The Gap

First morning back and Luke is up shining his new Petoskey stones he found in Traverse City!

Then, with all of their candy from the The Cherry Festival Parade, Ellie and Luke wanted to put up their Lemonade/Candy stand! Two of the neighborhood buddies wanted in and so that was it. A full day of business was open. They had lots of fun and they raked in $45!

We are just loving our sweet niece and all of the cuddles and smiles this summer!

One of my favorite moments from the summer was the night before Ellie and I left for Texas. We we over at Megs and Chad's house the night before we left and we got home pretty late. The kids were in bed around 10 and when I walked in to kiss Ellie good night, she was lying in her bed crying, hugging the picture she has framed of her and her brothers. I was so surprised. I asked, "Ellie, what's the matter sweetie?" She answered with sniffles, " I am going to miss my brothers so much, Mommy." That was it. My heart flooded with love over our sweet and tender children AND they do love each other! 

This summer they have had their ups and downs but I tell ya, they LOVE playing with each other! 

Luke and Ellie spending some q-time together. Eating lunch on their "park" and then after I put Drew down for his nap, I found these two reading together in Elle's bedroom.

Harlow is over for another fun visit!

And Luke finally had his 8 year old well visit! Here are his stats:

Weight: 61 lbs.

Height: 54 1/2 lbs.

Then off to the Library for some more books!

Getting ready for lunch is the perfect time to squeeze in some math review time. :)

One night, we headed up to East Lansing to see our favorite gal, Jacque!!, Ethan, Liam and Mrs. Magdaleno! It was so fun to see these guys living their best life together, all settled in their new home with their sweet, little guy Liam! We had fun playing a backyard game of bball and eating yummy Mexican food. How cute are these babies?!

The next day was 7-11, so off we were to get out free Slurpees!

The week of seeing our favorite nanny's!! We also saw Patrice who came into town from South Carolina. We spent the day thinking we could just stroll in to The Build-A-Bear Workshop to get our bear for our age. Boy, we were so wrong!! We walked into Somerset and into the craziness around 11 am. A mall worker came to us right away with a voucher saying they were all sold out and they had a line out the door at 7:30 am of people waiting to get their bear! WHAT?! Crazy!! SO, we improvised with a trip to the Disney store and LEGO store and then Chick-Fil-A for lunch. It was great to see Patrice and hear all about her awesome teaching down South! 

Ellie painting a garden walking stone that Gpa and Gma C. sent her!

And these guys loving the bike rides!

Drew so cute on his balance bike!

The next day we were off to spend the morning with the Bate's family at their neighborhood pool! All six kiddos had a great time!

Ellie had written this letter for Addi Grace to thank her for having us in Texas! I was so proud of Ellie and her ability to write all by herself!

Ben took the kiddos to see Gigi for the day and then a sleepover visit at Harlow's house!

They had fun going to eat at Olga's (This was our favorite out to eat spot for the summer!)...

and then playing at the park with Gigi. How cool is Gigi for swinging with all of our kids?! She is one hip and happy Great-Grandma!

Ben was then able to attend one of our couple's wedding that we had mentored over the past several weeks get married! We have so much fun getting to know our engaged couples and then celebrate with them as they enter into marriage.

Nighty-Night, kiddos!

So what was I up to during all of this...My banchie weekend!! Bing, Kate, and Svids, Come On Over!! We headed out for SUCH a fun night at Pine Knob to hear Bare Naked Ladies. Always, a great time!

We are halfway into our summer and these PJ Masks are LOVING it!