Happy Fourth of July!

Hello all! What a wonderful day! We started the day off by having a nice breakfast at home together.. Daddy cooked and it was yummy. Then we went to the parade in Urbana. Sunny as can be with a warm breeze..





But right as the beginning of the parade was getting ready to start coming by us, the clouds came in and it downpoured!!! Sideways rain full blast! The kids thought it was a great time! It lasted about 10 minutes or so, we tried to take cover a little bit in an alley way where the rain wasn't so hard.. I found a nice spot under a tree. Evan used his bucket at the gutter drainspout to soak Daddy with more water! The rain didn't stop the parade from coming, though! The marching band played right by us as the rain was letting up and the sky was brightening again!






The parade lasted almost 2 hours and Evie says it was the longest and best parade she has ever been to! (I'm sure that she doesn't remember the awesome parades at Disney!) Evan enjoyed it as well but managed to plug his ears when he saw firetrucks come by. Smart boy!

The parade wiped the kids out! It was 3:30 before we got home and they both crashed until 5:30!



Then on to the fireworks!! Lake of the Woods in Mahomet does a big display every year, but you pay for parking and wait an enormous amount of time to get in and out of there.. so we go to the one down the street from them at Tincup RV Park.. pull right in, watch from the back seats of the van and a blanket on the ground, bring our own snacks, (this year it was Twizzlers and Popcorn), and when they were done, we pulled right out with no traffic! I'm telling ya, it's the way to go! Their display is somewhat smaller but magnificent nonetheless and there's something to be said for being with your family and not having a ton of other people around fighting for a spot to park or sit. Both kids REALLY enhoyed them this year! Evan kept saying, "This is awesome!" "This is fun!" "Pretty!" Joe, Evie and I were impressed with the adjectives Evan would use to describe the fireworks.





The fireworks at Tincup start and let out earlier than the Lake of the Woods display, so we got in the van and headed home where we saw a bunch of people sitting on the hill at the end of our street, so we joined them and could see and hear the rest of the action going on at Lake of the Woods from there! We got to watch BOTH displays and avoided crowds yet again this year! It's 11 pm and the fireworks in the neighborhood are still going strong.. but the kids conked out about a half hour ago.. everybody better be sleeping in tomorrow!!!

Happy Fourth of July!! Until next year.....

summer fun!

This summer has been full of rain but HOT!
We spent Father's Day at Joe's parents house.. the kids had a blast running through the sprinklers. Evan likes to run through it naked. :)
On the days that it's not raining and I'm not working, the kids and I spend the day at the pool.
Evan has become a daredevil this summer walking (almost swimming) to the deeper end.. he stops just as the water reaches his chin and turns back. Evie is all over the place.. she's a fantastic swimmer! The kids also love playing in the fountains.. Evan runs through the middle of them.. I managed to catch a few cool pics with him actually in the center of the fountain. Evie asked me, "How does he get in the middle like that?" LOL He just runs through it!!!

Here are some cute pictures from the pool today!

Schools Out For Summer!

My little girl is out of school for summer vacation! And on to second grade in the fall!! WOW! SECOND Grade?!!! That seems unheard of!! I have a whole summer to wrap my mind around that idea and the kids and I, (and Joe of course) will keep ourselves busy, I'm sure. It will go by so fast!
Here's a picture of some of Evie's class on her last day of school. It was a "safari" party.



Evie's favorite part was the face painting.. which Mommy did.. she's so lovely!



Naturally, Evan has to be included in that deal. He sure loves kitty cats!!



Although school os out, we are encouraging alot of reading this summer.. something that Evie has gotten quite good at.. She is already practicing her 1st grade skills on her brother. :o)



Happy Summer everyone! Stay Cool!!

Happiness is....

...waking up to this smiling face...

Allergy Season...

This is what happens to Evie when her allergies flare up..



This was last Saturday and she was miserable! Now I think she actually has a cold anyway but her face and eyes itched like crazy..

She looks much better this week!! But MY allergies have taken over me!! UUUGH!

Monkeying Around

Today was Evie's Field Trip to Scovill Zoo in Decatur, illinois. She is almost out for the summer and will be a second grader soon! I wanted to share a few pictures of her friends at the zoo!

Saturday Fun

Today the kids, Joe and I went to a business fair at the high school here in Mahomet. They had alot of fun picking up little gifts, (pens, lightup keychains, frisbees, etc) from the local business booths, there were inflatable bounce houses, which Evan refused but Evie jumped around in for a while, and Evie got her face painted by the coolest and fastest artist I have ever seen!

They even had a cute display with kid sized exercise equipment next to the chiropractic booth.

Pics!!!