July 2012

July started with swimming lessons this year.  Brock was excited to have his friend, Jackson, in the same class.

Ryan waiting for his lessons to start. 

Brock's class practiced diving.  He's getting pretty good!

We also went to the pool quite a bit this summer.  The diving board at our favorite pool has been broken all summer, but that didn't stop Ryan (and Brock) from diving!

Ahhhhh...brotherly love.

More fun at the pool.

For July 4th, I tried a dessert I found on Pinterest.  They turned out really cute...and tasted pretty good, too!

For the last two summers, we've participated in the Kids Bowl Free program at our bowling alley.  (If you haven't heard of it, check it out at www.kidsbowlfree.com.  It is offered in many bowling alleys across the nation.)  Brock and Ryan love bowling.  This is how Ryan usually looks as he waits to see if he hit any pins.

Sometimes he looks like this...but in any case, he's always on the floor!

Brock is a little more subdued.

Daddy got to bowl with us once, too!

Most of the time, we met friends to bowl.  Life is always better with friends!

Steve was out of town for work for a few nights, so the boys and I built them a fort in the kitchen.  This stayed up for about three days and they loved it!!

They even ate in their fort!

We also went to the Children's Museum where they had a great time playing in HEB...

...acting like Spiderman...

...playing checkers...

...and pretending they were hurt and needed crutches.  (I still don't get this.  After all the times I've been on crutches, it's something I never want to have to use again!!!  But they love them!)

We've also found that HEB has a kid's cooking class on Tues. morning.  My kids have recently found an interest in cooking.  The classes are really simplified and only take about 10 min., but they sure enjoy them.  Their first class was making mini corn dogs.

The second class they went to they made dirt with worms.  It was crushed Oreos with chocolate pudding and gummy worms.  It was pretty darn yummy!

We also went back to Breham to go roller skating.  The kids really love this...maybe because we don't do it that often.  They were a little shaky the first time, but by the end of the day, they were doing pretty well.

The thing I love most about our house is the nature that we're surrounded with.  Not only do we have a great backyard, but we also have so many critters in our yard.  I came home one evening to these three bunnies in our front yard.  It's just so cool to see.  We not only have bunnies, but we also have hawks, owls, squirrels, lizards and geckos.  It's awesome!

Our New Treehouse

When we moved into our house, this "treehouse" was in one of our biggest trees in our backyard.  There was no way to get up there (at least 20' high) except to climb up the tree.  The platform was made out of plywood, therefore, water couldn't drain off and it was rotted out.  Our kids were too little to be able to play up there anyway, so it sat that way for 6 1/2 years...

...until Daddy started building a new one in March.  A good friend, Jeremy, helped with a lot of it and really helped Steve.  It would've been so much harder and taken so much longer to complete without his help.  They first built a 4' platform.  The next step (shown in this picture) is the construction of a 12' platform.

Jeremy on the 12' platform, with the old rotted treehouse above.

A better picture of the completed 4' and almost completed 12'.

Steve building the stairs.

Completed 4' and 12' platforms.

The roping around the 12'.

So, the lower platforms were done and then it was time for the demolition of the upper.  Luckily, the braces and supporting beams were still in good condition and they didn't have to replace them.  The railing and the plywood flooring came down.

Then Steve pulled himself up and began laying the flooring for the 20' treehouse.  Yep, that's my man!!

Laying the flooring.

This is looking down from the 12'.

Another view from the 12'.

The 20' upper treehouse, complete after 3 months of hard work, with a trap door and a fence.

Brock in his new treehouse!!

The view from the ground...Ryan, Brock and Charlie (Jeremy's son).

Another view from the ground.

There are still some amenities that we are going to add...a pulley with a bucket for hauling things up, binoculars, ships steering wheel and marbles in the fence (I saw it on Pinterest and it looks pretty cool!).  We're hoping to put in a zip line from the 12' within a year or so.  Then it will be complete.  But for now, our kids have an AWESOME treehouse to play in.  They have an AWESOME Daddy who works so hard to make fun things for them and we have AWESOME friends like Jeremy and his wife, Alissa, that take time out of their weekends to come help.  

We are a blessed family!