:) :) :)

I love my three sweet monkeys...

 I was feeling brave one day and took all 4 kids swimming by myself.  Besides Smith's blowout swim diaper, it all went well.  They wore me out, but we all had fun.  Zane and Emmy got to have two straight weeks of lessons and loved every minute of them.

 We went to the Butterfly Pavilion with Judi and Bob on morning.  They got to hold Rosie the Tarantula.

 Counting bees

 Feeling the Starfish

 Snack time with Bob

 Emmy loved the butterflies

 They tried holding really still to see if the butterflies would land on them.

 Later that night, we went to Casa Bonita with family for the start of our family reunion.  All of the Heugel clan came for the entire weekend.  The kids loved Casa Bonita, especially the cave divers.  Smith was completely mesmerized by the divers. I have almost never seen him as excited and enthusiastic about anything.  He told the story to everyone over and over... "He went in the WATER! I got all wet!" Black Bart's cave was still too scary.

 Puppet Show

 Molly was happy to see her cousin

 Then, the next day, we got to hang out at a park all day.

 Our family made this awesome box town for the kids...

 Zane and Smith were helping Grandpa Dave  and Anthony set up some games

 Lunch with cousins at our house

 We had everyone over - here's a lot of the family in our backyard

 We played baseball in the backyard too - and the three princesses came to play too.

 When Zane and Emmy were at swim lessons, Smith and Molly and I hung out.  Sometimes we swam but sometimes we just sat and waited. This was a waiting day...

 Zane tackled the diving board...

 Just a cutie - Smith was pretending he was driving to McDonald's to pick us up some dinner.

 I just took this picture one day at lunch to show what our normal meals looks like. Molly is getting so big - she eats pretty much most of the same food as our kids now.

 Molly and Smith were playing together in our backyard in the water table

 Shower time!

 We have an awesome trail really close to our house, right behind our neighborhood.  The kids call it hiking, even though it's pretty much just a walk.  It has awesome views and we love it.  This day, we brought Molly along too.

 Smith was fussing and crying for most of the walk - we finally figured out it was because he wanted to be in the backpack instead of Molly.

4th of July and Zane's Birthday Week

We had a LOT going on last week.  We had family in town and also around the whole week, we had two birthday parties, Grandma Fran's memorial service, and a ton of other outings.  I loved having my great-aunt Marni stay with us the entire week.  She is so awesome and fun to be around and it was great having another adult around all week. We'll miss her!

These events are all out of order, but oh well.

First, pictures from Zane's birthday lunch with family, on his actual birthday, the 4th. We had over 20 people come to celebrate our big boy turning 6. He is just the best little dude.  Man, he is just so special.  We love him so much. I could go on and on about him but mostly I just feel lucky to be his Mommy.

We had a pizza party at Old C's.






Grandma and Grandpa with Emmy Girl

I like how Emmy and Molly are eye-balling the dessert. :)

 Opening presents.  This was the first year that he got a couple of gift cards as gifts. He was SO excited about it. He also got a bunch of other super thoughtful and awesome gifts!

 Here is is with his new guitar and backpack loaded up with gifts.

 On the 5th, we went to the Cherry Creek Arts Festival with Marni, Janelle, and Anthony.  It was so darn hot and we were all wiped from being out so late the night before for fireworks.  But I love going to those kind of things so we had to go and I thought it was fun.

 So wiped out!

 Art project - Smith was double and triple dipping his paint brush into the paint, glue, and seeds.

 He had paint all over himself.

 Marni also helped us this week to clean out and work on our backyard.  She taught the kids how to weed and they helped her out for a while.

 They also found a new app that they all loved and played on all week.

 Zane and Emmy playing with his new Mario Brothers Chess game.

 Now, these are pictures from the beginning of the week at Zane's birthday party with friends.  He decided that he wanted to bowl for his birthday.  I thought it was funny since we had only been twice ever, but he was set on it.

Licking his lips for his Lego cake.  He decorated it with Legos himself.

 I put all of these next ones up because I love that he was just cracking up!  It was so cute how joyful he was.

 Smith, on the other hand, was feeling horrible.  It was the beginning of his Hand Foot and Mouth disease.  He had it for several days - a fever, rash, and terrible sores in his mouth.  He basically stopped eating and drinking for days and just felt miserable.  Poor guy! It ended up that Zane had it too, but we just didn't know it yet.

 The birthday table

 Bowling with his buddy Zach

 Emmy celebrating

 We got to see the back of the bowling alley and learn how everything works.  It was cool!

 One day when the weather was a little cooler, we went to the Denver Zoo.  We never get sick of going there.  We love it. Smith is really starting to notice a lot more and it makes it more fun all over again.

 Dippin Dots with Marni and Aunt Nell

 We also squeezed a playdate in during the middle of the week. Our buddies Kai and Addie came over and they all played great together.  The spent a bunch of time outside.  They had goldfish and smoothies for a snack and were as happy as can be.

 Lounging

 Oh these two princesses were cute!

 Wii with Marni and Smith!

 These guys love working at the desk, working on everything they can think of.

 One day we went to a park and then McDonalds for lunch.

 I LOVE THIS PICTURE during our walk one night

 These next pictures are of Zane's actual birthday.  That morning, we all went out for donuts for breakfast and then later, after our big lunch, had some down time when we just got to hang out. Zane opened our present.  He's been begging for Sculpy, a clay he used in school, and he was happy to get it.

 So we made beads for necklaces for the day.  Baked them and wore them.

 That night, we went to Broomfield Commons for the activities and fireworks.  Judi and Bob joined us since they live super close to us now!! :)

Petting Zoo -
Smith was a little cautious at first but then warmed up really quickly

 He went for it!

 Happy girl

 These next four pics crack me up. I love the way Smith looks up at Zane.

 

 Smith was a maniac on the bounce houses - all over the place

 Waiting in line

 Judi and Bob were waiting at the bottom, watching Z and E come down a big slide

 Waiting for fireworks...

 This is a pic I took while watching the fireworks - just look at that happy face. :)  I love it.