Boat is out, summer is here.

Boating is one of the best parts of summer to us. 

Fortunately, our kids agree.  

And even better than that, we have a lake literally across the street from our house.

Have we mentioned how much we love our new house and location here???

Life lately in pictures.

Here are a few pictures from our week.  It was a wonderful week filled with deepening friendships, being brave, cooking, dinner with 3 families and lots of playtime at home.   

Clara also thought it was fun to drink out of the dog bowl and was proud of herself for finding a way to get around the whole "mom told me I couldn't have my own cup of water" thing.

The kids got a new bed!  Cole is sleeping on top and the girls are sometimes sharing the bottom.  On nights that they want their own space, we have a small mattress we slide underneath like a trundle and pull it out for Elise.  The girls love being out of their cribs and they are settling in well.  The first two nights they played for almost two hours before falling asleep but after that things have gotten better!

The chapel staff went on a hike and I thought I would make cookies for them to take.  It turns out when the directions say don't crowd the baking sheet, they are right.  Who knew? 

My loves.

The kids and I went to breakfast and on a hike with another chaplain wife and had the best time!  Their favorite part was playing in the freezing water!  Cole also collected about 19 sticks, or "staffs" to bring home so that he can play Pharaoh and Moses as well as chase cows.  

Sounds like a good reason to me.

The girls insisted on wearing their kimonos, or "kick momos" on Friday which my sister bought them.

I may or may not have forced them to hug and look extra adorable when posing for this picture.   

We also went to a local rodeo this weekend with some friends that was a blast.  Cole had fun rolling up and down the hill in the grass and dirt in between events. 

And Clara Beth enjoyed drinking Cole's beloved snow cone when he wasn't looking.  

Happy weekend!

Elise and her babies.

Elise has really gotten into playing with her baby dolls more recently and I captured a few moments on video.  If you can't understand her, don't worry, we can't yet either :)

Moms Day pictures.

Brenner snapped a few pictures of me and the kids yesterday and I am in love with them. They represent our life so well: hugs, wiggles, crazy faces, smiles and love. And totally imperfect!  I am one blessed mama!  

Grandparents.

Grandparents are the best!  We got to see my parents when we went to LA and even though it was only for two days, it was so much fun getting to be with them.
We hate having our family so far away!
Even though the kids have some funny looks on their faces, I adore these photos!

Beach time.

We went to a wedding down in the LA area a couple of weeks ago (which I will talk more about later this week) but we left a day early so that we could hang out on the beach!  We stayed at a local Navy base where they had beach front rooms and after a late night of driving, having a lazy morning playing the sand was a lot of fun. 

Brenner and I had really been looking forward to some time to sit back and relax on the beach......

but then we remembered we have three kids and that idea went out the window.  

We did do a lot of digging, sand castle building and bulldozing.  We also saw a whale, dolphins and sea lions out in the water which was really amazing.  And we saw a live sand dollar with his face still on him...really weird looking.  

Anyway, here are some cute pictures of my beach babies!

Life lately.

Here are a few pictures of our life this over the last week.
Cole decided to waterproof his bike since there was a chance of rain on Tuesday.

Playing a little baseball.

Enjoying a special treat after lunch.

Going on an after dinner walk.

We went to the dentist and Cole had his first real solo cleaning (he had just been going with me to my dentist before that). He told them the light was bright and he needed some shades for his sensitive eyes.

My happy boy!

My cool chaplain.

Second walk this week was not quite so exciting.  Probably because I took away their pacifiers!