July Jubilee

He was big enough to put in the high chair, so I celebrated by giving him some light reading to entertain him. He loved it. Since then, we have moved that high chain into the garage. Good riddance, but it is easier to slide kids into than the little booster high chair Cason now uses instead.

Brooklyn at swim lessons again. She had a routine of getting gum for both of us, putting it into the trash, playing at the playground, applying lip glass, and making requests to do it all again.

Isaac on his last day of his first outside session, a little nervous to jump off the diving board. He did it and was very proud.

My cute boys in the Minnesota cabin.

Doug catching big fish

Us on date night, hoping to catch a monster bass like we did last year. No luck this time, but Doug did look sensational in his netting and headlamp.

Cute cousins posing. We took several dozen pictures, but this one was a good one.

Lucy and Sayla posing at the zoo in Wahpeton

My mom rescued baby racoons and we got to hold them and cuddle with them before my mom took them to a wildlife preserve. Now all the baby sounds Cason makes remind me of those baby racoons. Trust my mother to bring baby racoons into our lives.

We tried to do family pictures outside with just our little family, but the only picture that looked remotely okay is the goofy one. Shocker.

Obviously, taking bad photos runs in the family. We are a happy bunch, though. I know it's saying something to say our family adores each other and loves to be together.

On our way home from Minnesota, we stopped at a hotel to break up the drive. Cason looked darling for his pool trip so I had to take a picture. We survived the night. I just hate paying money for a poor night's rest.

Once home, we resumed the usual activities. Brooklyn could move about 4 feet in a minute on her little tricycle. Good thing she wore that helmet.

The kids needed to do their workbooks every day, and let me just say that I loved having them do this! It prepared them so well for school, and was part of our daily routine: clean rooms, do workbooks, swim, eat lunch, nap time, adventure.

Lucy learning to mow the lawn

Cason letting me go on stroller rides every day

Lucy made crowns for Brooklyn and Monkey Baby, Brooklyn's favorite toy in the world.

I love this shot. I post a lot of pictures of Brooklyn smiling on my blog because she doesn't have a ready smile around strangers. She seems solemn and a bit withdrawn around people outside our family, but I want her to know that we saw her radiance all the time.

Speaking of radiance, one of my own private delights in life is to have an immaculate kitchen. I love it with all of my heart.

More Utah fun! We visited Grandma at her house and got a chance to see Lindsay, my cousin, and her cute kids Leah, Zach, Parker, and Claire. It was completely worth it. I always try to convince Lindsay to move to Utah so we can play with her more often. I dind't take pictures of Isaac's hand, which he burned the night before while we were roasting hot dogs in the canyon. It was pretty traumatic for him, but nothing that a movie in the car couldn't cure.