On The Water

On Saturday some friends invited us to their water front property. The house use to be the mess hall for a local brick factory that is no more. It has seen better days, but the location on the water is hard to beat. 

When we arrived they were gathering clams and washing them off. Josiah and Benson had never seen such a thing and spent a half and hour waiting for the clams to open up and move and then spit at them. Their laughter was amazing.

  

Our friends had a small racing sailboat and Joey took it out for a spin. He's sailed before but on a MUCH larger boat. This little boat was quick to respond and zipped across the water. At one point we watched as the wind grabbed the little boat and tipped it over. Luckily he is fast and he scrambled up the side and clung to the bottom side of the boat. He could hear out friend who called out instructions and was able to set the boat right. It was a sight to see.

Phoebe loved the beach.

 

 As the sun set we started skipping rocks and roasting marshmallows. It was a warm night and so nice to be down by the water to cool off.

Hopefully we'll get a chance to head back and try out the sailboat again. 

Ah, summer days!

So Far In July

As always time is flying by. Its already approaching the middle of July and I barely feel like we've gotten into summer. We have enjoyed some sunny weather so far this month and its been great.

 

For the 4th of July we traveled down to see my family and stay at their lake side property. As usual I enjoyed our time so much I didn't take very many pictures.

We realized that we hadn't been in the states for the 4th since 2008. In fact our kids didn't really know what fireworks were other than big firework shows that they had seen on TV and at Disney Land. It was fun to introduce them to old school fireworks like sparklers and firework tanks.

It was a good weekend and we're looking forward to the next time we get to head down there again. 

In other July events Isabelle has discovered pockets and loves wondering around the house singing with her hands in her pockets. It is adorable to say the least.

Phoebe has started solids. Its a slow start and I find myself forgetting how to do this whole solids thing. You'd think I'd know after 5 kids, but my brain is pretty much shot. Not to mention all the food we eat in Morocco naturally lends itself to baby food. Not so much here in the states. So far she's enjoyed Squash and some Banana

 

We also took the boys to see Despicable Me 2. I loved getting to hear them laugh at the minions and all their crazy tricks. They enjoyed the movie, but decided the first one was better. I think I'd agree with them. The minions though, are the best part of both movies and I look forward to the rumored "Minion Movie" coming someday.

Silver River of Joy

Who would have thought that a box of cheap tin foil would bring so much joy to a group of boys? Until pinterest came along I NEVER would have considered it bringing much of anything to anybody.

 

A couple of weeks ago I saw something on pinterest about making a river using the hose and tin foil. So I bought some foil and waited for a sunny day. Today was the day. We found a good hill and laid out the foil giving it a few twists and turns. Then we worked on strengthening the sides and making a few rapids. The cousins were over and got in on the action. 

We tried racing cars down the shiny river, because cars should be tried out on everything - all the time, but they were too heavy. So we got nurf gun bullets, small pieces of wood and anything else that might float. They had so much fun racing the sticks and seeing who would get stuck on which rapid. The yard is a bit waterlogged now in that spot, but the grass could use some liquid and its so warm I am sure it will be gone in no time.

The silver river is waiting in the yard over nap time for the next round of excitement. Praise the Lord for sunshine and praise the Lord for tin foil!