Tyler and Corinne's Open House

I have not yet posted about one of our most anticipated summer adventures - we helped Aaron's mom and dad host a wedding open house for Tyler and Corinne. 

Our major contribution was cookies. We made oh so many yummy cookies. I think I made around 40 dozen in the couple of weeks leading up to the party. We made chocolate chip, white chocolate chip macadamia, M&M, chocolate M&M, chocolate chocolate chip, and pumpkin chocolate chip.  Sadly, the white chocolate macadamia and chocolate M&M didn't make it to the open house. The white chocolate ones went to the bridal shower, and the chocolate M&M were Nora's favorite to steal. 

In addition to our cookies, we also moved a lot of tables and did a lot of setting up. It turned out beautiful. 

After all of the work was done, we went home to get ready and by some miracle got everyone shower and dressed in about 45 minutes (with only 1 bathroom). 

Then it was time to relax and enjoy. The gardens looked amazingly gorgeous, as did the bride. And we got to spend the next couple of hours chatting with friends and family and keeping the cookies and drinks refilled. 

I thought it was a perfect evening. 

Summer Ends and School Begins

We had a fun backyard fire and hot dog roast with our good friends the Staceys on the 24th of July.

Mmmm, cupcakes with pink frosting

And Nora went to her first birthday party for a friend from church.

Then school started! We're a month in and doing fine. Zeke is a 2nd grader. He likes it, and I really like his teacher.  

Nora is a preschooler. She loves it and wishes she could go everyday!

Nora's 4th Birthday

Our little missy had a fabulous fourth birthday. 

I attempted a Minnie Mouse bow on her chocolate zucchini cake. I wasn't sure if it turned out to be obviously Minnie's. But the 4-year-old girls at the party recognized it immediately, so I count it as a success :)

We sang and blew out candles very first, at Nora's request. 

Then we did presents. This sweet little bathtime baby is one of her favorites right now. 

And Zeke gave Nora her very own color-changing car. 

This sweet, fiesty, independent, snuggly little girl is such a joy. We love her thinking most everything is cute, talking incessantly, singing and dancing along with whatever music is on, and taking care of all of us when we're hurt, sick, or sad. She's growing up so fast right now, and we are so proud of her.

Natural Curiosity

While cousins were here we took a trip to the Museum of Natural Curiosity. We had tons of fun. We certainly didn't get to see or try everything so I'm sure we will be going back!

The rainforest was a hit with the kids because it was a gigantic playground. Not a hit with the parents because it was impossible to keep track of your kids, even with a 1:1 adult:kid ratio. 

Zeke loved the rope bridges. They were a little scary for him but he was a champ about it. 

Nora started on the rope bridge, backed out, decided to try again, and almost backed out again but we struggled through it. She did awesome for being really scared and having to work really hard. [Flip flops are not the optimal footwear for this sort of thing.]

We probably spent the most time in the water room. The kids had a blast at the water tables. 

Ponchos and galoshes for everyone! My kids loved the boots. 

We almost couldn't get them away from the water physics experiment. 

Then we sampled a hurricane. 

The kid-sized city was really fun. We got to play music, drive a train, and go to the bank.  Zeke is still talking about going back to spend more time in the 'drive-thru' of the bank. 

We also put on a pirate show in the theatre.

After a yummy picnic we headed into the gardens in the evening. We walked for a bit then headed back to the fountain and the playground. This was my favorite part of the day. It was more relaxed than the museum and I could just enjoy watching the kiddos making wonderful memories. The garden closed and we had to leave long before anyone was ready to be done.