The Fourth and All Its Glory

 The weekend of the Fourth was hot, and being at the lake was the perfect place to be! We spent the weekend with Grandma Linda & Grandpa Jack, Uncle Andrew and his friend Flynn, Auntie Beca & Uncle Teal, and their friends Kaylee & Matt. It was a full house and a lot of fun. The kids had a blast swimming, and the lake is already feeling pretty warm! Mac is a natural water-lover, always adventure seeking. Lola made leaps and bounds in the water. Dan and I were SO excited about her boost of confidence in the water. She was having such a great time practicing swimming with me, Dan and Andrew. She had the biggest grin on her face the entire time, which was the best part.

 Not quite sure about the new paddleboards yet, but we are easing the kids into them! I think they are going to love riding on these with us, and eventually learn how to paddle them on their own when they are older. Such a fun addition to the lake!

 Dan and Teal BBQed their own ribs for our 4th picnic. All the food was delicious!

 And the Uncle of the Year Award goes to.....Uncle Andrew sang some patriotic songs while he let the kids squirt him. Since we were pregnant with Lola, we always told Andrew that in a few years, our kids were going to have so much fun playing with him. They really do love him!

 Watching this kid LOVE steering the boat never gets old. It makes him so happy.

 The sparkler dance-off.

 Relaxing at Indian Beach with the gang.

 Girl time. Love having nothing to do but spend time with my sweet Lo.

 My All-American boy.

 Best picture of the trip. Best buds.

 His "thinking" look.

 I'm feeling a little more "full-figured" this summer ;) and loving it! haha

 Mac feeling comfortable on the paddleboard...success!

 Lola paddled around on her own for about 20 minutes before dinner. Dan kept calling her his little Pocahontas.

 

I love when it's late, but we can't stand to go inside for dinner because it is too beautiful to leave the lake. We swam until the sun went behind the mountains and then finally made our way inside. 

 Last night calls for campfires and s'mores, making it the kids favorite night!

Nana Time

One last bedtime story with Nana before her three week European adventure. The kids are very excited to take care of Meeko while she and Bub are gone.

 

I really do love how happy it makes the three of them to have story time together.

Country Beach

I pulled out the kiddie pool, hose, and water toys the other day for the kids to play and explore with. Our patio is so great, but is currently surrounded by dirt and weeds, which the kids quickly discovered is amazing to play with. Lola kept saying that they were at the "Country Beach" and made mud pies and mud castles. At the end of their adorable play time together, we had to hose off the patio a bit, and the kids ended up going straight to the bath tub because they had mud caked into their hair, ears, and in between their toes, but it was so entertaining and worth it!

Father's Day

Dan brought me breakfast in bed, but I thought he would love having breakfast on the brand new patio for Father's Day. It was a beautiful day for our first meal out there. Breakfast turned into a ball game. One of my favorite things is to watch id Dan playing with the Lola & Mac. Before we had kids, Dan always said that it was really important to have enough energy to be playful and keep up with  his kids. Now, they light up when he plays with them. He is such a good dad ;)

 We had our Father's Day backyard BBQ at Nana & Bub's. The kids were so excited to give Dan & Bub their gifts. It was a year of tools. We got a socket set and an impact driver for Bub. Dan got a shop vacuum and Hiking in Spokane book. Lola also gave Dan a cute bookmark she made in school with her footprint, along with several other pieces of artwork that she has been slowly creating and collecting for him. When I told Dan that she had been hiding these "treasures" for him under her bed for over a month, he laughed and said, "She is just like Gram!" who used to buy gifts throughout the year for people and stash them under her bed- sometimes remembering to give them to people and sometimes forgetting! It was a great, relaxing day. Happy Father's Day to both my dad, and my kids dad.