I totally should've done this post already...

This has been one busy summer! This is kindof a highlight reel, but still...

Lauren's 3rd birthday was last Thursday. I had been putting off her party, hoping that the baby would arrive, but when it was the Monday before and he was still quite some time from showing up, I threw together a little party and all her little friends. It was horsie/pony themed, which is her favorite, and I think she had a great time. We played "Pin the tail on the Pony" and had a "Pony Prize Pasture" which was totally a fishing pond but I had to make it go with the theme (of course) and always a pinata!

Lauren is such a fun little girl. She is spunky and energetic and mischievious and independent and we love her so much. She has a special way of doing something totally naughty, and then somehow making it so funny that I'm not really mad and have to laugh at her. She loves horses, cheese, olives, dressups, anything outside related, swimming and boating, yogurt, oatmeal, chocolate and strawberry milk, and her Daddy. I think Tony and Lauren share a special bond, they adore each other. He always calls her Polly, even now, because when she was born she was so teeny tiny we called her Polly Pocket. She'd be totally confused, but he's done it since she was born and I think she's used to it.

We also took the kids down to Lagoon one day, minus all the men/dads. My dad came for half the day, but it was just us girls and 8 little kids! Yikes! It went pretty well, considering, until we did Lagoon-a-Beach, where we had a near drowning and a couple wander-offs. We didn't stay there very long.

All the little kids waiting in line for a ride: Ben, Kinsey, Lauren, Jocelyn, Detton and Gage. It made a good arrangement for all their little rides.

This is what we've been doing most other days when we had a little spare time. There is a little reservoir about 25 minutes away where we go boating. We have this oldish (1974 ha ha) boat that we have fixed up and it has been really fun. The kids love riding on the tube and when we find an open dock, we pull up and let them swim and fish. It's something I would love to do every summer, as long as we can keep at it and the boat doesn't completely die.