Goodbye Summer

Mornings with Daddy are the best

More birthdays at Chuck E. Cheese.  We can't seem to stay away.

Face painting at school.  A rainbow unicorn, not at all girly. 

Margot loves to taunt Cooper. 

The pose

Chinese dresses from Grandma Ellsmore-all the way from China!

You come for the baseball.   I come for the cotton candy. 

Backyard fun

Happy Father's Day!

Happy 4th of July!

Relay race

Margot and Austin

Chariton pool

What cute cousins!

She wasn't too sure about the waterfall action. 

But she loved just sitting and relaxing in the water!

Aunt and nieces

Playing around at Eden's playground

We are part Dutch after all

Awesome trip to Pella

Cousins playing

Glenwood Springs motel pool

Bunny cakes

Riding the gondola to the top of the mountain

The view from the caves 

Ice Cream!!

We hiked to beautiful Hanging Lake!  

The chipmunk was almost a stow-away with us

This hike was a straight one mile climb up

Because this bench was pretty and our girls are cute

Bubble solution is delicious

Highland Square

Margot called this train "the silly Thomas"

I say it every year but this year I truly mean it.  We had a great summer that went way, way too fast. I do think it was the perfect summer.  Lots of family, lots of friends, lots of fun.  We had visits from Grandma and Grandpa Ellsmore (not one, not two but three days of Cardinal games).  We also had a visit from the Smiths for the 4th.   They were so much help while we were crazy enough to through our 4th of July party with 30 plus guests.

The girls and I had fun on our 10 day trip to Iowa, which is quite possibly Lucy's favorite place on Earth.  She loved spending time with Cousin Eden and swimming daily at the pool.  A big thank you to Aunt Amber for taking the girls most days while I was away or home with napping Margot.  Our trip to Pella was quaint.  The girls liked walking the canals and seeing the windmills.  And of course the treats from Jaarsma Bakery.

A huge summer highlight was our family trip to Glenwood Springs.  We finally decided we could venture out on a real vacation with both girls.  Despite the lack of sleep (motels and Margot just don't quite gel yet) we couldn't have had a better trip.  Day one we spent at the Glenwood Springs Adventure park, AKA old timey Colorado-y amusement park for kids.  Lucy is a giant dare devil with zero fear.  She rode the alpine slide multiple times full throttle with Daddy.  Meanwhile Margot and I enjoyed the sandbox.  Lucy also rode a zipline and roller coaster.  Margot and I were still in the sandbox.  Even though Margot couldn't ride much I think she had a blast, especially when we got ice cream.

Day two was breakfast out, pool time at the hotel, a hike to gorgeous Hanging Lake and then dinner at the brewery for Brian's 41st.  Oh and more ice cream.  The ride home was about 5 hours long though due to traffic but it's always nice to remind us why we don't drive to Iowa.

In two days I'm back to work and in a week and a half Lucy will start Kindergarten.  It's all a blur but I know my future blog posts will be full of more great memories.