July in Review

I have no idea where the month of July went. It just flew right by us! We are heading to Springfield Missouri this weekend to see some more family, so I will post those pictures when I get back. In the mean time, enjoy the 5-6 posts for July that I finally got posted! We hope everyone is having a great summer!!! Make sure to click Older Posts at the bottom, I think I filled up the whole first page. =)

Pictures in the Park

Since all of the cousins were together, we wanted to get some "formal" pictures of them with Grandma and Grandpa so we decided to head to the Sunken Gardens. It was quite hot and humid, and by the end the kids were hot and grumpy, but we were able to get some good pictures! Here are just a few of them.

Braxton and Lilly were checking out the fish in the pond!

All of the cousins!

Family Picture

I just wanted to post this picture, I thought it turned out great!

Cousins Cousins Cousins!

This week, Chad's sister from North Carolina drove here for a vacation and his niece and nephew are here from South Dakota so we have been spending lots of time with cousins! Saturday we went to the Shrine Bowl parade and I think the kids had a good time! They got popsicles and a few pieces of candy! Saturday afternoon we went to a celebration at Miller's house and there we cousins gallore there! It was a great time had by all. After the party, we all headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's to sit in the hot tub and make s'mores. Sunday we went swimming at Grandma Virginia's and had some more bomb pops! Sunday evening Grandma Mimi and Papa Mike came to town to spend the week with the kids since our daycare is off this week. It was been great so far, but exhausting!

Cousins at the parade!

Almost all of the Samek Great Grandkids (I think)

All of the Dalton Grandkids

This picture turned out pretty good, but it was quite entertaining getting the kids to smile!

Cousins on the hammock!

Everyone say "Popsicle!"

Heritage Days!

We headed back to Heritage Days this year in Alliance. The real reason we went back was to go to the Drive-In, but wouldn't you know it, the only movie playing at the drive-in "Up" is the only movie we have seen in the theatres in months! Go figure! We did some rides at the carnival, went to the parade, played with Grandma in her pool and had a great time!

Braxton jumping into the pool!

Braxton and Grandma Mimi on the ferris wheel.

Lilly really hated these race cars and tried to get out while they were still going.

Braxton & Daddy going down the big slide.

Braxton being goofy!

Caught ya! I knew you liked your sister!

I think Lilly was using a rock as a phone here. Not sure.

Lilly's favorite ride is always the "ponies" or carousel!

Getting Ready for School

This month they had the uniform sales at Martyrs. Braxton is all set for Kindergarten in the fall! He looks so grown up, I can't believe my baby will be in Kindergarten. We will find out who his teacher is in a few weeks. He will be going all day every day. It will be quite a switch from preschool, but he is excited and I am sure he will do great!

T-Ball

This year Braxton was on a pre-k T-ball team called the United! It was so cute to watch! Braxton spent most of his time talking to the other team and his own team, and he didn't have much "hurry up and go" when it was time to play, but he really enjoyed it! Lilly made friends with the little brother of one of Braxton's teammates so a good time was had by all.

Learning to swim!

We have had a great accomplishment this summer! Braxton has learned to swim! We go to Grandma Virginia's pool pretty frequently during the summer, but Braxton is always afraid to swim without his ring. One night we decided to see if Braxton could touch in the shallow end and he could! He was so excited! After that we were teaching him to blow bubbles and such in the pool. Next thing we know he is going underwater without holding his nose and keeping his eyes open! By the end of the night, he was running and jumping into the pool! It was amazing. He was swimming through Chad's legs underwater. He LOVES the pool now and keeps asking when we can go back so he can practice. This July has been so chilly that we haven't had a chance to swim too much. Hopefully August will be warmer!

4th of July

We hope everyone had a great 4th of July! We were able to enjoy the festivities at Dalton's 3rd of July party. However, as much hope as I had that braxton would like fireworks, it just wasn't that way. Lilly & Braxton spent most of the evening in the basement watching movies. They were OK by themselves though, so Chad and I were able to socialize and enjoy the fireworks. It rained like crazy, but they were able to light some fireworks off in between rain showers!

On the 4th of July we spent the day swimming and hanging out around the house. That evening we were able to convince the kids to go watch the fireworks on the hill by our house. We can't hear the "boom" just see the pretties! Braxton actually really enjoyed them and Lilly started telling everyone "fireworks not scary". Lilly eventually fell asleep in the car and we headed home! We were able to watch the city fireworks Sunday on the hill also, it was pretty exciting! Maybe next year the kids will be outside for the festivities, but we are getting there!

I don't have any pictures this time, I'm not sure why not!

Dalton Family Reunion!

At the end of June, we had a Dalton family reunion weekend! Chad's Uncle Mike and Aunt Kitty as well as their kids Liam and Terry. Also, Chad's cousins Matthew and Vanessa came to town with their kids. It was a great weekend! The kids swam, even though the water was a little chilly! They caught lightning bugs! Lilly was very bummed that we couldn't bring the lighting bugs home. =(

Here are a few pictures from our weekend!

Lilly has discovered that she LOVES bomb pops!

Braxton really enjoyed being thrown in the air!

Braxton and Oskar swimming in the pool!