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.

Carter's Tenor Horn

 This last week Carter had a special concert day with his class and 5 other schools to play their tenor horn or trombone. Carter has been learning the tenor horn in school this year, and he is taking to it quite well. When or if he practices he gets better and better.(what a shock) They learned the basic notes and learned a lot about rhythm, music, etc.. Carter didn't want to spend all day at this theatre, however he said he had a good time. I'm pretty sure he envisioned them playing the tenor horn all day non-stop. The theatre was a newly built venue and was an interesting set-up. Obviously I was on the balcony and you can't really see it straight on...so we got these weird pictures of the day as a result.

 Carter's class played "Hot Cross Buns" for their solo piece, but this is a picture of them doing a song they learned on the day.

Clearing up and headed home! Carter is headed to middle school next school year(Sept) and we are enjoying these last few weeks of primary school with him....he's getting old! :)

Bren-10 Fat-Man

 Brennan Guy is 4 years old!! Brennan has been looking forward to this day for quite some time, mostly because he wants to start swimming lessons with the big kids. :)
 Compliments go out to Mike, Carter, Mason, and Cameron for a fabulous job decorating the house while Brennan, Taylor, and myself were out getting pizza for Brennan's birthday dinner. Mason had been so excited to to give Brennan's gift to him. Mason was with me when I went shopping and kept throwing things in the cart...some for him, some for Brennan. We had a little birthday party for him at our house before his friend party on Saturday.

 A week ago the kids had their summer fete for the school and Carter saw a little shield that he picked up for Brennan for his birthday. He also gave him a new book mark, and some of his old sunglasses. In this picture he is reading the card he made, Carter really is a sweet big brother most of the time.

A new baseball bat!

 On Saturday we went to the bowling alley to celebrate with a few friends of Brennan's. Brennan loves bowling and can't get enough of the lanes.

Captain America cake for the birthday boy.

 SILLY FACES--it really is the only way to get a cute picture of this many children--Mason was to worried about the ice cream to come get in the picture. :)

 While we were singing.....Brennan thought we were silly. We sure love you Brennan and all your silliness. Brennan was gaining the nickname Bren-10 some time back. We were at the dinner table and all the children were talking about nicknames. Out of the blue, Brennan says, "my name is Bren-10 Fat-Man." What?!?! We all thought it was so funny that he added fat man to the end. He will correct us sometimes if we don't call him that. I know eventually he won't want to be called that, I decided putting it on his cake was a must for the memory alone. Brennan is a sweet little boy with a lot of energy. He loves going to preschool and he also loves his home days. He always wants me to go to the park with him. He enjoys walking down the road to a local sandwich shop and getting an egg sandwich. Brennan loves to look through his book of sounds/letters and tell me all their sounds. He also loves for me to read to him. The love of cars, especially ones that are fast, are deep in his heart. He is always on the go, even when he thinks he wants to watch a movie he generally doesn't last unless it is night time and he is finally tired. Bren-10 Fat Man--we LOVE YOU!!

Carter was thrilled to pieces that he broke 100 in his bowling game on the 8th frame. I'm not sure what he ended up with in the end because he started a new game before he let me see, but he was thrilled. Out of his mouth, "Mom, I didn't think I would break 100 points until I was over 10 years old--and I'm 9!"
Also, I love this picture of Mason. We just love how he looks in hats, but he won't wear them. I put this one on his head and he actually left it there for about 2 minutes. I got the camera and he immediately started taking it off--but I was faster!