Happy Fourth!

We celebrated our freedom this year by hiking Konza. Some of us did it in Sunday attire. 

Awwww. Sisters.

I'm loving Madelyn's festival hair.

Walking the line.

Rory pontificating.

The views were gorgeous. I mean, they always are but the lighting that day really made the green pop.

Injury pills.

Lily's eating a pretzel face. It's hard when you don't have chomping teeth.

I tried taking a selfie but my arms are not as long as Dad's. The cute part got cut out.

We found a spot of prairie covered with these caterpillars.

Madelyn and Lily checking out said spot.

Looking at a pretty prickly poppy.

Another injury pill break.

Madelyn was a super trooper and walked the whole thing. (For the first time ever!) Lily, however, got tired toward the end.

That evening we did fireworks. Little ones.

Lily looooved it. She screamed the whole time. But not sad screams. Pure joy.

Trying to figure out a popper.

Big sister showing her how.

Happy pyro Dad.

Happy Birthday Madelyn!!

Madelyn turned 4 this week! How'd that happen? She was pretty excited about it and asked every day for the week leading up to it how many more days there were until her birthday. So when her birthday finally rolled around she was ecstatic.

Being sung to.

The presents! Thank you to all the wonderful grandparents! She loved everything.

We had a little cupcake party after dinner that some of her besties came to. These are the pinkest cupcakes I've ever seen but she loved them.

She was one happy birthday girl.

Summer

Our favorite splash pad is broken! Luckily we've got mud and sprinklers to keep us occupied.

Family Bike Ride

We took the girls out this morning for a ride on the Linear Trail.We stopped at the train bridge to throw rocks and jump.

Madelyn jumps.

Lily jumps.

Rory jumps.

Ok, we all jumped. Blurrily. And if you look really close we've got a reluctant photo bomber.

We also stopped to look at cotton coming off the cotton wood trees. Oh my sssssinussessss.

Wandering around.

Telling us she's about to stomp these plants.

We also stopped to eat some mulberries off a massive mulberry tree we found. They'll be even better in a week or two when they're all the way ripe.

Working With Dad

Rory's been busy getting his projects all set up lately. A few weeks ago he had to go out Sunday morning to put a water sensor in before more storm rolled through so we went with him.

We brought energy pills in the form of chocolate Neccos.

What attractive children I have. This is Lily's eating a Necco face.

And Madelyn's.

Rory's rain out shelters.

Helping Dad fill in the dirt around his sensor.

Rory found a millipede and Lily did not approve.

But Madelyn thought it was cool.

Glamping

We took the girls camping this weekend and mostly had a great time! We met up with some friends at the campground and did a little hike before dinner. While the big people made dinner the littles got to play at the park.

Madelyn was fascinated by this lady bug.

Super excited about the fake zip line she just did.

And here she is actually on it.

Lily had a great time going up and down the playground stairs but would not go down the slides. She gave me a 'you're crazy!' look every time I tried to coax her down one.

The night was a little rough but at least I didn't end up at Denny's at 3 in the morning. Madelyn suddenly decided she was scared of the dark and woke up every hour or so freaking out about spider webs and shadows. Lily just didn't want to be in the tent but she calmed down around midnight. The next morning we tried to make pancakes but found out our stove was broken. Bummer. Luckily we were 10 minutes from our house so we just packed up and had pancakes in the comfort of our own home.

Lily and I got the cushy tent. We slept on an air mattress. 

Aaaand I'm done camping with kids for the next few years. I like my sleep.