the fair

It has been a family tradition to head down to my hometown's county fair every year.  Not only do I love going, but now the girls are getting excited each year fair time comes around.  This year, the weather was perfect and we got to make many trips out there with family and friends!  It's fun to run into old classmates and people from town I haven't seen in awhile.  It was a great week and we are officially exhausted!

family pictures

Last weekend, we went to visit my college roommate and her cute little family.  We grilled, chatted, played, chatted some more and then she took pictures for us!  She has always had a good eye for photography and does it just for fun.  We always love how her pictures turn out.  Here's a few of my favorites:

And no, we did not have a son...that is Tricia's adorable little boy.  He also had a "Boys Rule" shirt on in honor of our three lovely ladies.

raindrops keep fallin' on my head...

Last evening, we finally got a good, soaking rain.  The girls had been outside playing before it rained, so we decided to let them stay out while the rain started coming down hard.  It's not often they get to do this...so we thought it would be fun to let them splash and get wet!

splish splash

A few weeks back, I bought a slip 'n slide for the girls to use this summer.  They all love it!  It's nice because the kiddie pool is usually too cold to swim in....even on the hottest days.  I usually forget to fill it in the morning and have it sit out all day to warm up, so the slip 'n slide is a fun way for the girls to cool off without freezing.  Even Ella likes to splash in the little pools of water from it.  Miriam and Abbie have also been taking swimming lessons this week, so they are getting lots of time in the water!

lately

Sorry for the lack if blog posts lately, but we've been playing outside...doing all sorts of summer things!  I feel like I've been soaking in every moment possible this summer because it many ways (like all the way through May), I wasn't even sure if summer would get here!  But here it is...and here we are:

First day of summer and 17 months old

Our darling Ella turned 17 months old on the first day of summer.  Here are some recent pictures my parents took of her when she stayed with them a few weeks ago.  These 17 months have flown by!