Gacie's Art

This was a Christmas present 3 years ago, but Gracie still loves her easel. She loves to draw and write, so the easel allows her to do both. I'm so proud of her creative side, because I don't feel like I am creative at all!

Domino Crazy

Lately, Gracie has been building domino mazes on the dining room table. She loves to see how elaborate her design can be before it falls over. Unfortuately, for a little girl named Grace, she's not the most "graceful" girl. She is frequently bumping into the table or grazing the corner of the dominos with her hands. There have been some tears, but she always jumps back in and starts over. Today our neices and nephews from Unionville came to spend the day with us. I took them to Longbranch Lake until they closed the lake because of lightning. We didn't let that stop the fun. As soon as we got home, Lucas and Gracie started building a new creation with the dominos. They had such a good time together. It was fun to watch them working as a team. They were both so proud of their maze! Gracie took the stairs from one of our dollhouses and put dominos on each stair. It was super creative!

What?!

I don't have a good explanation for this picture. This is just Ella being....Ella. She's a kooky, quirky little girl. We love her crazy personality. She keeps things very interesting around our house which is fun! I think Ella made these at church. She just randomly decides to wear them around the house. This was one of those days.

Slip 'N Slide

Today was the big day! The girls had been begging us to get the slip 'n slide out, but you have to have the perfect circumstances to get it out. I don't like getting it out unless we are going to be home for a long chunk of time. Gracie and Ella love it for a while, then get bored and want to go inside, and then a little while later they will decide they want to go back out and slide some more. Today was nice and hot, so they enjoyed it for quite a while!

Fourth of July

I started the morning off by running in Todd's Independence Day 5K in Moberly. It wasn't a cross country run this time; it went straight through Rothwell Park. It was mighty hilly, but it was a great morning for a run. Niki did it with me, so it was fun !

After the race all the Macon runners got together for a group picture. We had quite a representation!

Yes we are sweaty, but that proves we worked hard! The girl in the middle is Amanda Newbrough. We have done several 5K's together. We also go to church together and are in the same small group.

My cute cousins don't look a bit worn out from the run, but they are both at Central Methodist on cross country scholarships. I think the 5K felt like a warm-up for them. Taylor is on the left and Amber is the right. (Brent has been in our family for 12 years now and he still can't tell them apart.)

I was super surprised to find out that I placed 3rd in my age group!

The afternoon brought some pool time at Grandpa and Nana's. They have an inflatable pool that they get out for the girls from time to time. They enjoy it very much!

After a yummy supper we went out to watch the fireworks. We park at MACC and watch them from the parking lot. It's always a good spot.

Ella grows tired of the loud noises the fireworks create. At least this year she stayed awake. She usually prefers to go back to the van and sleep instead of sitting out in the open and hearing the fireworks.

Fun With Lidia and Grayson

One of my dearest friends from high school was Lauri McKinney. She is married now and has 2 cutie kids of her own. They were back in town for a visit, so we met them at Rothwell Park in Moberly so the kids could play. It was such a hot day, so everyone has rosy cheeks! We packed a picnic lunch and the kids were ready to sit down and eat just so they could get out of the sun. I wish Lauri and her family lived closer. I think Lidia and Gracie would be great friends and Grayson and Ella would get along well, too.

A Zoo Day

We finally got to visit the zoo today! I have been trying to plan a zoo trip for the past 2 years. The last time Ella was there she was an infant, so this was her first "real" experience with the animals. We asked Janice to come with us, and Rhonda, Sydney and Madison ended up coming too, which was fun. I took far too many pictures because it was such a fun day. The weather was gorgeous!

When the day was done, Ella was ready for a little snooze.

Gracie, our bookworm, was happy to get back to her Magic Tree House book she is reading.