A trip to the zoo . . .

First time to check out the alligator exhibit . . . K wasn't so sure she wanted to give it a try . . .

Mr. "I'm not afraid of this . . ."

My three monkeys chillin' with the big dude . . .

Our noon time ritual . . . finish lunch, clear four things from the table, grab a popsicle, and make a bee-line for the sun-filled driveway . . . and mama gets 7 minutes of peace and quiet!!!!

Trying to assemble/install the bike hauler the first time . . . good thing Batman was there to help Daddy!

 . . . still working on the best way to load that mangled mess of wheels, handlebars, pedals, etc!

We've had lots and lots of baseball/softball this month!  

Joshua started talking about wanting a new bat . . . and our eyes were opened to how expensive new bats could be!  Wowza!  But, we agreed on a portion that he would need to pay for "his part" and he did a great job at staying focussed on paying that off.

Our neighbors brought over this gizmo -- it wraps around the baseball pole and you can hit, and hit, and hit, and hit, -- well, yeah.  Not sure how much the neighbors dig hearing the "thump, thump, thump" at 7am!!!!  He has certainly given it a workout!

A little more expert photography thanks for Bryan . . .

Action shot . . .

Kayla finished up her season this weekend -- and she had a great time!  Her coaches were great, and we didn't even had too many stifling hot games, so that was an added blessing!  I don't think she hit off the "tee" even once this year -- she attacks that ball!

 . . . and she's off . . .

All geared up for playing catcher . . .

  . . . ready position . . .

Big smile . . .

And this was Tyler's contribution to the ball season . . . lots and lots of time at practice:)  Thankfully, some of the practice fields were located at schools with good playground 

equipment . . . so that was a huge help!

The kids and I had a little adventure several weeks ago . . . we rode the "city bus" to the library!  We parked in the mall parking lot, (after searching A LOT for the bus stop sign -- jeepers!) 

and then rode into the library!

We had to make sure the bus was the RIGHT bus . . . good thing I had six little eyes helping me spy the West 21st bus!

The kids were so enamored with not having to wear seat belts!

After we made our library run, we walked to the church, had lunch with Daddy, and then go ready for our return trip home.  At first it was super fun waiting for the bus . . .

 . . . and then it got just a tad bit long:)

Looks like Kayla's already got the whole reading/public transportation thing figured out!  

It was a fun little outing! 

Our church had their first baptism for the summer -- Joshua and Kayla wanted a chance to look for sea shells before we got started:)

Tyler and his buddies checking out the "foldable" train track!

My wonderful husband getting the pool all set up . . .since it was a fairly cool spring, 

we weren't in a super big hurry to even get it up!  But, last week's 100 degrees day 

made it all worth it, right????

Catching Up . . .

As usual, I'm behind:)  Kayla finished up this round of gymnastics.  We decided to take a break for the summer because of softball/baseball craziness!  

She still (almost daily) will clear out the living room and push everything to the sides so she has room to do her cartwheels!!!!

Joshua's class took a field trip to the KS Museum of History.  This was the only picture 

I managed to take????  

I went with Kayla and her class to the KS Children's Discovery Center.  We go there quite a bit as a family, so most of it was super familiar!  Check out her jayhawk!

I believe they were petting the turtle shell here!

She finally lost her first tooth . .  AND she managed to lose it at school so she was the proud recipient of a treasure chest box!  That's a big deal to someone in kindergarten!

Tyler has his first "real" dental cleaning -- he was a trooper!

His hygienist was great -- he responded very well to her!

And these pics . . . sniff, sniff . . . are from the last day of school!  Miss Kayla is 

now officially a 1st grader!

 Joshua finished his year of 2nd grader -- and can't wait for 3rd grade!

These are the kids from the first day of school . . .

And these are from the last day of school!  (we took them in front of the van because it was POURING the first day of school!!!!)

So, Kayla was very, very upset the last week or so of school -- she absolutely adored her teacher and didn't really relish the thought of moving on AT ALL.  Like . . . every night when we would tuck her in, it would be followed by 20 minutes of sobbing.  So, just to show the contrast of our children . . . Kayla left the bus CRYING because she wouldn't see Miss Patton all summer . . .

 . . . Joshua, however, walked of the bus with this pose . . . Where does he even learn stuff like this???? No tears from him!