a night in the country

We went to hang out with our friends Matt and Melanie this weekend.  Those are some good people!!  They live in {what we call} the country.  The kids ran around for hours and loved every second of it.  I was kind of cracking up all evening because everythime I turned around, the men had kids surrounding them!  I'm sure that back in the day, when we were in college, the guys didn't see themselves pushing swings on a Friday night.

Because, back in the day, they were too cool for that! ;)

But, Friday night, they were just "dads", sitting around manning the grill {with little ones pulling on their limbs}.

They were pushing strollers filled with little tots...

...and making sure the little ones stayed alive while the women were inside slaving away.

The kids were in heaven.

And, by "slaving away", I mean eating making cookie dough and chatting it up!! :)

After dinner, we headed out for a walk.  The boys took off on their bikes and we didn't see Corbin again until we got back to the house!  He is his father's son. ;)  

Little Aiden loved going on a ride.  I almost forgot he was around!

Love this girl!! :)  She is such a great hostess!

The girls stopped along the way to pick up pine cones and peaches {and Maggie wanted to pick up a dead bird. Oy.}

When we got back, more fun was had with the Slip n Slide and the sprinkler. :)

As night was upon us, it was time to put a movie on for the kids...

...and settle in for a serious game of Euchre.  Check out these game faces.

Okay, so my game face was a little 'off'. ;) 

I just want to say ~~once again~~ how much I love these people!  It's great to see them any chance we get!

 

whatchamacallit and celebrating papa

Since this is Eric's last week of classes for the quarter, he has been getting home early.  Yay!  Usually, he doesn't get home until a few minutes after 11pm.  This week, it has been more like 7 or 8.  That makes me and two little kids I know pretty happy!  On Wednesday, we headed to Mom & Pop's for ice cream.  I finally decided on the Whatchamacallit.  Yes, your favorite shake on the bottom with your choice of sundae on top.  Get out!  It was fabulous. 

And, this little guy who usually says, "I'll have a chocolate milkshake, please", surprised us and got a hot fudge sundae.

This one CANNOT be my daughter.

She does not like ice cream or cake.  She just wanted to suck on some ice water.  WEIRD.

We also brought Megan with us at Maggie's request.  Precious!

And, stopped to get Eric's mom to tag along.

Yes, I was crazy with the camera. ;)

I really do love my little tax deductions. :-)

While we were out, we stopped over to visit with Eric's grandma.  She is such a sweetheart and loves seeing all the kids.

Switching gears, we celebrated my dad's 61st birthday last night!  Here's the thing...we were there to celebrate him, but, in true papa fashion, his only goal was to make sure all the kids had fun. :)  We've started referring to their house as the amusement park.  Insert picture of the barrel ride:

This little thing is the most spoiled of them all.  She has five other little people always doting over her.

Since we leave for the beach soon, we kept with a beach theme for the cake.  Yes, that is not one, but TWO chocolate chip cakes with icing in between.  (Thanks, Jami for introducing these to me!)

I know my dad reads my blog, so I don't want to embarrass him too much, but I love that these kids all make him tear up at the drop of a dime! 

They are all about their papa!

Happy birthday, Dad!!  We love you.  

a helmet, some friends, and a sneak peek at vacay

When I was in BG last week, I went to take a picture and it said MEMORY STICK FULL.  **Gasp!**  So, I spent the last two days cleaning off my camera and memory stick.  Found some cute pics I forgot to blog about!

Eric's dad got a new motorcycle.  It is a trike.  It is huge!  He brought it over and Eric took the kids on a ride.  Maggie L.O.V.E.D. it!  {I promise...she wore a helmet when she rode!!}  

 And, papa had a surprise for Levi...a motorcycle helmet!  He gave Levi one of his old helmets and this kid was in HEAVEN!

 In fact, he wore it all.the.time.  To a birthday party.  To the store.  To my parents to swim.  And, yes, even when he rode his sister's bike.  Oy.

 And, here is a pic of the kids with Eric on Father's Day. :)  Levi looks a little stiff, but still a cute pic! 

 Melanie, Jami and all the kids came over to play on Monday.  We had a great time just hanging, chatting and eating!  Levi & Corbin...

 Maggie, Adaline, Cooper and Cameron

 Melanie and Jami {sadly, this was the only pic I got of the adults! Ha!}

 And, little baby Aiden who napped in Maggie's bed!

 So, I am on the official countdown to vacation!  In just a couple of weeks, we will be chillaxin here for a week!

 Cannot wait!

2 girls + 4 kids = a whole lotta nuthin

What do you get when you have two girls...

 ...plus four kids?

 You get a day full of a whole lotta nuthin! 

 The kids and I packed up Wednesday morning and headed to Bowling Green for the day!!

 Levi has been begging and pleading asking to go swimming with Pierce.

 And, if it means spending the day with my bestie, I will sacrifice! ;)

 Those kids swam their little hearts out!  Jumping, throwing the football, racing, they wore me out just watching them.  Priceless!  Before we knew it, several hours had gone by and they were all staaaarving.  So, we headed back to make some lunch.  FYI, when Gretchen has company, she rolls out the red carpet.  PB&J and pretzels. ;)   

 While she made lunch (all 3.4 minutes!) the kids played.  Levi LOVES cars and airplanes and was in heaven with Pierce's toys.

 And, Maggie, well, she loves anything girlie...so she was right at home in Hope's room!  They L.O.V.E.D. playing together!  Maggie hasn't been to BG in quite a while.  It was fun to see her grown up a little and playing instead of parked in a baby swing sucking on her paci. Ha! 

After lunch, Mags passed out.  She is such a good sleeper and I love it!

 While she was sleeping, I did what I do best and started snooping.  I'll tell you something about my BFF.  She hates change.  We know that.  But, really, G, it is okay to change out your picture frames!

 This bugs me to no end!  She has lived in BG for almost TWO years (gasp!) and still has not put pictures in certain frames!  I mean, she has them hanging on her walls and they portray OTHER families having fun!

 Yes, even the center of her living room......

 ...one frame has a couple making out and it is sideways.  Sigh...

 I love her anyways! ;)  While Mags slept, we took the kids out to play.  They rode their bikes and giggled and acted like crazy little hoodlums.

 And, this little precious face kept asking for a snack!  She cracks me up!

So, out came the popsicles!  Makes for some happy kids!

 There was one more surprise on the red carpet....break n bake cookies!  YES, please!

 Okay, seriously, this little thang was STILL sleeping.  I think at this point, it was going on 3.5 hours!  I told the kids to start rousing her and they were more than obliged to do so! ;)

 As if you aren't bored enough, there was more playing.  Ninjas...

 ...and coloring.

 And, HOPE GAVE MAGGIE A RING.  This is big!  Maggie wore it on her thumb the entire night.  Adorable. 

 Before too long, this pretty gal stopped by for a visit.  Love chatting with her!  Thanks for swinging by, Brittany!!! :))

 Lukey helping Maggie eat...presh!  Those two are gonna make pretty babies!

 Levi and Layton playing ball...right beside the windows! Ha!

 And, a good sign of a little sidewalk picnic...

I was uber sad when it was time to head home.  It felt too good just to sit there and visit.  :(  But, we had a fantastic day and I can't wait until the next one!  Love you guys!!