The Hunts Came to Town

The Hunt's arrived on Friday night. We had a BBQ and played JD's new Wii for quite awhile. It's funny, Heather and I cannot bowl in reality and we can't bowl in Wii land either!
On Saturday morning we took the kids to Grant's Farm. Layton had never been to a zoo of any kind before and he was so busy taking it all in. First stop was the Clydesdale stables. Those things are HUGE!!

(M. and Layton "racing" around the farm.)







K. had a great time in the goat pen, despite the fact that several of the goats bit her shirt and shorts. The horse on the right happens to be the one that kicked the football on the Superbowl commercial a few years ago- we thought it was cool to see him in person! Other than commercial work, he and the others at the farm are retired.















P. and Kevin had fun feeding the camels. K. wanted no part of such a large animal licking her hands. She dropped the food onto the ground. P.. loved it and said the camel's tongue felt kind of like his own tongue. Go figure! After a quick lunch, we came home to rest a bit (it was in the high 90's with 100% humidity).
We then had a fabulous Italian feast (thank you John for your recipes). A quick trip to the pool to cool off rounded out the evening.

Sunday we spent the day playing the Wii, as it was about to leave with JD and Heather. Heather and I took off for a "quick" trip to Target. We found a baseball bat for Layton that we thought he might like to have. Turns out we were right! He spent the next hour banging it on the ground and swinging it. When we put it up, he would cry. I'd say there is baseball in his future, just like his daddy! We had such a good time with everyone and we are looking forward to doing it again soon!

On the Road Again....

We spent the past weekend in the Chicago area celebrating my sister's engagement. It was much cooler there than at home, so that was one plus. The kids got to spend time with their cousins again. Papa was a huge help and scored major points, as he took the kids to his school and let them run around in the gymnastics room for a few hours. P. and K. loved it and loved all the tricks they got to do. After a quick lunch, Papa and Daddy took Emma and P. to see Wall-E, which was another big hit.
The engagement party was a lot of fun, too. It was nice to meet Anthony's family and to get a chance to visit with all of them before the wedding. The food was great and the company was even better! Great-Grandma was there, too and it is always nice to see her. I hope I am as active as she is when I am approaching 90 years of age!
It was really great to see John again, as he leaves for football camp in twelve days. Kevin and I will each be taking a trip to PA to visit him this fall, but the kids won't see him again until Thanksgiving. I can only imagine how different M. will be then.
Thanks to mom and dad for the hospitality once again!

Most Recent Kid Photos

The whole point of this blog was to be able to update everyone all at once, but I have a hard time getting the photos up as quickly as I'd like so you get a bunch all at once.

One of my favorite things as a kid was to lick the beaters for my mom. I thought I'd see what P. and K. thought of it. As you can see, it was a big hit (they are licking mashed potatoes, those good Irish kids).

M. is loving her new found freedom and I am guessing that she will be crawling in about 2 months like her sister did.

Birthday Dinner

The birthday boy with Chuck E. Cheese himself.

Fishing trip Pics

Kevin has been asking me to post these for awhile now. Enjoy!

Indy weekend

We spent the past weekend (Saturday and Sunday) in Indiana with my sister and her family. My youngest nephew was baptized on Saturday night so we were there en masse. We were fortunate to be able to see my great-grandma, my Aunt and Uncle again, my cousin, and my siblings all in one weekend. The kids had fun with their cousins, as usual. And we had a great visit, too. We stayed in a hotel to cut down on the mass chaos of six children under the age of 7 and P thought it was too cool. He kept telling us he was like Zack and Cody on "The Suite Life". It was made all the more special when "room service" came with breakfast. (This would be mom with a tray from the buffet.)

M. is now rolling and scooting like a pro. You cannot leave her for a second, as evidenced by her roll off the chaise lounge a the pool yesterday. A minor bump to the head left her no worse for wear, but shook me up quite a bit. She is fine and after a quick and reassuring trip to the MD, I am fine, too. She was weighed while we were there and she is now a robust 21lb.s 2 oz. I actually asked if she was getting too big, too quickly, but was told she is great! Maybe she is storing up for when she's able to chase the other two around.

Kevin and I celebrated 7 years of marriage this past Monday and we enjoyed an evening out! It was so nice and relaxing. We took stock of the past 7 years (busy years...6 jobs, 3 houses, 4 states, and three children later) and we are looking forward to the next 7 years (can't imagine how busy they will be!)

Time Flies

I just realized I never had the chance to update the blog in awhile, so here goes. A brief run down of the past few weeks: M. was baptized on June 22nd. She cried when she was doused with the water, not because it was too cold, but because it was too warm. There is a Jacuzzi pump that filters the water and it has a heater. I am not kidding when I tell you there was steam rising up off the font.

My mom and dad got the rest of the house painted the week after birthday/ baptism and it looks amazing! Thanks mom and dad!

What else has the Lynch family been up to? A trip to the zoo for the Dinoroarus exhibit and a picnic dinner (much fun was had by all). We were joined by our friends, Josh and Beth, who also had a blast with the kiddos. M. had her shots and check-up on the 30th of June. She was in the 100% for both height and weight and has outgrown her pumpkin seat. She has mastered the art of rolling over and now is trying to scoot places, so we are back to the phase of removing anything she could choke on from the toy room. P. is pretty good about this, but K. doesn't like it too much, as she thinks she should be able to do whatever she wants, wherever she wants.

P. had his Kindergarten physical on the 1st and he got 4 shots, plus a TB test. Not a fun day for the boy. He was a trooper and came out of the experience with two new Imaginext toys and a lunch at Red Robin (yum).

My Aunt and Uncle stopped for a visit on their way to KC. We had a great visit, as always. The kids loved having the company and they especially loved the trip to Dairy Queen!

P.'s actual b-day started off with a fishing trip with Dad and Uncle Richard. He caught a large mouth bass that was about a foot long. What a great start to his day! He then went to the pool to meet his buddy, Jaxin and we brought cupcakes for all to share. We then went home and he played with Daddy and made aliens with his new alien maker. Chuck E. Cheese was the selected spot for the birthday dinner. P. had a great time playing the games. We were cracking up at k. as she seemed to think that putting the tokens in the machines was playing the games. She would drop a token in and walk away to do another one. Kevin and I would try our best to keep up! P. started following her around so he could use her token to play the game. It was some great "team work". P. ended up with 200 some tickets (which means we ended up with some more junk from China...hmm, I think some of it was lost already...wierd).
P. said it was the best day of his life!

My cousins stopped in for an overnight stay on their way to KC on the 3rd. We played a little Rock Band, drank a little beer, and caught up on how we all were doing. It was so great to see them!

We headed to KC for Layton's first b-day party over the 4th of July weekend. We spent the 4th with Kevin's sister's family and his mom and dad. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins. We spent Sat. doing a little shopping in Lawrence and K. loved seeing all the Jayhawks everywhere! We then went to Layton's party in KC and had such a good time there, as well. Layton was head to toe birthday cake and K. was all about helping him, as she was licking the side of the cake closest to her. Jordan thinks we are in for it as she gets older (he should know, right?)

Which brings us up-to-date. We are headed to Indy this weekend for Ellis' baptism. My grandma should be there and it will be the first time she has met M. I am excited to introduce the two of them to one another.

Quick kid updates: M. is eating cereal and has tried pears (didn't like), applesauce (liked), and sweet potatoes (didn't like). She recognizes her own name now and is really engaging other people a lot. We love this stage!
K. is full of energy and crazy ideas. We haven't had any full body A&D applications, or Mr. Bubble slides of late, but we have had plenty of streaking. She loves the pool and would be content to spend all day there, everyday!
P. is also loving the water more this summer. He and his friends have discovered the thrill of playing Marco Polo and Sharks and Minnows. They love racing for dive sticks, too. He drives his car every night and loves taking the neighborhood girls around the block.

I love summer nights and the way the kids smell like sunshine. I love eating ice cream or popsicles at dusk and watching it drip down the kid's arms. I love eating cold watermelon after a hot day outside at the pool. I love how after a hard day of play, everyone falls into bed and sleeps just as hard as they played, only to wake up and do it all again!

I will post some pics as soon as I have more downloaded. We are terrible about remembering to bring our camera most places, but I do have some new photos and I will try to get some up next week.