Fearless

Friends of ours have this amazing man-made pond/pool in their backyard. It has a liner and a pump, but pretty much everything else is natural. The sides mesh right up with the grass and it has a natural organic compound that keeps the algae out and pond dye that makes the water a dark blue green color. In all other respects, it's just like a regular pond. No maintenance for the winter either...just let it freeze and then play broom ball :)

I have never seen anything like it. It's amazing!

Speaking of amazing...who ever thought my 4 and 6 year old would have the guts to climb this tower and jump off an 18ft high dive! And for the faint at heart there is a giant rock which jumps well too.

Untitled from JoshandJodi on Vimeo.

Vintage Circus Party

On Wednesday I had 12 girls ready to go to the circus!

We had such a fabulous time celebrating Eleanor's birthday with her friends. 

I had seen this idea for a party long ago and it just stuck with me. I knew Ellie would go with whatever so I went with it.

There were carnival games, a bouncer (Thanks Allison!), a ticket booth, and lots of sugary treats.

The invitations and printables were done by The Tomkat Studio. I was so pleased the way everything came out.

a little round of duck, duck goose

cousins Sydney and Kennedy

The sun was so bright Ellie kept covering her eyes until she got her glasses...we all thought she was upset about something

getting right to her gifts after all the girls left 

Happy Birthday Eleanor

Four years ago today this girl arrived in the world at only four pounds!

Eleanor, you are a beautiful little spunk of a person and everyday you make me proud to be your mom.

Here's a little sneak peek of the fun we had today...more to come soon.

and in true kid fashion, as we're tucking Ellie in to bed she says "Can it be my birthday tomorrow too?"

11 Months

Monster Max is what your daddy calls you, but your personality couldn't be more different
Maxwell, you have such a sweet disposition. My favorite thing right now is your laugh which we hear ALL the time.
You decided baby food was boring and would have no more of it :)
You are a good little traveler as we spend a lot of time up north on the weekends.
and it won't be long before your first steps...


Love ya kiddo!

Moser Visit - Take 2

We had such a great time back in March visiting the Moser family that we had to do it again...this time with a little more sun and sand. We met near Saint Joseph, MI where their family was vacationing last week.

These boys have already formed such a great friendship. I'm sure it will last a long time.
They are so much alike in some respect and so different in others. My favorite thing was watching Ben put his arms around Jack (from the back) to help him hit the baseball...what are good friends for!

...and these three dumped buckets of sand out of their suits when we were finished

Butterfly chasing

The water in the big lake was to cold for everyone else but Josh and Isa.  Mostly the kids all played in this gross little stream that running into the lake...seriously gross water that didn't seem to phase them.

                  

Even the littlest loved the stream and eating rocks

Beautiful sunset enjoyed by adults only :)

Instafriday on Sunday

A fellow blogger came up with this brilliant idea, and i’m totally jumping on the bandwagon!

i’m posting my iphone pics from the week that i've snapped on instagram.

don’t you love how instagram totally makes lame pictures look cool?! 

I think I'm going to like this...not just because it was a fun way to recap my week, but also because i don’t have to edit any photos – makes for fast blogging!

I never get sick of taking pictures of kids on the dock and in the sand. 

Something about it is so nostalgic for me.

Impromptu pool party turned picnic with friends

I think this so funny because Jack has a mouth full of food, but he's trying to smile so nicely for me.

These next couple just get me rolling...I was in Gap the other day with the kids and Jack says "Hey mom, look it's Dad!" I turned around to see him embracing this manequin :) 

We got a pretty good laugh and kept moving through the store.

Then Ellie says "lets take one with mom too" 

I can't even get them to take pictures this good with me for real.

 Babes chillin' on the beach in Saint Joseph

As Maxwell does less and less nursing, Eleanor gets to feed more and more bottles. 

She still loves to hold him, but since he's almost as big as she is, he will not sit still very often.