More Summer Fun - July

We kicked off July by celebrating Dan and my godson's sixth birthday. Nate and the whole Nickell family are so dear to us, and it was great to see them in Texas for a week!

We got to celebrate Nate's sixth birthday with an Angry Birds themed party.

The fourth of July was fun as usual. We saw some great fireworks with the Nickells in Coppell on the 3rd and then headed up to Lake Kiowa for their festivities on the 4th. Noah claims that the Fourth of July is now his favorite holiday...because that's when he gets the most candy!

Shae and Nate, one of the contenders for her heart :)

Shae and cousin Mya

Dan finally hit the big 3-0 on July 1, and we celebrated by going out to dinner with some friends later in the week.

Other random fun activities...

Jump Zone in Plano:

The Heard Natural Science Museum in McKinney:

Noah was very proud to share his discovery -- the bravest snail we've ever seen. It was quite entertaining!

Noah exploring with Nate, Ben, and Eleanor

Shae had an Ariel moment

This really shows Noah's personality -- he chose to explore the museum rather than digging for dinosaurs with most of the other kids!

Ben doesn't seem to be enjoying this date as much as Shae...

Being silly at Juee's house

The Coppell Aquatic Center:

We spent a day at the aquatic center with my good friend Bonnie and her sweet kids, Sydney and Andrew, also, but I didn't take any pictures :(

Toward the end of July we celebrated cousin Mya's third birthday. She's getting so big!!

I think Josh liked the cupcakes.

And of course we hit up Chuck-e-Cheese a time or two.

If that wasn't enough, somewhere in the middle of all that fun, Noah attended a week of British Soccer Camp followed by Shae's long anticipated Princess Dance Camp!

(Noah is holding up the right corner of the flag.)

Shae and Ms. Amy

Whew. And I've been wondering why I'm so exhausted lately :)

Girls' Trip to Wisconsin

At the end of June Shae and I packed up the car on a Monday and headed north to my best friend Karen's wedding in the small town of Eleva, Wisconsin. My sister Michelle joined us on the way up, which was awesome!

The road trip begins

While we were gone, the boys split their time between Mumzy, Grandmary, and dad time, so they didn't feel like they missed anything.
Shae, Michelle, and I made a big trip of it, first stopping in Columbia, Missouri, to see Grammy Bee and the Leonard family. Unfortunately I took 0 pictures during that stop. After a matinee of "Brave," we drove up to Canton on Tuesday to visit with Grandma U, my cousin Melissa and her two little ones, and my cousin Katrina. It was wonderful to get to see everyone, even if only for a bit!

Visiting Grandma U

We got to see my cousin Melissa's new baby girl Caitlynn. So sweet!

Shae and Braydon had a good time playing together.

We took the Mule for a spin at Grandma Keen's house.

We finally made it up to Wisconsin on our third day of travel. We watched a baseball game, met the super nice family we stayed with for the duration, and prepared to help with wedding prep. On Thursday, we helped Karen with decorations. I thought we were really helpful, but I didn't realize at the time how much work had already gone into preparing the barn where the reception was to be held.

During the course of the day, we got to tour an operating dairy farm (owned by the fiance's, now husband's, family). It was really neat to see the stages of milk production from newborn calves to the milking itself. By the end of trip, Shae had even seen the birthing of a calf. She thought the baby was adorable, she asked me if I would lick our new baby when he's born, and I wondered why I let her go on a second tour of the farm without me.

Newborn calves

Photo op

Karen doing her thing

Our lunch venue. The name reminded Michelle and I of our mom!

Some of Karen's gorgeous self-designed decorations

Shae only occasionally got bored

 Friday some of the wedding party primping took place. I was a bridesmaid and Shae was the flower girl, so we were fully engaged in the girly fun. Shae got to get her first manicure - hopefully not habit-forming!

Rehearsal

Rehearsal dinner

 Saturday Shae and I had our hair done and got ready for the wedding itself.

And...I have no pictures of my own from the big event because my camera ran out of batteries. Some day I hope to add some from other sources.

Here are two taken by others:

On Sunday, Shae, Michelle, and I headed to Minneapolis to send Michelle on her way to Jackson Hole for the annual K family reunion. I was so sad to miss it this year!! After stopping by the airport, Shae and I began a long day of driving. We made it to Kansas City, stopped for the night, then finished the trip on Monday.

It was such a treat to get to spend so much time with my little girl. I got to see new sides of her personality, and I realized just what a social little sweetheart she is. She made friends of all ages everywhere we went, and it was so fun to watch her make her own fun no matter what the situation. I definitely see more girl trips in our future!