EXTRA EXTRA - Read all about it!

Abbey has only been here for a couple weeks and she's already famous! She's peeking out of the back of the car on the front page picture and got her very own shot in the center section with pictures of the Quasquicentennial in Hoven last weekend!

Swimming

A nice quiet day today. Daddy texturized the ceiling in the office and the rest of us got to go swimming up at the baby pool. We had a good time playing up there. I liked swimming where as Harrison & Abbey liked running around the outside of the pool and chasing each other around benches. They both got in the water for brief periods but they also both don't necessarily understand not putting your face under the water. The past few days must have caught up with me, though. I practically fell asleep at the dinner table and when I said I was full and left to go sit on the couch, Mommy & Daddy found me just a few minutes later sound asleep! It's been a great weekend!

The final parade

We had a big crowd and a really fun time last night for the 4th. We enjoyed yummy burgers and brats courtesy of Daddy and then headed outside for the fireworks show. This was the first year that cousin Luke was allowed to light them, so he was just as excited as I was! Daddy helped Luke and he even got Mommy & Amy out to light a few of them (they're still a bit overcautious around those things having not grown up with them). I especially like the sparklers (I call them sprinklers). Grandpa even brought more trucks for them to set on fire. We didn't get quite as severe a reaction, but there were a few shouts of protest at times... I'm pretty sure his favorite part, though, was jumping in the baby pool fully clothed. He had the best time ever in there last night!

Today was our 6th and final parade. Six might not sound like a lot but when you're running alongside a car, handing out frisbees and trying to keep up, you're grateful when they're done. Mommy & Amy only got to help out with a few, but Daddy & Justin are pretty sure they've stumbled across an excellent new workout/bootcamp routine! I personally have enjoyed all of them because I'm usually either handing out or catching candy -- and most of the time, I'm doing both (today I even managed to do it simultaneously!). Today's celebration also included an inflatables area so we got to jump around the moonbounce and run through a big obstacle course -- Mommy went through with Harrison and wore herself out! We had a good time, but we're looking forward to having our weekends back for swimming, weekend getaways, and more home improvement projects!

Abbey is still here for another week and Uncle Scott comes on Wednesday. They're planning on a fairly quiet week and then we're heading over to Sioux Falls on Sunday to drop them off with Abbey's Prairie Grandmas (they live in Iowa). Hope everyone is still enjoying their long weekend!

Happy Birthday America!

Hope everyone is having a fabulous Fourth of July! Abbey and I would like to thank our Aunt Jen for sending us some really cute outfits to wear today. My shirt says Miss Independence...it's cute and accurate! We headed to Faulkton, SD for their Wild West Days parade. This time, all three of us kids and Aunt Amy got to ride in the Cadillac while Mommy, Daddy, Justin and another helper ran alongside passing out frisbees. I loved riding in the car and was really quite good at throwing candy to the kids. We think it worked well enough that we'll do the same thing at the parade tomorrow.

Tonight we're having a bunch of family over for a BBQ and fireworks. I even helped Mommy make a flag cake while simultaneously "taste testing" the sprinkle cookies! Hopefully I can last long enough to see the fireworks....dusk isn't until about 10:00 up here! Hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th!

Seriously, Stay Tuned!

Firstly, for those of you that may have been worried -- Jenna is a ROCKSTAR!! She managed the three of us kids better than Mommy, Daddy & Amy can do all together. When they got home from the parade tonight, we were all happy, fed, bathed and in pajamas. She is phenomenal and they would really like for her to just move in. Thank you Jenna!

Secondly, I think I forgot to mention earlier that I managed to get a mosquito bite on my eyelid when we were out watching fireworks at Mikenna's house the other night. My eye has been swollen halfway shut for the past two days and I've subsequently been on Benadryl 4 times a day since. Well, tonight the drugs seem to have truly sunk in. I was hilarious tonight. Daddy pulled out the video camera and got some great footage and photos. Hopefully this weekend we can get it pulled together for you to see. The good news is that my eye is looking so much better and everyone got a really good laugh (including me) at my silliness tonight.

Mom, Dad & Amy had a good time at the parade. It was a big one and they were running alongside a 1964 Cadillac Deville passing out Brown For Senate and Cronin For House frisbees (and when they say running, they aren't kidding!) to all the kids in the crowd. Two more parades to go and then, I think, parade season is over. Phew!

Anyhow, I hope that you get to enjoy the show that I put on tonight....it had everyone in tears. But mostly, we just wanted to let you know that we did just fine with a babysitter in charge!

Good night!

It's not looking good....

As I mentioned in the previous post, this weekend includes 3 fun parades (not sure if we're serious or sarcastic about the "fun"). This afternoon there is a parade that Mom, Dad & Amy decided to run alone. There will be a lot more people at this one that at any other and Dad & Justin need helpers to pass out frisbees, so they got a sitter for us kids and they'll go do the parade without having to worry about keeping track of us.

They're a bit concerned for poor Jenna, though, with the 3 of us. Abbey has a tendency to panic when her mom even leaves the room to go to the kitchen for milk. Today, Aunt Amy went to take a shower and Mommy had us 3 kids for 15 minutes. This is just a glimpse of what happened....

Hopefully this afternoon will go a little smoother.....Harrison and Abbey should be napping for half of it anyway! We'll let you know. Keep your fingers crossed!

Splish Splash

So we've settled back down into a normal pace of life the past couple days. We've resurrected naptime and done lots of playtime. We let the kids get out into the baby pool on the deck the other day and they had a lot of fun splashing around. Yesterday we headed downtown to run some errands and went to the park. It's been a nice relaxing few days before heading into a 3-parade weekend!