Happy Fourth of July! 2013

We spent the days of July 3rd and 4th at Grandma Chris' & Grandpa Bob's house.
Cousins, Alli and Lettie, Aunt Laura, and Uncle Chris were there.
Grandma & Grandpa Gunderson, and Uncle Mark, Aunt Brenda, and cousin Emily visited on July 3rd...

Fourth of July night, we spent some time at a friend's house.
Here's a picture of all eight kids, anxiously awaiting the fire...

Trying real hard to ignite the wet firewood...

Finally! ...a "rip-roarin' fire!"

Just right for roasting marshmallows, and making s'mores!

All the kids tried some sparklers too...

Happy Fourth!!

Vacation for Mom & Dad

So we took a little trip...

For the first time, since the three of you were born, Mom and Dad went on a vacation...

And, we had a wonderful time!

The three of you were left in good hands... All three sets of grandparents took turns for the weekend and nighttime shifts. Babysitter, Catherine, helped out a few days. And family friend, Nicole (Brennan's Mom), helped get Jackson to all three of his sports.

Although it was a really fun, and relaxing, time for Dad and I...

Coming back home to these three smiling faces was even more fun...

But, maybe not quite as relaxing!... ;-)

Jessica gets her ears pierced.

Thursday, June 13th, I took Jessica to get her ears pierced. This is something she's been asking to do for quite some time. We felt she was ready, and summer is a good time for us to do it, SO...

Here we were...

She was all smiles beforehand...

But afterwards, not so much...

Not the greatest experience, but things went as good as can be expected. Did it hurt? Yes. Did she cry? Yep! But, Jessica was brave enough to go through with it. We're proud of you Jess!

Boy's day @ Miller Park!

Jason and Jackson went to a Brewers game with some friends on Sunday, June 9th. They had great seats! -- only four rows back from the first base side of the field.

After the game, the kids were able to run the bases...

Jackson was lucky enough to have one of the practice balls tossed to him by a field worker... Awesome.

Tailgating before the game...

They both said it was a blast!...neat memory for them to share.

Four little princesses...

The girls already have such a fun time when they get together!

Whether it's a birthday, holiday, or an afternoon visit with Grandma & Grandpa Gundy --these four little princesses know how to have a good time.

Family Bed.

A good night's sleep.? Hmmm, maybe a few nights a week, Jason and I are able to classify our night's rest into the category of "good night sleep."

It is a fallacy to believe children will no longer interrupt your sleep once they are out of the infancy stage.
Although less frequent, we still have our streaks of sleepless nights around here.



We have our good nights...everybody stays asleep, in their own beds ALL night.

And, we have our nights like this...

I suppose there will come a day when I will miss the feeling of an overly crowded bed, but...today's not that day! ;)

Field trip to the Children's Museum and Myrick Park

Jessica's Pre-K class went on a field trip last Thursday, May 16th. Thanks to a little help from Grandma Chris (watching daycare), I was able to chaperone the first half of the trip...the Children's Museum:

Jessica, Ruby, Allison enjoying the bus ride to the museum:


Anxiously waiting to enter the Museum:


Gus! He's a pet therapy dog, and easily, one of the sweetest dogs I've ever met!...
aside from Goldie, Bella, Tank, and Yoda, of course ;)


Pizza Parlor:


Pretending to be news anchors in the news room:


Treehouse!


Jason took a 1/2 day so he could chaperone the second half of Jessica's field trip -- Myrick Park, where they ate a picinic lunch, and played at Kids' Coulee play park.
Weather was nice.

Jessica, your Dad and I are so happy we were able to share this special day with you! It was fun to see you play and interact with your friends from school.