July

4th of July Fun

We went to our usual spot to watch the fireworks in Spirit Lake. We took a picnic dinner and met Jared at the park to eat. Then we let the kids play down by the water for a while which they always enjoy. Then we played Uno and some ball games for a bit. When it started getting darker, we brought out the sparklers but it was a bit too windy to really play with them. Then we settled down on our blankets and waited for the fireworks. 

The kids in their red, white and blue.

Learning how to skip rocks on the water.

Playing in the lake

Playing some ball.

Waiting for it to get dark.

Sparklers

The next day (Saturday) we went on another picnic at a different lake. We took our raft and blew that up to row around in. We thought it would be big enough for all of us but it turns out it's not really. But it was fun for a bit. We also took the kid's fishing poles to let them try to catch fish but they got nothing.

Out in the raft. The older kids liked it enough but Makai was not a fan.

Carter hoping to catch something. He was the most excited about trying to fish.

Kaliya and Laken taking their turns. We forgot bait and ended up using hotdogs. Apparently fish don't like them.

Time for a food break

We took the kids out separately in the raft. I didn't get any good pictures of Kaliya or Carter because I took them out but here's one of Laken and Jared. They went out much farther in the lake.

Random fun with the kids

Took Carter shopping one day and he did it all by his self, from putting things in the cart to putting them on the belt and back into his cart.
Also he is a random, silly boy sometimes. He loves stuff. And one day it turned out to be goggles and a mixing spoon. And what else would you do with them?

Carter drew a picture for grandma. It's a picture of him dressed as Mr. Brown and Laken dressed as the Grinch (Dr. Seuss characters from dress-up day at school) and gramma in the middle.
One afternoon the boys had a water fight with Jared.

Laken loves when I take pictures of him with Misty.

Makai enjoying the water fully clothed and trying to blow bubbles.

Couch fort. This is what happens when you have 3 kids who all want their own fort but you don't have enough couch cushions for each of them to do one on the floor. They got small cubby forts instead but still had fun watching their movie.

Playground fun

Jared's University of Okoboji Triathlon

Jared and Mike (a friend from church) did the triathlon. I can't remember the distances or his times for each but he started with a swim in the lake, then rode his bike around the lake then ended with a run. I wanted to be there when he started and be able to see him at different spots around the route but with 4 little kids and myself it was too much work and started too early. So we found a spot to wait for him on the bike ride and then went to the finish line to wait for him to cross on foot. Thankfully Mike's wife was able to get a few pictures of him along the way. Overall I believe his time was just over 2 hours. He wished he hadn't taken quite as long in the transition from swim to bike so he could've finished in under 2 hours. But it was his first time doing a triathlon so he learned for next time (if he does it again). Either way, I'm proud of him. It's certainly something I couldn't do.

Before and after shots with Mike.

Jared's cheering squad.

Biking and running.

Afterwards with the family.

More kid fun

Kaliya loves Makai and Makai loves Kaliya.
Kaliya has also started to love wearing dresses. This cute pink and blue flower one was the start of it all. She loves twirling in it. Pretty much since then, she has wanted to wear a dress during the days.

Having fun jumping on our little trampoline.

Carter jumping on the tramp.
Apparently one day Makai thought it would be fun to sneak outside with his siblings and play in the pool and dirt. He was super muddy and soaked when I went to get him.

Carter drew a map to some treasure by his self. Laken thought it was a good idea and did his own.