Sprinker Fun!

Today marked the last day of summer school at Rainbow Kingdom! This also meant that it was the last day Cole would ever attend preschool! For the last day, the teachers organized a "Summer Fun Day" event. The kids wore their swim suits to school, took their bikes/trikes to ride, had a picnic lunch and played in the sand and water. They all had a great time and these two kids of mine....I thought I'd never tear them away to put them in the car! On the way home (since they already had their swim trunks on), I decided to get out the sprinkler and let them play! Here are a few pics!

Chase and the tractor.


Cole filling the rain guage.


Mr. Tough Guy.



Who MEEEEE?

Wedding!

Today was the big day! The long-awaited wedding of Aunt Mary and Uncle Dave! It was a beautiful outdoor wedding on a very HOT day! Mommy and the little boys were all in the wedding: Mommy as the matron of honor, Cole as a ring bearer, and Chase as the "flower dropper."













For months, I worried and worried about whether or not Cole would actually walk down the isle. I honestly figured that he would totally freak out at the sight of all those guests sitting there. And, I had told Mary months earlier to be sure and have a back-up plan since there was no guarantee my boys would really walk down the isle. She come up with a great plan: have a second ring bearer (Lucas (3), Dave's nephew) and a second flower dropper (Caylee (8), Mary's cousin) and that way if my kiddos flaked out at the last minute, there would be another person to take the job. Plus, Cole and Lucas are good friends and we figured if Lucas just took Cole by the hand, he would go.

Rehearsal the night before was so cute...the two ring bearers walked down the isle holding hands. It was so sweet and I was encouraged that Cole would do fine at the actual wedding. Chase walked down the isle holding Caylee's hand as well. Everything according to plan! Boy was I relieved!










The day of the wedding, I no longer worried about whether or not the boys would make it down the isle. My focus turned to just keeping them clean, shirts tucked in, and hair combed. Soon the music started and it was time for the wedding to start. The boys lined up in their spots and we carefully and quietly made our way outside. We no sooner got into our spots when Lucas freaked out about walking down the isle. Aggggh! He was my little 3-year old rock....the one that was supposed to get Cole down the isle. WHAT NOW?!?!? He was upset that he had lost the little rings from his ring bearer pillow. So, his mommy asked Cole if she would borrow one from his pillow to give to Lucas. Cole agreed...although he didn't really know what he was agreeing to. Because after he got the pillow back, he got angry that one of his rings was missing!!!!! (I guess that's what we get for stressing the importance of his ring bearer job over the previous months!)

Literally, seconds away from walking down the isle, both of the ring bearers were mad, upset, and refusing to walk down the isle! Thankfully, Lucas's daddy saved the day by offering the boys money to walk down the isle. Lucas perked right up at the sight of a dollar bill. And, Cole (who has no concept of money whatsoever) was still mad, but ended up walking down the isle anyway. *whew* It was a frantic few minutes, but all worked out in the end!

























Chase was the cutest flower dropper ever! He had no problem walking down the isle. In fact, he started out holding Caylee's hand and walking with her. But, about halfway down the isle, he decided that HE wanted to be in charge of this whole flower dropping thing. And, he was tossing the pedals out by the handfuls! And, when they were gone, he even tried to toss out the satin basket liner! Then, once he reached the alter, he wanted to stand up front and count all the pedals!




























My boys definately provided the entertainment during the ceremony! It was a beautiful wedding! Congratulations, Dave and Mary!

Tractor Show!

Does life get any better than THIS for a little boy completely obsessed with John Deere tractors? I. Think. Not.


Today we drove to Adrian, Missouri for the annual steam tractor show. Daddy has been wanting to go to this show for years, but with Cole completely into tractors this year, it finally seemed like the perfect excuse, er...opportunity, to go! However, it was hot. Hot, hot. Did I mention it was like 110 degrees in the shade?



Chase sitting on the tractor:




Watching the parade of tractors roll by:





Riding the train:

This wasn't the best shot. But, with the whole family balancing on top of the train cars, this was the best we could do!

4th of July

This year, we kept the 4th of July celebration pretty low key. We went to the high school parking lot and hung out to watch the local town display. It was a pretty good show...and close to home! And, most importantly, the boys had a great time!





Chase enjoying a Coke!


And, we have waited 12 long years to finally have a house where we can hang bunting over the 4th of July! So, we had fun this year decorating the house too!