Pre-4th of July fun

 We were able to go out to the carnival site a day early and spend some time and money to go on some rides. Mason was immediately attracted to this gem of a ride. He is our adrenaline junky and we just couldn't refuse him his desire in this case. There were some kids from his school watching him go on and cheered him on a bit. It was pretty fun to have them realize that Mason does 'cool stuff' as well. He had a smile the whole time!!

 Bumper cars were on Carter's list of things to do that night. He was going to be leaving on his Year 4 school trip on the 4th and wasn't going to be celebrating with us, so he was extra thrilled to find out that we could go a day early and test the waters a bit. Brennan loved it a lot, but he does keep telling me that he wants to go with me next time. :) I can't tell a lie--there were some pretty amazing whiplash moments in these cars, the kids loved it.

 Helter Skelter is the name of this ride and it was more up the alley of Carter, Taylor, and Brennan. I tried to convince Carter to go with Mason and Dad on the bigger ride, but alas he liked being on the ground.

 Tea-Cups were enjoyed by Taylor and Brennan for their last ride of the night.

 Carter wanted to do the crazy house fun zone before we took of for the night to rush to his baseball game that night. Then the thrill of a life time happened--he got put in as catcher. I don't know that he is totally convinced that is the position for him, but he had a good go at it and mom was very proud.

Visitors from Austria

We have had such a fantastic albeit busy week. It started off with an old missionary coming back through to visit. Elder Jankowsky is like a big kid, and brought his sweet and packed full of fun wife! Samuel and Samira were a big ball of energy and amusement the whole time they were here, the kids didn't want them to leave! We went into the Bury St. Edmunds town centre to walk around and show Samira where Samuel had spent much of his time, besides our house. We walked through the cathedral and had fun searching through the kneeing cushions at the different names of towns and such found there. We found our village and then we laughed when Mike found, "Hoo".

Mike and Samuel had to do some climbing on the abbey ruins, and Mason wasn't going to let them have all the fun. What are we going to do with this kid when he expects us to help him up these things when he is a teenager!? Mason felt pretty special being the only kid (besides Cameron) playing around with the big kids. We also tried our first Cornish Pasty--it was yummy. I wish I would have gone into this shop sooner. I guess I have another thing for the visitors to try when they come see us. Any takers?

Now it is time for some FUN!! The drinking of Root Beer!(only sort of just kidding) We picked the kids up, drove by the pickle factory that Samuel needed to show us and Samira. He apparently would smell sauerkraut from the missionary flat quite often and it would make him wants some for days!  

Clearly you can see that our little Cameron is already quite mobile. He has to be belted into his stroller, or this will happen. Thanks to Samira for catching him in time!

 Taylor was absolutely smitten with having attention from Samira--I think she just loves having even more girls around!

I was informed from Carter that he had passed 100 before...it was just the first time he passed 100 points in the 8th frame. That is a correction from a previous post on Brennan's birthday.
However--big news this bowling trip--HOLLIE BEAT MIKE!!! Yup...that is my 141 against his 127--let's all just take a moment and enjoy this glorious moment, I know I did!
Brennan broke 100 for the first time! His score is 104--not the one highlighted in the picture.


Mason was having such a great time with Samuel. It was actually pretty funny to see his constantly hugging and laughing with him. I just had to grab my mighty mouse and get a picture, cause he really has been more ornery than happy as of late. It was good to see him filled with giggles.

Taylor and Carter messing around with Samuel's hat...She's so funny!

This is one reason why having big kids come and stay with you for a couple nights is so fun! We get to break rules about bed time, and have fights with the Nerf guns.

After all the kids had gone to bed this is what the grown-ups felt like! We were trying to get a picture of us 'sleeping' however, Hollie couldn't stop laughing and that had a ripple effect. So it was pretty funny to look back at the pictures--but I only shared one of the 10 that were taken. :) We love having people visit us and we are looking forward to returning the favor when we visit them in Austria. Get ready guys!

Baseball

 Carter has started playing baseball this summer and although the season is short and he is going to be missing a couple games because of trips planned, but he is enjoying every second. He was able to have a go at pitching during his first game and did pretty well. We especially loved his fist pump into the air after he struck out his first batter.

Mason loved cheering on his little brother--and stealing Mike's beret.