Hot Day...

More sprinkler fun today!!!  It is really the only way to be outside on a hot day like today, so we tried out several different sprinklers.  This is one we hadn't tried yet so it was especially exciting!  I was trying to get their picture so Conner stood by himself waiting for Ben to join him... which he did shortly...

What To Do...

Today has been one of those days where any activity that the boys choose to do doesn't last too long... we spent some time being rock stars...

Then we moved outside where we spent time riding bikes, taking walks around the block, watching all the activity at the house being built across the street, just plain running around, and sitting in our lawn chairs drinking some lemonade...

We finally settled on taking our chairs to the backyard and playing in the sandbox all before lunch...

Sturgis Falls!

We spent our Saturday night in Cedar Falls for the annual Sturgis Falls celebration.  The weather was great and the boys had lots of fun hanging out at the park listening to music! 

Flowers?

We decided to try our hand at making flowers out of pipe cleaners today...  it was a decent activity for a while, but it turns out that none of us are particularly gifted at it...!

Sweet Summer...

After a slightly irritating morning of running errands with two little boys that would rather have been doing anything else, some time outside was absolutely necessary.  With it being so hot, we opted to get one of the fun sprinklers out.  I got everything set up and sat down in my beach chair to soak up some sun.  The boys were so excited and loved running through the sprinkler.  Ben walked over to me about ten minutes after we started, grabbed my cheeks with his wet hands, and said, "Mom, just relax now.  We got this!"  I was struck by how sweet summer can be...  just opening the door, turning on the hose, and sitting back to enjoy the show...

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!  Thanks for being such a great dad! 

The End of Vacation...

Our last full day was Thursday, so we definitely wanted to squeeze in as much as we could!  Luckily, the weather cooperated and we were able to spend the day outside boating, swimming, bike riding, and everything else we could think of!

On Friday morning, we packed everything up, took our annual family photos, and began the long drive back home!

Thank you Mama and Papa for another fantastic vacation this year!  We all had a great time and I love that the boys had so much fun!  They keep talking about catching fish, riding power wheels, and swimming in the lake! 

Tuesday and Wednesday...

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we spent some more time fishing.  On Tuesday morning we also got to go race power wheels and go karts!  The boys, of course, loved it! 

Ben had the hot pole tonight.  I believe he caught a Northern, a bluegill, a crappie (or a perch.. can't remember), and a big old carp!

Conner didn't catch any fish this time, and he was a little upset about that!  When we got back to the cabin after fishing, he was real quiet, so I asked him what was wrong.  He responded, "Mom, I didn't catch the big one!"  I reminded him that he had caught fish on other days and that got him smiling again!

On Wednesday night, the kids got to help Papa get all the fish ready to cook!

Monday's "A Maze 'N Farmyard!"

On Monday morning, the wind had not let up, so enjoying the lake activities wasn't an option!  We decided to spend the day at the "A Maze 'N Farmyard!"  There were lots of activities for the kids and they all had a great time!

In the barn there were lots of animals for the kids to see and pet. Conner was a little nervous with all the baby goats running around, but he definitely liked them!  Ben was amazed to see a wallaby and he immediately asked if it was a kangaroo! 

Any kind of train ride is exciting for the boys! (Though it was a bit lame for the adults... I'm just sayin'...)

There was this huge slide there where you could slide down on potato sacks... very cool!  The kids and adults loved it!

I was very excited that the boys got to ride some ponies!  They had never done that before so it was pretty cool to watch them! 

Oh yes.. the bird house... where you walked in and there were tons of birds flying around you.  If you stuck your finger out in the air or had some food for them you might be lucky enough to have one land on your finger!  Nick was the only one to have a bird land on him.  The boys wouldn't stand still enough and there was no way that I was going to purposely allow a bird to land on me...  I snapped this picture and got out of there...

We ended our barnyard experience with some time in the bouncy barn!

Our day did not end with the farmyard... we thought maybe it would be fun to see how the kids could ride a big bike with no training wheels!  Nick helped Conner and Papa helped Ben!  It was great to see them trying so hard, but they are going to need those training wheels for a while!  Nick and Papa got a little work out running and trying to keep the bikes from toppling over!