june extras

june was oh so refreshing...

i will be the first one to say that two teachers married to each other is true brilliance!

all five of us have been home together (or more like on the go together) this month and it has been total bliss

we started the month with horseback riding at His Haven Ranch (if you don't know about this place, you should!  there is so much good going on there, the whole place is just dripping with Jesus!)

i can't even begin to tell you how much this place means to our family...the peace and joy of this place makes my heart glad, glad, glad

Tulip even got brave enough to take a break from her kitty friends and ride this time!

she looked so teensy up on that big animal!

we were back again just the other day and both girls got to ride again...they're getting so good!  i can't believe how much they've learned about horses and communicating with them

i was never into horses, so i don't understand it all, but it is amazing to watch them pray with their horse before they ride and then see the joy of the Lord fill and bless them while they trot along

next, we headed to grandma and grandpa's to celebrate uncle luke's birthday

we had some good cousin snuggles

and my brother endured the required 28 spankings

self-portraits made their way into our month

as well as new swings and matching dresses

let's not forget the "store" that Peach has been fond of setting up in the living room and which i am required to come shopping at

and, finally, a whole lot of check check checkin' off our summer fun list

with three kiddos in tow this summer, i'm not always brave enough to bring the camera along to document our summer endeavors

however, i did take it with today

we met grams and gramps at minnehaha falls

we hiked around a bit before renting this amazing bike

we wrapped it all up with a picnic and swings while Sparkle did her "laying on a blanket and looking totally adorable" thing :)

she's pretty good at that

there you have it.

summer.

june.

wacek style :)

two months

is it possible that two months ago, i didn't know this sweet face?

or this perfect smile?

i can scarcely believe that exactly two months ago, j and i were making our final predictions about who this little person would be.

i was wrong....again

thinking boy

and being gifted another girl

it has been a glorious, difficult, beautiful two months

i could not love her more.

road trip

so, we went on a little road trip...

if you can call a 2 hour drive a road trip

but, hey  - when you've got three littles in the backseat, anything other than going to the grocery store qualifies as a road trip, right?

it started out as any road trip should...with a snooze

 the drive was beautiful, just skirting along the banks of the mississippi river

in no time, j and i had chatted our way through red wing and to wabasha...home of the film "grumpy old men"

we checked into our hotel and dashed over to kellogg, mn

where we visited lark toys

there were so many treasures to discover here!

they make their own wooden toys, as well as selling most any toy you can imagine - it was like being at santa's workshop!

the girls weaved around the store, finding oodles of fun stuff and in each department, there were play stations where you could try out all the goodies

some highlights were the hats, play kitchen, dolls and tea party station

but, my favorites were the puppets...

when we heard the bell ring, we knew we were only minutes away from something magical.

for just $2, you can get yourself one of these tokens:

which will get you through the gate and onto a breath-taking carousel

all the animals are hand-carved from minnesota trees

some favorites were the rooster, flamingo, goldfish and otter

we scored jelly beans and giant gumballs at the candy shop

and let's not forget about the rainbow deliciousness at the ice cream parlor

we survived a few tulip temper tantrums as we had to steer her away from the present goodness she was enjoying to show her that there were more things to enjoy just around the corner

we told the girls they could each pick out a toy

i was imagining they'd want something really fancy

but, we got by cheap

they each wanted a small doll and a hula hoop, which cost us just $23...and resulted in smiles like the one you see here:

all that exploring and playing made us hungry, so we headed to slippery's tavern, where parts of the "grumpy old men" were filmed

the restaurant wasn't fancy, but we enjoyed outdoor seating right on the river front and the food was TASTY!

with bellies full, we headed back to the hotel to satisfy Tulip with a dip in the pool

then snuggles in the cozy hotel beds

the girls were spoiled once again with cable TV and got to watch some shows that we don't get at home

the night went smoother than i'd imagined and we woke up to continental breakfast and more swimming

then it was off to see the rest of wabasha

we had yumm-o pizza at "the flour mill"

and took a walk along the river

before heading home, j was kind enough to take me here, where i totally gave in to my sweet tooth

chocolate covered pretzels for the littles and cashew/pecan turtles for the bigs were the perfect way to end a sweet, sweet trip

we don't often spoil our kids like this

typically, we keep them away from expensive toys, loads of TV and heaps of sugar

but every once in a while, we like to pour on the special...

doing something like this is an exercise in goodness

lavishing our children with more than they deserve makes my heart glad

as i delight in watching their faces light up with each new treat, i get a glimpse into the heart of Father God

 the Giddy God who sings over us, who pours over us the gifts that we could never earn

can't wait to do it again....

new adventure

this year we got real wild and crazy and decided to put some new adventures on our summer fun list

although we kept many of our favorites from summers past, the arboretum made its way onto the list this year and i'm so glad it did!

we had a blast!

seeing goldy gopher was among the highlights

as well as touching the soft lamb's ear and discovering a plant called "miss ruby" - too bad she was snoozin' or i would have snapped her in the pic, too

we were walking along quite contentedly, looking at the flowers and oooohing and aaahing over the petals....when lo and behold, we came across a waterfall with.......

tadpoles!

hundreds of these little guys and wouldn't you know that peach got right in there and caught more than just a few

tulip counted on me to catch hers for her, but she held them and snuggled them up to her cheek saying, "ooooh, sweetheart!  i yove you!"

the bugs found us at the end and we hightailed it out of there, but not without another stop at goldy and a few minutes to play in this fun house

the arboretum will definitely be on the list again in 2014....

speaking of new adventures, we're headed on another one come thursday - stay tuned!