He's getting so big!

Aubrie and me waiting for the fireworks.

Going on the roller coaster.

She loved this car ride.

Christian's first taste of watermelon. He loved it!

Our friend, John pulls the kids around the yard much to the girls' delight. Christian was a little unsure, however.

Wow, has our summer ever been busy. I look back and can't even remember what happened to the month of June. From the looks of it, July is going to be extra busy too and we're going to be gone for several of the upcoming weekends.

We had a good 4th of July, visiting family and friends in our old town. We stayed with my sister and her family and our kids had a great time with their cousins. We also had dinner with some really good friends of ours and it was great to be with them again!

I was really debating on whether or not I should take all three kids to the fireworks since it would be WAY past Christian's and Kayley's bedtime and by dinner time, they were both already tired and cranky. In the end, we came up with a perfect plan and I am thankful to my hubby for being willing to make it work. Sam stayed at my sister's and put Kayley and Christian to bed and then relaxed and played some video games while Aubrie and I met up with my sister and niece at the downtown carnival. Aubrie had a blast going on some rides and winning a few prizes and then we met up with my brother-in-law and nephew for the fireworks. It was so nice to be out with just Aubrie and have some fun one-on-one girl time and not have the stress of dealing with her cranky younger siblings (Love you, Kayley and Christian!)

Aubrie was thrilled with the three little toys she won in the game she played. She was quick to say that the little rubber ducky she got was to be saved for Kayley which I thought was really sweet. Even though they seem to fight constantly, Aubrie always thinks of her sister when we're out and about and often wants to share whatever she's gotten with Kayley when we get home.

At one point, as we were waiting for the fireworks to begin, Aubrie said, "I just love my toys so much! I love this one, and this one, and this one, but I love Jesus the most!" That made my heart happy to hear that and we talked a little bit about putting Jesus above all else and why that is important.

Sometimes when I'm out with just one of my kids or even when I don't have any of them with me, I find my eyes constantly scoping out the area around me with the intent of counting heads. Then I sort of relax and laugh at myself and remember that I don't have to do that for the time being. It's crazy how it's just second nature for me to do that -- probably because Kayley is such a wanderer and Christian is a speedy crawler and keeping track of them is a full time job!

Well, it's already Wednesday and we're leaving again Friday for a weekend family reunion. I think it will be really fun, as well as exhausting, and I am trying to get caught up on laundry and stuff around the house before we go.

Guess I better get back to work here so that's all for now!