Pucker Up!

Have you ever looked at a walleye up close?  

Now you have!

Nick caught this one a couple weeks ago - he was delicious!

Lake Fun

I really had intended to post much more often this summer, but there aren't enough hours.  Obviously the kids are home all the time, so we're often off to their activities, bowling, at the library, or playing at a park. (It's our mission this summer to visit every park and decide which is the best.)  When we are home, we're playing outside or I'm tending to the few plants I've been able to keep alive!  Hopefully there will be a post on that to come.  The dishes, laundry, and sweeping of sand just doesn't ever quit so when I do have a little free time, I usually don't feel like blogging.  So yes, I know I've been very bad at updating, but we are having a blast this summer and I wish I had the time to tell you about it all!  Here are some recent pictures from our weekends at the lake.

I've mentioned how much Nick and I love to wake surf - well Mackenzie asked to try it this year!  Nick wasn't going to tell her no, so he held onto the board and she went from her tummy to hands and knees.  As you can tell, she loved it!

She's definitely our dare-devil!  Both kids also tried water skiing, but both fell and held on to the rope longer than they should have and ended up swallowing a bunch of water.  It scared them both so while they both did great, they haven't wanted to try it again.

Mackenzie happily waters the dock with her little watering can.

She never liked this little floatie/boat thing when she was little, but wanted to paddle around in it last weekend.  We discovered that she was too heavy when she ripped a huge hole in it and it sank like a rock.

The raft Nick made survived the winter and gets lots of use every weekend.

Mackenzie likes the slide this year, but prefers just to jump off the raft into the water.

Ace and Jack will fetch a tennis ball it the water all day long.  Seriously, I don't think they would ever quit - it would take a heart attack to stop them!  Here the ball the close enough to the dock that they didn't just jump right in, they had to stare at it a while.

Ace is ready!

And Ace goes for the dive!

We've been battling some back talk from our little Mr. lately.  He discovered that you will still get a time out on the beach for talking back to Mom and Dad!

Kenzie and Daddy

She's been wearing this head band thing - called the Ear Band-It - overtop an ear plug to keep water out of her ear.  3 years ago she had tubes put in her ears and we haven't had any ear problems since then.  Except around Easter this past year when her left ear started draining.  We had it checked and she had an ear infection on the side that still has a tube.  (the other one fell out over a year ago)  After a couple rounds of antibiotics over a couple months, we're still having issues.  Turns out her tube is a little crooked, like it's working it's way out, so it's not draining properly.  It's imperative that we keep water out of her ear so it can drain and heal properly.  We couldn't keep her from swimming all summer, so a silicone ear plug and the Ear Band-It have been the perfect solution.  She likes wearing them too, so that's a huge relief for us!

We gave Rylan a fauw-hawk just for the weekend.  He needed a hair-cut so Nick just trimmed the sides and left the middle long.  I liked how it looked, but Nick didn't so off it went.

Mackenzie definitely has Brown lake blood in her.  After lunch, instead of asking for dessert she requests "chips and cheese" on the lounge chair.  Love her!

Sweet Baby Ace - almost 9 years old

Wake surfing!

Show off ;)

We have some good video from our GoPro camera so hopefully I'll actually get that on here one day.  (I still plan to post Big Sky skiing videos)

Like Father, like daughter!

Our little fish

Grandma was taking these pictures and when she told Mackenzie to pose - she got this!

Ball Games

Both Rylan and Mackenzie have been loving their ball games this summer.  Mackenzie loves the social aspect and Rylan is seeing his own improvement and is really enjoying becoming a better player.  I not only enjoy watching them, but the weather this summer has been amazing and that makes it all the more fun!  Here are some photos of their practices/games.

The girls running the bases making animal noises. (Mackenzie in pink shorts)

Learning the proper technique for catching

She's ready!

Then she saw me taking photos and stopped for a pose - such a girl - I love it!

Up to bat!

And she whacks it!

They did a little relay race - first was spinning around on the bat before running to 1st base.

I think they only had to spin twice, but check out the look on her face!  I crack up every time I look at this one!  

This was a different day, but she was running her heart out!

 We have about 15 minutes between their practices, so it's a great time to play on the playground.  Here Mackenzie and a friend were on this swing and Rylan wound them up and let them go.  They had a great ride, but good thing they were hanging on...

because it about whipped Mackenzie right off - she thought it was the best!

Rylan up to bat!

He whacks it too!

Waiting on first base

A different day - same stance, but now fielding at first.

Shaking hands

Go Phillies!

Mackenzie and friend Ruby come along to watch their big brothers, but don't do much watching - they had so much fun running around together!

Growing Girl!

Here is Mackenzie's quilt picture on her 4th birthday.

And here she is on her 5th birthday - check out how far those legs hang over now!  

Then I was trying to get a nice photo of her sitting up and I realized she consistently gives me 3 looks in front of the camera.

Crazy eyes

Cheese face

The perfect laughing smile

We practiced different faces and then Rylan wanted in on the action.

Crazy eyes

Cheese face

Perfect laughing smile