Summer Catch-up Posts Part 2: 4th of July Weekend

We were able to travel to New Hampshire to visit my family for the 4th of July this year. This was the first time Collin could remember having been to Grandma's before, and he was so excited! Since traveling with the kids is easiest at night, we left Friday night around 9 and arrived at my parent's house around 4:30am. Thankfully, the kids slept for several hours after we arrived, so Matt and I got some sleep as well.

Saturday I went yardsaling with my mom (got some great deals on things I probably didn't need), and then we spent the rest of the day hanging out at my brothers house with him and his family. We hung out in his pool with his kids for a while, and Collin (with the aid of a life jacket) finally mustered up the courage to be in the big pool without someone holding onto him. After swimming, we had a cookout. My brother and his wife prepared some AMAZING food. While the adults were enjoying steak tips, my kids were more than happy with watermelon and hot dogs.

Collin LOVED the pool, but Jenna was not too sure about it.

.

So Mommy and baby rested in the hot tub.

When Collin's toes and lips started to turn purple, he and Matt joined us in the hot tub. I swear, despite what the picture looks like, the Montgomerys did not kick the Akerbergs out of their hot tub.

Jenna found a friend in Uncle Arik because he gave her as much watermelon as she wanted.

This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it.

All that watermelon clearly exhausted the princess.

While Jenna scrounged under the table for food (seriously, we really do feed this child!)....

....Collin spotted a cake and decided to help himself.

All the swimming and good food left my kiddos exhausted, so Jenna snuggled with Aunt Krista and Collin watched Thomas with his cousin Apryl.

On Sunday, we visited my parents church. They did a program for the 4th of July, and then they had a picnic on the grounds. My baby brother put the whole thing together, and he did an awesome job. After church and a nap, we went candlepin bowling with my parents, my brother Josh and his fiance Breana, and my brother Arik's family. Apparently, I come by my "crappy bowler" status honestly, because we all did awful! I think Collin (2 1/2) and Apryl (almost 5) did better than anybody else. Of course, they were using bumpers and ramps, so they had an advantage.

Jenna and her cousin Apryl at the church picnic

Collin being handsome at the church picnic (My ten year old niece Ally took this picture).

Me and my baby girl at the church picnic

Collin and Apryl had their own bowling lane, because nobody else wanted to use bumpers. Here they are being cute together.

We also went to fireworks on Sunday night. My kids LOVED them! Collin's running commentary the whole time went something like this, "I love fireworks! Fireworks loud. I love loud! That one's red. I love the red one! I like that one Mommy! Doggie want watch fireworks. Doggie loves that one, Mommy! I like that one, too!" Meanwhile, Jenna squealed the whole time and tried to reach out and grab the fireworks. I felt bad for the people just a little ways in front of us with a screaming kid, but I also couldn't help thinking, "Better them than me!" Is that terrible? Sadly my camera died, and I have no pictures of my kids at the fireworks. :-(

On Monday morning, my dad, Josh, Breana, Matt, and I climbed Mt. Major. My awesome mom graciously offered to watch the kids so Matt and I could go. Even though it was hot and sticky, we had a great time. I've climbed the mountain so many times that the hike was really like taking a trip down memory lane.

Me - about halfway up the mountain

Josh and Breana taking a break


At the top


Exhausted at the bottom

Monday afternoon we went to a family friend's house for a cookout. We had a lot of fun boating and swimming, but we were SO TIRED by the time we left for home.

My cute kids

The only even halfway decent family picture we got all weekend


Matt took Collin out in the boat.



The princess with her grandpa

We left NH at 9:20 pm Monday and arrived home at 4:21am Tuesday. That seemed like one of the longest drives ever. We had had a great weekend, but we packed it so full of family fun that we were exhausted by the time we went home. I drove most of the way because Matt had hurt his ankle hiking Mt. Major, and I sent this text to my brother less than 2 hours into the drive, "I'm already sucking on fireballs to stay awake. This could be a very long night!" (We had stopped somewhere; I was NOT texting and driving). Thankfully, with the exception of being passed on the highway by someone going the wrong direction who crashed into the guardrail right after he passed us, the trip was uneventful.

PS. This may be my longest post ever. Sorry about that, but it was a busy weekend. On the plus side, it has WAY more pictures than normal. :-)

PPS. Giving credit where credit is due: Most of these pictures were taken by either Arik or Krista with their really awesome camera.

Summer Catch-up Posts Part 1: Father's Day

Father's Day was a month ago, but we had such a great day and got some fun pictures, so I decided to still post about it.

For the last several gift-giving occasions, Matt had asked for a fishing pole. Knowing next to nothing about fishing, I was at a loss about what to get him even when he tried to explain to me what he wanted. I asked several friends who know more than I do about fishing, I asked the salespeople at sports stores, but I still was not confident that I could pick out the right thing. If the present were for anybody else, I would give them money and say, "Go pick out what you want." However, since we're talking about my husband here and all the money belongs to both of us, it would be pretty dumb to just "give" him money that already belongs to him. When I reached the peak of my frustration over the situation, I had an idea - a pretty good one if you ask me. I decided to give Matt something that would say, "This is symbolic of your real present. Go pick out what you want."

All of that explanation leads up to this: Matt's present for Father's Day from the kids and me was a Spiderman fishing pole that he could use to teach Collin how to fish.

You would think that Collin knew the present was for him, too, with the way he was trying to get in on the present-opening action.

After church, our Sunday afternoon nap, and a stop at Wal-mart for worms ("yucky worms" if you ask Collin), we went to a park with a pond for Collin's first fishing lesson. At first, the fish were too fast - they grabbed the worm and swam away before Matt and Collin could get them on the hook. This happened so many times initially that Collin thought the purpose of fishing was to lose the worm. He kept exclaiming, "Yay! We lost the worm! Need get 'nother one worm!" If we had never gotten a fish, he would have been happy because he had no idea that getting a fish was the point of fishing.

Getting a 'nother one worm - Collin was afraid to touch them


Waiting patiently for a fish (That's what the picture looks like anyway, but in reality I had to snap this picture very quickly, because the fish came and took the worm pretty quickly).

Eventually, they caught an actual fish, and Collin has been IN LOVE with fishing ever since. He was so proud of his fish! It was so fun to see him so excited!

Collin was very proud to be showing off his first fish!

I was so surprised that he was brave enough to actually hold it in his hand - I wouldn't be!

Perfect Collin-sized fish (I have no idea what kind it is)


Taking after her mother, the princess has very little interest in fishing. :-)

After we fished for a while, we spent some time at the playground, and I was able to get some cute pictures of my kids and their amazing dad.

I love the way Collin is looking up at Matt here.

Collin's eyes in this one make me laugh.


Jenna getting kisses from Daddy

Collin and Jenna are seriously the luckiest kids in the world, because their dad truly is the most wonderful man in the world! We love you, Matt! Thanks for being amazing!

PS. The following Tuesday we went to Dick's Sporting Goods, and Matt picked out his ow fishing pole. He hasn't used it yet, though, because he doesn't have a fishing license.

PPS. I've been way behind on my blogging lately, but I'm going to work on catching up. The following posts should be coming shortly:

• Summer Catch-up Posts Part 2: 4th of July
• Summer Catch-up Posts Part 3: Camping and Corn on the Cob
• Catan cake
• Monkey See. Monkey Do.
• Garden Update