July 2023

Claire is such a big helper! I am amazed how much she "helps" pick up toys, put books away and just wants to be a helper!

Here Claire is putting her face in the cold water. She is doing her own version of a cold plunge.  Silly girl.

We had a fun and HOT 4th of July.  We went to the West Des Moines parade on the 3rd with Uncle Mit and to the Waukee parade on the 4th with the Boltens!  We then went to a party at the Bennett's house that afternoon.  They had a inflatable water slide and Claire had no fear.  She was in there with all the older boys and was having a blast.

Grant got another Nana and Papa day and went to the library when it was raining outside.  Blake had a Grandma day also!  Both boys had a blast with their grandparents.

Greg has been painting Grandma's house and so Grandma came over to watch the kids so I could help Greg.  Kailey came to help Grandma and they took the kids to the park by our house.  There is a hotwheels car track on one of the playsets so the boys really wanted to go and try it out.

We went to Lake Michigan again this year.  The boys were very excited to go to "the big lake" but Greg and I were very nervous to share a house with other families.  Claire was not happy to be there and she had horrible tantrums the whole time.  She was happy and smiley literally the minute we got in the car to come home.  Everyone got sick this week but Grant and I.  Blake puked and was having diarrhea.  Greg got his normal cold when he over does it and that is what caused us to end up leaving a day early.  Grant and I had fun at the beach and I am hoping that next year is a little more enjoyable.  We have some fun and enjoyable moments just fewer than normal this year. ;-)

Blake has been asking more and more questions about Grandpa, where he is, why we can't talk to him or why he won't come back.  Here is a video of him talking to Grandpa. Makes me heart break again.

Claire loves her yogurt!  I think she loves spreading it all over her face instead of in her mouth.  We have since only allowed her to have it at dinner on bath night.

I caught the kids all singing and playing together.  It was a rare moment.  I, of course, missed the best part but got the end of the short event.

It was extremely hot out the end of July and I put Claire's hair up in a pony and man, she just looks so OLD! Very cute, but growing up way too fast.

Claire was sick with a fever the whole week after we got back from the lake also.  I eventually took her into the doctor since she had the fever for a week but the doctor thinks it is just a virus. If the fever continues then she will get a work up but hopefully it goes away soon. Since she was home with me all week also, she came with me to get all her birthday decorations and some presents.  Good thing she is just turning 2 so she didn't know what I was doing. She got some Minnie Mouse ears and loved them!

Claire wants to be a soccer player just like her brothers!

The boys went to Vacation Bible School the last week of July and loved it!  Grant loved the songs and wanted to show his whole family at Claire's birthday party.  Claire followed along with Grant and it was the cutest thing ever!  We went to the Taste of Hope that Saturday after and it was HOT but the kids had fun. I forgot to take pictures that week so I only have a picture from the Taste of Hope and Grant's music video.

Grant went to a free baseball clinic put on by the Iowa Cubs players with Tyler!

I love getting snuggles from Claire after naptime. I don't get them often so I soak them up when I do.

One of our goals this summer was for Grant to learn how to ride a bike.  Greg is a much better teacher than I am and he has done a great job helping Grant.  He gave Grant different levels to achieve to be a great bike and Grant loves a challenge so it worked well.   Grant needs a bigger bike also so it is hard for Grant to go up hills but he does really well going around the cones.

We celebrated Claire's birthday Minnie Mouse style!  She was so surprised to see her decorations and loved having all of the attention!  The cousins had fun playing together also!

On Claire's birthday I had all of the kids home with me and we went to a park in the morning.  Then in the afternoon, the whole family went to the aquatic center.  Claire loves swimming so we thought it was perfect for her birthday.  We put streamers outside her bedroom like we do for all the kid's birthday and she loved it.  Everytime she walks through her doorway she said "birthday!"  She loves singing the song Happy Birthday and always blows out the candles even if we are just singing it.