Summer Happenings and a Visit from Susan, David, and Jay

Leila's our helper in the garden

This is a "catch up" blog, to fill you in on some of our activities with the kids this summer. Hasn't summer been flying by??? Anyway, this blog is going to be mostly pictures and captions...


Emma finished up summer softball. She did well; the pictures below show a hit she made that got her to base and ended with a run for the team. Sometimes she works as catcher, too.

Just before she hit the ball and made it to 1st

Bringing it home for a run

Catcher attire

Leila had her first play date with a friend from school... a classmate named Jenna. One of Jenna's older sisters, Jacqueline, is friends with Emma, so we had both girls over for a "sisters" play date. The little girls played with toys and picked strawberries while the big girls rode the 3-wheeler around the yard. But all ages joined together and played hide and seek for awhile, and both sets of girls helped with getting the table ready for dinner. The big girls set the table while the little girls made seating place cards with everyone's names on them, carefully spelling out the letters with a little bit of help. Grandma Jane would have approved of all the sweetness :).

Leila and Jenna, carrying a basket to the garden

Picking strawberries

They got to eat a few

Emma and Jacqueline with popsicles

Our summer started out pretty wet, and one thing we're learning here (surrounded by trees) is that sometimes trees with rotten insides fall down when it is very wet... no wind required. We had a few large trees take a tumble during the muddiness. Similarly, my Facebook friends have already heard the story about how a big branch fell onto our vehicles. Two car windows were broken and the bodies of the truck and car were dented. That makes THREE vehicles damaged by trees since we moved here... the first time I actually watched from our living room as a tree fall down onto our red minivan and crushed it. Makes me glad Jon cut down the large trees that were close and leaning down toward our house...

The fallen tree

They can break mid-trunk

Tree fall was up the hill by "Emma Road"

Something new to climb on

Kind of rotten

Moving on to Michael... Michael's 14 now.  He'll be starting high school this year. He's taller than me, has a deeper voice, sometimes shaves (!), and is actually pretty strong. He's become our go-to "heavy lifter" when something big needs to be moved from point A to point B. And now (sniff-!) he's said goodbye to his bangs and basic boy's haircut. He had Jon shave his hair short for the summer, and is talking about keeping it that way. It took me awhile to get used to the change, but it kind of fits his personality. Like Jon, he has zero interest in extra grooming steps (such as combing the hair).

"Before"

Eep.

"After"

Michael's been in a summer basketball league that meets in Elk Mound. Jon usually takes him, but Jonathan and Emma have watched him play before, and last weekend we all went-- including Susan, Jay, and David during their recent visit (more on them later!).

Running drills before the game

That's my boy... #20

Other random summer happenings? John and Jim came for a visit. Leila got her hair cut short. Teddy revealed his true canine freakiness during bath time. And the garden is kicking into full swing.

On Father's Day, Jack and Jonathan visited. Jack grabbed a book and jumped on Grandpa's lap :).

Jack and Teddy love playing ball

We have a couple of swings at the end of our clothesline

Iggy is "the friendly cat"

Jack stalking Teddy stalking Iggy

Not so cute

Coloring with Lauren at Grandma Jane's

New pool for Leila and Jack

Uncle Jo Jo visiting after his world travels

Jon tore down the deck that was the front entrance to our house. I eagerly await the reconstruction (grumble grumble).

Picking peas (notice the new haircut)

Kids helping hall away lumber from the old deck

There goes the deck

Leila in our garden a couple of weeks ago

Plants getting bigger

Hair cut is shorter in back



Garden more recently. We're getting beans, peas, cucumbers, 1st cherry tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini



Susan, Jay, and David left two days ago after a week-long Wisconsin visit. They drove up in a two-car convoy with their mom and Logan.


We always love it when they come. They visited with the two Grandmas in Cornell, helped me pick lettuce at the farm, and saw a baby cow being born. A highlight was having a family picture taken with them and spending time at Fanny Hill with Jack and Jonathan (the first time we were all back there since the wedding last year).

Is there anyone who didn't hear yet that I helped deliver this baby calf?

This is how Leila travels when David's around

On our way back from the greenhouse, this baby calf was born. Within minutes it was standing up and trying to figure out how to nurse from it's mother. Later the same day it was running and jumping.

Susan and Macy

Macy is turning out to be Leila's horse. She rides her a lot.

Hazel doesn't have her wheels yet, but she gets around pretty good by dragging herself around. Susan made her "overalls" out of an extra pair of Jack's pajama pants. The overalls help protect her from scraping herself, now that she's starting to move around.

David playing croquet

David's our teddy bear

Susan used the hair crimper on Leila, so now they're both rocking the short hair.

Picture day at Fanny Hill

Another informal picture at Fanny Hill

Logan and Jack stayed overnight one night

David

Logan on horseback

Aunt Susan with Jack

This is what happens when you brush Teddy out

And there you have it! Highlights from our summer so far.