July

Fourth of July! We started the morning with pancakes. I was going to make them red, white and blue, but they just ended up being white and blue. They were good.

Fourth of July parade! One of our favorites. It's easy to park and get a seat, plus it's short and sweet, with enough trucks for the boys to get excited. We got some Frosty Parrot (frozen yogurt) and had a good time.

In their USA gear.

We spent the evening of the 4th at our dear friends, the Smiths' house. We had a BBQ, played kick ball, and then walked to a nearby field to see the town's fireworks. The kids also had fun doing sparklers. Landon Smith is one of Lincoln's best/favorite buddies. Too bad they are moving soon! My heart breaks for Lincoln.

Lincoln "wrote" a book and titled it "It's Fun to Have a Birthday."

We enjoyed July 5th by going swimming at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center.

Stuff from the garden! YUM!

We went to see Monsters University (7/6/13):

This is one way to eat corn:

 

Free slurpee day! 7/11. Bennett sure enjoyed it.

It has been such a cool, mild summer so far. We finally set up a little blow-up pool and the boys had a blast.

Lincoln like to set up everything piece that he has of a particular collection. If he's playing with Hot Wheels, he like to set them all out. Today was army men. 7/11/13.

Trying to crawl! 7/12/13

We haven't gotten the high chair out because we are moving soon, so Bennett just eats in his Bumbo. He likes to search for any food that fell/was thrown off of the tray.

Home canned green beans! So yummy!!

Playing in the tree house during yet another garden trip.

Making applesauce!

The messiest eater alive.

Picnic at the duck pond on campus. We saw a little squirrel run out and pick up an apple that someone left, and then run off with it. It was so funny! While Lincoln was up playing at one point, Bennett crawled over and stole his sandwich.

7/20/13: Went to the Cascades! It's such a beautiful, cool (weather), fun place to have a picnic and play.

 

"Look at what I made, Mom!"

 

One of our better IKEA purchases from a few years ago:

Peppers!

The Activity Days girls in our ward put on a Pioneer Day celebration. It was pretty fun. There were lots of games, panning for gold, and we got to make butter and eat it on some yummy bread.

Ward campout. July 26-27. Ugh. This was quite the experience. We had fun in the evening letting the kids play and eating dinner and enjoying time with our ward. Once we went to bed, the "fun" began. Bennett didn't want to sleep, some other kid was crying for like an hour, and then the tent that we borrowed began to leak because it was raining so hard. We ended up having to pack up and leave at like 4 a.m. because we were getting soaked! I don't think I want to go camping again for a while. It was our first time camping as a family, though, so I'm glad we did it.

July 28. Lincoln came out all ready for church, and decided that he need to wear a beanie and gloves.

In our Ward, we take turns hosting a potluck lunch each month. We went to the Olers on the 30th and they had set up a slip 'n' slide. Lincoln had a blast.

 

 I watched Landon and Spencer Smith while their parents closed on the sale of their house. They are moving to Utah and we will miss them.

Best brothers.