Party Prep...

We have been keeping very busy this past week and an important part has been preparing for the boys' birthday party!  They can't wait!  They found some masks that Nick and I had picked up and insisted on wearing them while Mom did some cleaning today!  Conner loves everything Spiderman right now.  I'm not really sure why, but he is a little obsessed.  Ben just likes all the superheroes, but when we asked him who his favorite was, he said Batman, so we have a party theme!  They were pretty funny running around here with their little masks on!

 

Happy 4th of July!

On Thursday, for the 4th of July, Gramps had planned on driving his car in the 4th of July parade in Bettendorf, so Ben and Conner got to ride along!  They were pretty excited!  They got a little hot, but I think they had a great time!  Gramps said that Ben kept saying how much everyone liked him since they kept waving at him in the parade!  Here's Ben and Conner pre-parade...

 

 

The hardest part was waiting....  Gramps went to get in line and the boys had to wait a little while before Uncle Josh walked them over to where the car was.  Ben was pouting a little... Conner was happy as could be!

 

There they are!

After the parade, we spent a little time at the street fest and then headed back to Nana and Gramps' house for a nap.  After cooling off and a yummy dinner, we headed back out to get a spot to watch the fireworks!  The boys had an amazing time!  They've never been to an actual firework show on the 4th of July so I was excited to see how they would react.  I was a little worried about all the time I knew we would spend waiting, but everyone helped entertain them and they busied themselves with catching fireflies and playing a little football.  Finally, the show started... they both sat very close to me!  Ben wasn't a huge fan of all the loud noises, but he loved watching the fireworks and his face just lit up in awe as each one exploded above him... even though he was covering his ears most of the time!  Conner was hilarious to listen to!  Once the show started, everyone got real quiet, but not ConMan.  He was laughing, squealing, and shouting, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh" for most of the time! 

 

On Friday morning, the temperature was already creeping up pretty high, so the boys opted for some squirt gun fun.  They didn't care that they can barely hold those huge squirt guns by themselves!

We had a super fun couple of days!  Thanks to Nana and Gramps for everything!!!

Museum!

I decided to take the boys to Bettendorf this week so we could spend some time with Nana and Gramps and enjoy the fourth!  We went on Wednesday and the boys requested to go to the Children's Museum so that's what we did.  It is a very cool place and the boys had a blast!

 

Conner driving the tractor...

 

Ben, the postman...

Sturgis Falls!

On Saturday afternoon, we headed to Cedar Falls to celebrate Sturgis Falls, spend time with our family, and to say good-bye to our grandma's house.  I wish we would have had more time, but Saturday and Sunday went by quick and we had a lot to pack in!  First, we went to our grandma's house to help move some things out of it and get it ready to sell.  We are very thankful that we still have our grandma and she has her own apartment where we can still go and see her!  It was sad saying good-bye to the house, but it was also fun to remember and talk about all the good memories we have there!  It was even better that we could all do it together!  The boys got to spend some time with their cousins, so they were pretty happy about that!  Ben and Conner enjoyed making little Piper laugh and they love being around Marley who has no trouble keeping up with them!!!

 

We stayed at a hotel Saturday night so the kids got to swim and the adults got to hang out and reminisce a little... it was pretty nice!

On Sunday, we headed downtown to enjoy some music and food!  Conner and Marley made up their own little hugging game... it was pretty cute!

We went back to Grandma's house for a final good-bye.  I love this picture of Ben and Conner standing on the steps of the house where my grandparents raised their children!  Then we headed home to get ready for another busy summer week!

 

Saturday Baseball Game...

Saturday was a busy day for us!  We started with the boys' baseball game!  They get better each week and it is always entertaining to watch them!

 

Water Babies...

Ben and Conner had a fun morning playing outside in the sprinkler and the pool!  They do so love playing in the water!

 

Skates...

Ben and Conner took their skates outside today!  They've been using them in the basement, but Dad thought they should try them outside.  (Note: Dad's idea, not mine...) Anyway, the boys thought it was fun, but definitely a lot of work!  They had some close calls and finally Ben announced that was enough for today!