kitchen. Thanks to my brother's family who came SEVERAL times to help us clean and move things around. Thanks to friends who came over and moved everything out. Thanks to those who are storing our stuff for us. Thanks to mom and dad - in law who are graciously providing a place for us. I'm sure I missed some of you...and I apologize. We couldn't have done it without your help.

Zoo and More

Last week we went to the Zoo with friends. As always, it was a good time.
They had these fun dinosaurs throughout the park, and although I saw many kids screaming in terror (the dinosaurs move and make noises), my kids were fascinated by them.

The train. Always a highlight.

See. We do fun things sometimes. :)

We had a wonderful weekend celebrating the fourth of July. We started out with a campout in the backyard. I actually slept. A miracle.

Yesterday we went to the parade, thanks to my brother who saved us a spot.

Maren waved to all of the 'princesses'.

The kids really enjoyed themselves, all except for Everett, who would've rather of been in his bed. We finished the day off with a barbecue with family and fireworks with friends.

And now I must go pack. Yep, I said pack. Our house is (finally!) under contract, and we have two weeks to be out of the house. Where are we going? Don't know. Life is an adventure, right? So we are living it to the fullest!