outdoor theatre....yes please!

some of our good friends (who live around the corner from us....love the ease of frienship here!), spontaneously put together an outdoor theatre to create a wonderful memory for out little kiddos. it was a warm summer evening, about 10 kids, popcorn, drinks, chairs, pillows, and blankets spread out over their backyard....and the lovely movie,  "the secret world of arrietty"! so so fun;)

summer essentials!

so at our house, we create what we call a "summer to do" list. this list consists of things that just make summer, well, summer:) for example, going mini golfing, getting ice cream at the union terrace, camping....ect. the list is quite long and we have managed to get through most of it...and sometimes we can cross multiple things off on one day....now, that's a GOOD day!!! 

on one friday morning, while our friend oliver was visiting (he was with us for an entire week....he lives in seattle!!), we all woke up, had breakfast, tie dyed about 7 shirts, made cookies, made lemonade, and set up the annual lemonade stand by 10am:) whew! (that took 3 things off our summer list).

the kids had so much fun. they all had a specific duty (oliver handed out cookies, quinny handed out lemonade, and ryder handled the money). i loved watching all three of them....oh, they would giggle, nudge, whisper...and giggle more!

the birthday bash!

we invited a few friends over to celebrate ryder's birthday. ryder wanted a backyard water party, with a bonfire and a camp out....and that sounded like fun to us, so that's what we did!

 cruising down the slip and slide.....right into a mud hole!! it was awesome!!!

 quinny enjoying her s'more!!

 jesse had his technique down with perfectly roasting or should i say caramelizing marshmallows! we have never used our homemade marshmallows for s'mores before (i usually just make them in the colder months for hot cocoa) BUT, i will never by marshmallows for s'mores again....this was amazing!!!

the three amigos! ryder and his buddies playing one more round of croquet before they hopped into their tent....and then giggled and chatted most of the night....but, it's one night, so it was totally worth it;)

marshmallows

hard at work making the marshmallows for the s'mores! it's so easy and so fun!!

funfetti cake

 ryder requested a funfetti cake this year, so i was determined to make it myself:) we ended up with a colorful double layered funfetti cake with super delicate vanilla frosting (i made the 7 minute frosting...and man, i think i could eat that on anything!!)

quinn thinks this cake was pretty delicious too!!

ryder turns 8!

i feel like we've been celebrating this little boy's eighth birthday for about a week now, but it's been so fun!! jesse and i had the opportunity to take him out on a special date on the day before his birthday. we went to one of our favorite italian restaurants in town and had a delicious three course lunch....it was awesome!! i just can't believe how grown up ryder is becoming...i mean, he's still is a kid, so the occasional melt down is still going to happen, but the conversations....oh, they are getting to be something to treasure!! i have enjoyed every year....every single year!!

grandmama's and grandpapa's

the kids get so excited when we finally schedule our trip to visit grandmama and grandpapa. they have a list of favorite things to do, and we try and do as many as we can:)

 ryder LOVES grandpapa's fish fry! he talks about it every time we eat fish, go out for fish fry, or talk about fishing....it's the best way to eat fish in his opinion. so here they are, eating it the way ryder will always remember: outside, fresh from the lake (both the kids and the fish), straight out of the frying basket...and of coarse, having the first taste! i can't decide who i enjoy watching more, the kids or my dad watching my kids:)

 troy and i brought the kiddos to hayward (yes, this is a MUST, when we go up north). we went mini-golfing, went to the candy store (salt water taffy....yes please!), and then to west's ice cream (the best ice cream ever)! yeah, that was pretty much a super awesome day:) thanks troy...you made an awesome wing man....

 we went to the beach club to swim around in the pool. these are the goggles we found for cohen.....i think he made them work pretty well:)

grandmama always surprises the kids with something new at the house....cause she just can't help herself! well they all LOVE it, and look forward to it every time we go:) this time she supplied the house with water toys....like the good ole, slip and slide!!! they would run this track every evening....so so fun!!