Summer Traditions

 Of all of the traditions we love to honor in Iowa in summertime, the only one that absolutely had to make the cut in these kids' busy days was our annual trip to Heavenly Delights!  Or Heavenly Delites, whichever it is.  This picture right here makes my summer heart happy!  With googly eyes for everyone!

We also chipped away at our Tour de Stake 3.0 mission with a Sunday visit to the Red Rock Branch. 

And we spent time getting to know new friends this summer, including the Steilers!

On one of the last days of work for Leah and Adam, the babies and I packed up our bikes and headed to the High Trestle Bridge for a ride!

We found a sunflower field!

We checked out Duck Donuts, drove past the duck weed pond that Emma stepped right into as a 4-year-old, and revisited the Saylorville spillway, which was just as mesmerizing as ever.

We threw all kinds of sticks and rocks in the water and watched them get whisked away.

We checked out the fighter planes and tanks at Camp Dodge

These little monkeys climbed all over them!

We spent so much time out on the paddleboards- Emma and Noah made some great new friends this summer.

We visited the library so many times- I hope my kids remember what a valuable resouce the library is when they are parents.  We have spent so much time here this summer, checking out books and movies and puzzles and listening to ebooks and participating in journeling and crafting and competitions and earning free tickets to the iCubs and the zoo.  The library is the best!

Hmmm.  One random day a fan girl and a moody teenager game downstairs. Apparently they gave each other makeovers.

We opted not to participate in the Iowa State Fair this year, but we still enjoyed a bucket (or two) of mini chocolate chip cookies!

These two cuties wanted to spend one evening at the beach. 

We meant to go to the pool but it was closed.  So the lake was a perfect substitute! 

Albeit a bit chilly from the shore.

Emma got to see her besting Little Leah twice this summer!

Noah's buddy Harrison joined in our fun several times too. 

Mini date night- tending the fire and the driving back up to the house on the Terrafirminator!

What a happy boy with white bread!

I really wanted to check out the newly refurbished rocket ship slipe this summer.  Boy have we all grown up from the years that we used to spend entire summer days here, running up and down the slide and splashing in the little pool and enjoying the free lunch and ice cream and gathering pine cones. 

At least we still fit on the carousel!

Moments at home were a bit further between this summer, but they were so good when they did happen.

Emma finished up her bookshelf and room glowup!

These cuties were my (more) constant companions this summer.

On the last day of summer the kids decided we needed to have ice cream on the paddleboards.

What a great idea!

Daddy even joined us for some water football. 

And, sadly, Emma got bonked in the eye, stepped in a huge patch of goatheads with bare feet, and just like that summer was wrapped up and it was time to get back into the groove of school.  

Here's to another great summer in Iowa!

Adam is 15!

 Goodness I feel like I just wrapped up last year's birthday posts, but here we go again! Birthday posts are the most fun and the most difficult to write because how can I possible capture all that there is to love about the birthday star in one little blog post? Words can never fully express how delightsful these kids of ours are or how fun it is to watch them experience life, but I will keep trying!

Adam was smacked with a great truth of growing up on his birthday this year- he had to work.  He politely declined my offer to get him a flashing "It's My Birthday" button and instead we enjoyed some, but not all, of the birthday traditions on his big day, starting with orange rolls (which were actually cinnamon because that's what was in the store) and Chick'n minis!  

That's enough to get any birthday boy out of bed and up for work. 

In the afternoon we showered Adam with presents before heading out for our dinner birth-date. 

Noah and I went to the Lego store to get a gift card for Adam, and they let him make a birthday minifigure surprise!

  He created a 4-head-and-bodied creatured called "The Gui-Centaur". Lego sure knows how to make customers for life. 

Step one in creating a 100-foot slip 'n slide for your birthday party- a whole bunch of pool noodles!

We set these aside for Adam's party, which he decided to have the weekend after the week of his birthday so as many friends as possible could attend. 

On to the traditional birthday pics!

Daddy immediately called for a retake, but if he's still taller its by a whisper of a hair, which Adam has significantly more of than his father. 

His growth has definitely slowed down since last year, when he seemed to be gaining an inch every month. 

Smooch!

I love this baby!!

Heave!

Ho!!

Birthday pictures are always good for a laugh. And then it was off to Zombie Burger downtown for the very best burger I've ever had from there. 

And birthday phone calls, which is such a rare function of the phone these days that I had to take a pictures of it.

A pup in a backpack! Life goals right there. 

The hit game of the summer was Sushi Go, and we bought the party pack for Adam's birthday.  He has the spiritual gift of quickly processing and explaining game rules in a way that everyone understands.

When it was finally time for Adam's birthday party a week and a half later, we got to celebrate him all over again, this time with the 100-foot slip-n-slide that Jason has been dreaming about since we moved here. 

It was so hot and so fun to slide down the hill that we are used to sledding down.  Everyone went down at least once but the girls eventually shifted over to judging duty.

Next up- human battleship with water balloons- 

and lots of gangly teenage boys jumping on the trampoline.

After a dinner feast they all suited up and headed down to play paintball- 

such scary boys are actually just a bunch of cuties. 

They made it through two good games, and Adam was the last man standing

when the rain started pouring down.  And I mean pouring. 

There was no way they were going to be able to continue playing, so the party shifted to the basement where they played air hockey and table tennis and Mario Kart and had just as much fun and we were happy to have a teen-friendly basement that they could enjoy. 

Phew!  That was a lot of celebrating, but it was so much fun! Adam is such a fun teenager- this year I'll write things we love about the birthday kid! We always go around the dinner table 3 times telling what we love about the birthday person, but enjoying that moment doesn't usually mean jotting down what people are saying.  But I'll try to remember some of the things we all said we love about Adam- 

14. He is so kind and patient with everyone. 

13. He loves LEGO just as much as he did when he was younger, and that is fun for him and for Noah. 

12. Adam is clever and funny.  He is fun to talk to simply because he has interesting and humorous thoughts. 

11. Adam tries really hard to see the good in other people. 

10. Adam is always willing to try new things, and he is surprisingly good at most of it!

9. Adam is a morning person- he bounces out of bed ready to take on the world and that is a huge blessing to our entire family. 

8. Adam always, always, always holds the door open for me. 

7. Adam still things that driving 40 MPH is fast. I'm perfectly okay with that for now. 

6. Adam somehow survived junior high relatively unscathed.  He doesn't let other people's attitudes bring him down. 

5. Adam fills our home with music.  I love hearing him play the piano. 

4. Adam gets a still and frozen look on his face when I ask him about girls.  But he's definitely thinking about them! 

3. Adam and I have the funniest sounding good night secret handshake.  

2. Adam has a lot of room in his brain, and he fills it up with lots of valuable and worthwhile things. 

1. Adam is amazing!  Plain and simple, he is the kind of teenager I wish every kid could be- kind, helpful, funny, brave, and awesome. 

Happy 15th birthday, Mr. Man. We love you!