Another month!

Sit down and grab your favorite beverage....you're going to be here awhile.  It's been a busy and fun filled month!  

On Charlie's birthday, we headed down to the riverwalk in Naperville.  Our plan was to get some family photos and let Charlie do a cake smash.  Unfortunately, the weather was a little cool, and I don't think he was feeling the greatest, so we got a couple pictures and then headed to the park for a picnic dinner.  

This boy loves to swing....but it's just WRONG that he needed a fleece jacket on his birthday....in JUNE!

The day after his birthday, we headed to the zoo.  My mom came along, and we had a great day.  I was so amazed at how much Charlie noticed all of the animals.  He'd spot them before we did sometimes!

Reese has gotten REALLY good at doing her puzzles lately.  It's so fun to see how proud she is when she finishes them without any help!

Jacqi and the kids came home for a couple weeks, and Brian joined for a few days as well.  It was great to see them!

Austin found this pirate ship at a garage sale, and he was crazy about it!

Reese would swing all day long on the swings under my mom and dad's deck if you let her.

I made Matt his annual Father's Day photo:

We had a super busy day on Father's Day, but ended with a relaxing cookout at Matt's parents.  Reese learned how to swing a bat.  The look of pride on her face when she made contact was priceless.  

This had all the makings of a really beautiful photo.....oh well.

During the visit from the Floridians, Charlie got to take his first swim.  He loved it.  And he really loved climbing in and out of the pool repeatedly. 

Mom really wanted a photo of her and dad with all of the grandkids.  Charlie was already in his pajamas, but we snapped a quick one before he hit the sack. 

Why couldn't this moment have happened when I was in front of them instead of behind?  For one, if he's hugging her, I'm sure it looks adorable.  And if he's trying to strangle her, I should have stopped it!

Reese and Austin played a pretty adorable game of catch.

A little love for Bailey on her 11th birthday!!!

Charlie loved the slide at my mom's house.

But as you can tell from this mischievous look on his face, he had a better idea...

And the grand finale to their visit....a quadruple bath. 

Gal Pal and her bike.

My handsome Charlie Bear:

And my gorgeous little monkey:

And we've finally made it to July....do you need to refill your drink yet?   

The 4th of July was a busy day as well.  Reese and I went shopping all day, and then we all had a cookout that night.  Charlie enjoyed his all American feast, complete with watermelon and corn on the cob. 

After dinner, we met up with Jordan, Olivia, Audrina, and Beckett to watch the fireworks.  The kiddos had fun playing while we waited for it to get dark.

Have I mentioned how much these two make my heart melt?  They are CRAZY about each other!!!!!!

I really didn't know how Charlie would do with the fireworks.  They're loud and they're 2 hours past his bedtime.  Well, it turns out, he LOVES them!!!!!!!!!

And so does his best bud. :)

The girls had SO much fun.

And so did I. :)

We got this little ride on bike for Charlie for his birthday.  He's been getting really frustrated with it. 

But we took his shoes off, and it solved the problem!  His sandals kept tripping him up!

Since we're gluttons for punishment, we decided to do round 2 of fireworks with the Andersons again on Sunday night in Sandwich.  

The kids were getting SO tired while we waited.

They even took a break from running to chill with some screen time.

And finally, the show started.

That's it!  If you hung in there this long, I hope you enjoyed the update!!!