4th of July

The 4th of July was no Prescott Frontier Days but we managed to have a lot of fun. We went to the fireworks on the 3rd at a golf course close by and enjoyed a picnic with friends and the boys loved running around and around and around. Saturday we went to a parade and I must say I was a little disappointed that there was only ONE horse and it was a miniature. (The 4th of July parade I grew up with included hours and hours of horses). There were however some fun old Ford's! I guess we traded Prescott's horses for Michigan's cars! We went to a BBQ and went swimming and ended the night with our own fireworks. I think this is the first time that I have lived somewhere where fireworks are actually legal. Carter and Gage loved their sparklers and got a kick out of watching the "big kids" let off their fireworks.

Look, I can sit up all by myself!!! Cam demonstrated this ability for the first time at the fireworks.

We've moved again! Already?!?

Good-bye Cheeseheads!!!

The last year went by waaay too fast. Believe it or not another moving day has come and gone. I am soooo excited to not have to move for 4 more years. We are finally in our "new" house. (new to us but this is not AZ new folks... this is Midwest 58 years old new! You gotta love that 1950's "charm." I do love our house and it will be so fun when we make it ours. It is a little red brick ranch with soon to be black shutters... pictures to come one of these days! I love our neighborhood and as long as we don't venture too far south living in Michigan is great!! It will be nice when we actually get to enjoy living here and we can spend our days outside rather than unpacking boxes. I NEVER thought I'd say this but we are really going to miss Wisconsin, especially all of the great people we met there!!

Check out these muscles!!

I'm not sure how, but somehow we managed to get this armoire into the upstairs of our duplex but had an impossible time getting it out. We got it down the stairs but tried every way possible to get it out. After busting the molding off of the top of it we decided to take it back up the stairs. I was content leaving it behind but Jared was determined (probably because he didn't want to have to buy something different.) So we took it outside on our back patio (from the 2nd story mind you) and lifted it over the back patio where Jared was standing on the top of a ladder waiting to catch it... this thing is not light folks. So, our 3rd man left me hanging onto the edge of this armoire (quite literally hanging on it in an attempt to use all of my weight to keep it from squashing Jared like a bug) so that he could go help Jared lower it down. Surprisingly it made it out in almost one piece... the only damage being done when we were trying to wedge it through the front door. I have been told that I cannot buy a piano until we settle for good!


Jared thought he was pretty tough stuff as he passed this Lamborghini on the freeway in his 26 foot truck pulling our car.... until he realized it was getting off on this exit!

Kindergarten

Kindergarten has come and gone, wowza's it went by fast! Here's to a summer of sleeping in... {yah right!} Some pictures that I took Carter's last week of school.

Carter's teacher, Mrs Schmid

Carter with his best friend, Simon.

He's going to miss all of his buddy's from Roosevelt but reminded me that he would make new friends at his new school. He's such an adaptable kid, it's a good thing because he's only 6 and has moved 5 times!

Soccer

Carter had so much fun playing soccer this Spring. It was too bad that half of the games were on Sunday so he only got to play half the season. He was a great sport about it! He was really into it and had a hard time not going after the ball. He is such a competitive little boy... I wonder where he gets that from?? They don't keep score for his age group and I just had to laugh when we would walk away from a game and Carter would be talking to a teammate and say, "We won 16 to 7." And almost simultaneously I would hear someone from the other team say, "We beat those guys 15 to 4." It was great, they were all winners in their own book. Carter did score more than his fair share of goals this season.... and all but one of them were for his team!! It was hilarious. In his defense they usually switch sides at half but this game in particular the ref had them switch sides at the end of each quarter. Well it happened right after the 3rd quarter and they had just switched it up again. Everyone was yelling at him to go the other way but he had a straight shot right to the goal and was going for it with determination. I so wish I had his reaction on video, it was hilarious! Right after he kicked the ball in the goal his arms went up with excitement and then it dawned on him that it was the wrong goal. He had the funniest look on his face and brought his hands down on top of his head. It was classic! (at least they don't keep score, and they didn't lose because of it!)

It was also during one of those soccer games that I became aware of how ungraceful I am as a mother. I was juggling chairs, a blanket, a screaming baby and a cranky toddler, all the while trying to watch Carter play with the hopes of snapping a few pictures since Jared was only going to be able to make it to his last game. The lady sitting next to me turns to me and says, "Just watching you makes me tired!"

Gage was a good little cheerleader (even though he was so sad that he wasn't out there playing too). The first game of the season was FREEZING cold. We weren't prepared for that. Many of the parents showed up in their parkas with scarves and gloves. Well we had jackets on but no winter coats, after all it was MAY!! Well Gage was so cold that he hid under a blanket the whole game but from under those covers you could still hear him shouting, "Go Carter, Go Carter, Go Carter Go!!"

Hi, my name is Chubby! My Momma's chubby, my Daddy's chubby, even my dog is chubby...

I cannot even begin to tell you how many times a day Gage squeezes his cheeks. It is REDICULOUS! However, if you saw these chubberific cheeks I bet you would be tempted too!

Father's & Sons

Dirt, water, sleeping outside, more dirt, baseball, lots and lots of marshmallows and lots more dirt. They came home filthy dirty but it sounded like they had a great time! I even managed to get out and enjoy a girls night. I can't wait until next year when Jared can take all 3 of them!!
I love that you can still see the last 'smore in Carter's mouth and he already has another one in hand.

Chicago

We went to Chicago for a day trip what seems like forever ago but somehow in all of my crazy busy moving mess I didn't ever get pictures up. Jared had a Friday off so we took the boys to the Museum of Science and Industry. They had a blast! The previous time we had been to Chicago it had taken us 2 hours to drive 4 miles so this time we decided to park and ride the train into downtown. While I don't think it saved us much time the boys had fun and it was definitely an adventure. Does it seem crazy to anyone else that you can't buy a day pass at the train station but that you have to go to the drugstore?


The boys while riding on the train into downtown. It was a lot more fun on the way there when they were fresh and ready for a big day vs on the way back to the car at the end of a very long day full of lots and lots of walking!

Enjoying a picnic on the lawn before heading into the museum. (Why is it that my favorite pairs of sunglasses are always the ones that get lost of broken but somehow I can always find THIS pair!!)

Carter has decided that he no longer wants to be a paleontologist or an entomologist... he now wants to be an astronaut!!

He's a kid at heart!

Hold on tight buddy!

Gage really REALLY wanted to lift this 30# weight.

He tried sooo hard!!

What little boy doesn't love a great big John Deere??

Cam's first ride on the city bus.

I think we wore him out... Gagers sleeping on the bus after a long day at the museum.

After fun and games at the museum we enjoyed some delicious "Chicago-Pizza" as Carter calls it and had some scrum-dilly-umpcious gourmet popcorn.


What do you do when you have 3 tired little boys at the end of a long day in Chicago??


While downtown we saw a sign advertising Friday Nights for free at the Art Institute of Chicago and while it was getting late and we should have headed home we went to the Art Institute instead.


I know, how irresponsible of us! It was fascinating and so fun to see so many familiar famous pieces. I was reminded of a game called Masterpiece my sisters and I used to play when we were little. Many of the "masterpieces" from that game were on display.

This piece, Sunday Afternoon by Seurat was amazing! I have seen it in books before but I never knew that the whole thing is done with dots... lots of tiny, different colored dots!

Carter really enjoyed the art... his taste was a little different than mine but he is a 6 year old little boy. This was his favorite piece--which he asked me to take a picture of:


He did take something home from the visit though--the next week in art class when they were talking about Georgia O'Keefe he was excited to boast that he had seen her painting of the clouds when he was in Chicago! (I'm just surprised he remembered! I shouldn't be... this kid never forgets anything!)

It can't be ALL serious business! You've gotta have a little fun while at the art museum.