Last night, we went to the Vera Bradley work picnic at the Fort Wayne TinCaps. They've had it there the last few years, but it is usually on a weekend afternoon. The game started at 7 (with the dinner before at 5:45), so we knew that the kids (esp Lucy) would not last that long. It was a hot night and we were ready to leave around 8. After the kiddos were in bed, Curt and I sat down to watch the Olympics. I love watching the Olympics, but I wish they would get done closer to my bed time! It's sad that I want to go to bed by 10:30, but my kids do NOT sleep in. I can't even remember a time that Ben slept until 8. We are usually up by 6/6:30 around here. Oh well, I'll just have to drink more coffee until the Olympics ends. :) 

We spent a few days last week visiting with my family. Curt was gone most of the days playing in a golf tournament with his friend Derek. That was the main reason we planned our Grand Rapids trip. While he was gone, I hung out with my family. I also visited my grandparents and spent time with my friend Rachel. My dad looked great! I cannot believe that he had a stroke a couple weeks ago. He will have some more tests this week that will check into a hole that they found in his heart. That may have been where the blood clot traveled through, so it his dr will decide whether they should close it or not.    My mom and dad with Ben and Lucy  Ben and Uncle Joe  Ben talked Uncle Jake into taking him in the pool.  Lucy and Uncle Matt Lucy in her cute new dress (from Grandma and Gramps). She wanted to look good for her cousin Caleb's birthday party. :)   Friday afternoon I took the kids over to Rachel's house...

It's NOT! :) This morning the living room was a mess. It gets this way many times a day. I decided to take some pictures to prove that my house is sometimes a disaster. I don't enjoy the disaster, but kids need to play. Since messes make me crazy, the house gets cleaned up several times a day and one last time when the kids are in bed. If you have a planned visit, you will most likely find a nice clean house when you arrive. If you decide to stop by for a surprise visit, this is the kind of mess that might greet you. :)  Ben's stuffed toys all over the place!  He built a "house" for his buddies that he occasionally had to run and jump into.  He found a bag of magnet numbers and had to make HUGE numbers on the floor.  The stack of library books we read together while Lucy took her morning nap.  More stuffed toys on the floor.  Lucy and Ben being so sweet together. Usually it's a little more like this! :) *Thank you to...

A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law Betsy took 6 month pictures of Lucy. They were all taken at her new house that has 25 acres! Lucy did a great job after having a bottle and a little nap. :) I always love to get a couple of Ben and Lucy together too. He was really excited to be in some pictures...until it was time to actually take them. After a little time playing with his cousins, he was more cooperative. Below are a few of the cute pictures. 

I haven't done the best job updating this summer, so here are a few phone pics of what we've been up to the last couple weeks.  We stopped in at Dunkin' Donuts on the 4th for a mid morning snack. It ended up also counting as lunch because none of us were hungry again until dinner. :)  Miss Lucy in her red, white, and blue.   Ben and I have been playing A LOT of Guess Who. I printed some of the free game boards and we love all of the new choices. On some of the hot days we played 5-10 games in a row. He is getting really good at thinking of questions to narrow the choices down.  Last weekend, Curt took Ben to the driving range. Ben lost his interest in golf that day and took a million pictures on my phone (I sent it along in case he got bored).  There were several pictures of Luigi looking at the clouds (Ben's description) and about 15 of Curt's clubs.  Monday we went to the zoo for a couple hours.  Ben is always inte...