A Friendly Visitor

The other day the kids were playing outside when they saw a visitor on our plants. The oldest quickly comes in the house to let me know a butterfly is on the flowers we planted! He gets my camera and goes outside to show me. Sure enough a gorgeous yellow butterfly is on our butterfly bush, we were all excited!

I took some pictures and we watched it drink the nectar from the flowers. The kids were so proud of the hard work we have been doing, and to be rewarded with a wonderful guest! They have helped me water, and weed, and keep the dogs away. Now they know why we worked hard to keep the things we have nice. It was a great and lovely surprise.

Baby Photo Shoot!!

The cutest little baby had a photo shoot this week! Since he is so lovable and at a great age to take pictures, that's exactly what I did. He was a pretty good baby and we had a good time taking different pictures of him. Now if I can get the other kids to co-operate so well then I would be all set!

I love that kid! He is such a fun little spirit.

Summer pics...

Recently the hubby and I did our best to spruce up our front porch. I think it looks lovely and very inviting! I always look forward to planting things and seeing beautiful flowers after a l o n g, cold winter. I don't usually like annuals but I was having a hard time finding flowers that like shade. Soon after we planted these plants we had a little guest visit our porch and make himself a home! A nice spider set up his place right above this nice plants!

On another note, we also had a visit from a huge beetle the other night. The husband and myself were taking out the garbage and we spotted him on the garage. He was a big sucker and those pincers did not look very friendly. We took pictures to show the boys in the morning and they wondered why we didn't keep him?! I wonder...

Holiday World!

Monday this past week the family and I and a family friend all went to Holiday World. It is in Santa Claus, IN, which is about 3 hours away from where we live. Let me tell you though it was worth it! We had so much fun riding all the rides and being together as a family.

Our oldest son was tall enough to ride all of the rides and he was able to experience his first roller coaster! The second oldest was just a little too short for all the rides, but he was able to ride most of them. The park was very family oriented which was really nice for the kids. The bigger rides always had smaller rides next to them which helped keep the smaller ones happy. The baby was very well behaved, even though we left the stroller at home. We rented a wagon and he did better than expected!

All in all it was a fantastic trip and I can't wait til we can do it again!

More Hiking

Close to home we have a really great park that we always enjoy hiking, especially when we have an afternoon free! The family and I took a few friends with us and took a hike. The creek that the trail follows was a little flooded because of the rain we have had recently, but we didn't have too much trouble. Mud is like a magnet for our boys, they just can't seem to stay away from it!

We saw a few dragonflies and the boys stomped in every puddle they could find. After we stayed and had a picnic lunch and let the kids play on the play ground. It's so funny sometimes when we stay at a park for too long because the boys get bored playing on the playground, they start finding sticks and acting like they are swords! I have such a great time hanging out with my boys, they make my life so happy.

The boys checking out the creek, usually we can see the bottom.

Dragonfly

Baby having fun in the backpack.

The almost twins climbing over a log.

This strange beetle we found with spots on its shell that looked like huge eyes. The kids had fun picking it up and playing with it.

The Air Show

The second weekend of June brought the Indianapolis air show. We decided to take the boys to see the airplanes and get out of the house. It was hot, and sticky outside, all in all though we had a good time. We saw a lot of neat planes and they kids enjoyed watching them fly. The husband and I had a good time too. It's always fun doing things together as a family!

Out and About

Since the weather is so nice most days, except when it is raining of course, the boys and I headed to the park. It was a lot of fun I think, they have getting out of the house and climbing on new things. So they climbed and jumped all over the place, they also put the slides and swings to good use. We didn't stay there for too long but it was nice to get out of the house!

The oldest always seems to be the first to climb to the top of EVERYTHING!

The cutest 4 year old coming down the pole.

The 6 year old climbing after his big brother.

Our two year old going down the slide.

The baby along for the ride.

Around the House

I took some random pictures around the house one day after much begging, and pleading from the boys. First, they were very excited to have found an intact birds nest. Apparently it feel from a tree and landed in our yard. I took a picture of it since I thought it was so nice and neat!

Second, I took a picture of a wreath I made with sticks, sweet gum tree seeds and glue. I put it all together and then spray painted it a yellow-orange color. I also put on a scarf that was my Great-Grandmothers. I think it turned out pretty well. It wasn't all my idea, another friend of mine posted the design on her blog.

Third, the boys found a baby assassin bug in the back yard. It stuck around long enough for me to take a picture, so here it is!! Enjoy.

Mini Vacation to Valparaiso, IN

I have a Great Uncle that lives in Valparaiso, IN. We thought it would be nice to go visit him for a three day weekend. So we loaded the kids in the car and traveled the three hours there. We didn't encounter any problems, and the boys behaved very well. The weekend was filled with a lot of fun and excitement. The boys slept well both nights we were there which was so nice.We visited a water mill and Lake Michigan, we went to a zoo and a park. We also saw a model train and rode on a real steam engine train! It was a lot of fun, and the kids had a great time experiencing new things.

The first day we were there we went to lunch and then went to the water mill. It was a very interesting place filled with history and beautiful scenery. I was able to take some nice pictures of the boys, and they had fun climbing and exploring everything.

I am so happy we were able to go on a mini vacation, and I look forward to getting out and traveling more with the family.

The Mill and cart from the front.

The baby being a trooper and sitting in the stroller for long periods of time!

Our second baby getting mad at mom for telling him he couldn't climb on everything.

Our two middle boys looking so dang precious among the flowers.

The boys with the cart that was a favorite for climbing on, through, and about.

Lake Michigan

While we were in northern Indiana we had to go to Lake Michigan, of course. The water was a little too cold to swim in but that didn't stop us from having fun on the beach. We climbed up small sand dunes, and then ran down them! The boys looked for "cool" rocks and shells. The older ones liked getting their feet wet in the water, and they tried their hardest to convince me it wasn't "that cold." Everyone thought it was neat to see seagulls, the kids had never seen them before.

We also went out to a light house. It is not operational, but we walked out to get a closer look. I was more than a little nervous to walk out on the cat walk with the kids. I was worried that they would fall in, my husband thought my behavior was hilarious. Luckily enough no one fell into the lake and we all returned safe and sound. As we walked back to the beach the boys played in the sand and had a really great time!

The lighthouse as seen from the beach.

The two oldest trying to get as much in the water as possible.

Our third oldest building a sand castle.

A seagull that was waiting for me to take its picture.

The 2 year old, instantly fell in love with all that sand!

Going to the Zoo

In Michigan City, IN there is a nice zoo that we have so much fun visiting every time we go. It's not a very big zoo, but that makes it a little bit nicer. There wasn't a lot of people there so we could take our time looking at the animals. The zoo has a lot of different animals for being so much smaller than most zoos. There is also a little petting zoo! The 2 year old liked petting the Llamas, he would pat their head a say "nice boy". So cute! The older boys thought it would be cool if they could catch a peacock, but sadly they did not. We were able to see a baby snow leopard at the zoo. It was so adorable and it came right up to us (behind the glass of course!). We did a lot of walking and it wore the younger ones out, when we left the zoo they fell asleep quickly in the car. I'm so very grateful that we were able to take the kids to see and experience things we don't normally get to do.

Beautiful Bald Eagles, they are such gorgeous birds.

A couple of monkeys just playing around.

The boys in a bald eagle nest.

The oldest in the eagle nest, we didn't know it was that big!

A picture I took looking out over lake Michigan, such a pretty view.

Model trains

Since our two year old is totally into trains we found a few opportunities to take him (and the other kids too!) to see trains. At a garden center there was a model train set-up that was just really huge. The kids had so much fun watching all the trains and trying to find where they all were. While we were watching the trains go around the track a real train passed us on the tracks in front of the garden center! It was a real treat to have so many trains all around. I think the kids had fun seeing the trains, and all the hard work the owners put into have such a wonderful set-up of model trains. I know my husband and I had a great time!

No model train would be complete with out Thomas the Tank Engine!

The Park on Vacation!

Our family really likes to be outside, so how could we pass up the opportunity to check out the park in Valparaiso?! It was neat to go to a new park and play, the boys also made some new friends. I think it is so awesome that the boys can make friends with other kids so easily. They had fun trying out the swings and slides at the "new" park. The park also had a castle and a wooden train to play on, the kids liked pretending they were fighting dragons! Its always fun to try new things.
The oldest really liked the tire swing

I thought this turned out to be a nice picture of our 2 year old.

Our 4 year old checking out everything.

The baby mostly stayed on the swings!

Our cute 5 year old climbing up the tower.