Headed to the Hoosier State

Despite the rain, thanks to a big garage, the kids still rode bikes and scooters!

All summer we have been wanting to head to Indiana to see Jeff's family. The kids love their grandparents, cousins, and grandparent's dogs. A couple of times we have scheduled a time to go only to have our plans fall through. So last weekend after a looking at our calender I realized that if we didn't go last week we weren't going to make it up there until the Holidays. Unfortunately last week Jeff had some stuff going on at work that didn't allow him to take off, so I headed north with the kids. Fortunately we have very accomodating family that will allow us to drop in at the last minute. The kids had a great time and survived the 8 hour drive very well. Grandma Sara and Great-GrandkidsGrandma Nancy with her sunglass-wearing grandkidsCelebrating Jordan's 6th Birthday!Kendal holding Jeff's cousin Natalie

The kids with Grandpa Thornton

Great Grandma and Grandpa Thornton and the kiddos!

Pinky Style

I have been meaning to write a quick entry about some of the Thornton kid's latest accomplishments. Each of them have worked hard this summer to improve upon at least one skill.
Bayley has managed to continue to improve her reading skills....I can't keep books in the house. Some days she will read 2-3 Goosebumps (her favorite series at this point) books, which makes our weekly trip to the library a MUST.
Kendal has learned to ride her bike without training wheels. At the beginning of the summer she said that this was something she wanted to learn to do, however as a parent I wasn't quite sure how quick she would get it because of how cautious she is on a bike. It took her about a week and she had it. She LOVES her bike now and is increasingly getting more and more adventurous. The first week that she learned to ride her bike without training wheels we had Grandma G over at our house and she was so excited to show off. After a couple of laps back and forth to the culd-de-sac she decided to get BRAVE. She yelled up to me and my Mom, "Look I'm riding without pinkies!" as proud as can be with both pinkies in the air. It was so cute and so sincere...she now has graduated to riding one handed at moments!
Trey has also accomplished a goal we had set for him at the beginning of the summer...that is to learn to swim without floaties. I don't nor do I want him to swim without floaties very often, but I do like the assurance of knowing that he can swim to the side if he were to fall in without a float on or if he forgot his floaties and jumped in. He not only can swim to the side, but has become quite the little fish. I let him occasionally swim without his float when there is an adult in the pool and he does a pretty good job, however I continue to caution him that he needs his float because he does get tired easily.

I am glad that we did set some goals at the beginning of this summer and it has been fun to watch my kids work on their individual goals and accomplish them. Less than one month until school starts and we still have other stuff we plan to accomplish...we better get after it!

Celebrating the 4th of July 2009

Rarely a week goes by that my kids have not gotten to do something extraordinarily fun or exciting. They really do have it good...if I do say so myself. One of the main reasons for me having the blog is to document our lives so that they will remember all of the fun and exciting things they have been able to do. This last weekend was no exception. We headed to the Lake to spend the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa "G".

Friday we arrived and settled in and then Jeff and I took the opportunity to sneak away and go to the temple in Birmingham while we had "free" sitters. My good parents were kind enough to entertain the kids for the evening and as usual my kids had a great time. They were able to test out the new jet skis (blow up ride ons for the kids) and take a late night swim. Jeff and I enjoyed a nice night serving in the temple and then grabbing a bite to eat alone!

Saturday we decided to get moving pretty early in hopes of beating the crowds that the 4th of July was sure to bring. While Grandma and Grandpa took out the big jet skis for a smooth ride over the early morning water, the kids showed off on their new toys. They LOVE them! What kid wouldn't??? They propel themselves and they squirt water. Grandpa and Grandma peeling out on the jet skis!Kendal...ready to fire!After a while we decided to head over to the marina where they were doing a boat parade. Their were a lot of boats and people on the lake making the water very bumpy and exciting if you are into that, however even our daredevil Bayley had had enough after just a short time. So after the parade we packed up the jet skis and headed back to the house for lunch. After lunch we napped then it was time for cupcakes and homemade ice cream....definitely one of the highlights for my kiddos. Before we left the kids also got to enjoy the pool one more time and then we headed home to unpack, shower, and get ready for fireworks. Because we had had a full day of activities, we decided to stay home this year and put on our own little firework show....sparklers and a few other little fireworks. A great ending to a great day!

We continue to enjoy our summer and the time we have had to spend together as a family. It is hard to believe that school starts in about one month...

Crazy Hair Trey...what happens when you let your big sisters armed with gel touch your hair
Trey prefers neat hair as opposed to crazy hair