Today between our morning appointments and our lunch plans we had an hour to kill so I took the kids downtown Hudson to walk along the river. Wouldn't you know that within minutes of our walk we came across some men fishing, and he snagged one right as we got nearby!

They were extremely nice. He offered to let Max help him reel it in, but it was apparent there was quite a fight in the fish so I was silently thankful that Max declined and instead chose to watch from the sidelines.

Once he got the carp in he set it down and told Max he could pick it up and even showed him how it didn't have any teeth. Max tried to pick it up a few times but between the weight and it's movement he wasn't successful.

The kind man picked it up and held it out to him showing Max where to put his hands. Max completely ignored the man and his nice way of holding the fish and just went in for a big bear hug. Seriously. Did I not mention this was right before our lunch plans?! So what's a mom to do but continue to take pictures so we can all laugh about it later.

Oh, and Rory? She wanted nothing to do with the fish and was perfectly content throwing twigs into the river.

She may appear to be tomboy because of her love of dirt, but it stops at slimy animals and most bugs. I think the curls keep her from converting to a full on tomboy...

I took the kids to the bigger library today for story hour. Imagine my surprise when we got there just as they were setting up for a musician! We had a great time singing, clapping and swaying to the music. Dennis Warner was his name and a quick Google search lead me to his site, in case you were interested.

At one point he asked any kids that wanted to help him sing to please come on up. I asked Max if he wanted to go and he gave me these huge eyes that said "Please don't make me", while he shook his head no. I then asked Rory if she wanted to go up and she hops down and walks right up there. Isn't she adorable?

No, she didn't sing, even though it was only the ABC's and Twinkle Twinkle, both songs she knows well, but I was still so proud of my brave little helper! Max on the other hand, was slightly concerned that Rory was up there and remained seated.

He did eventually sing with everyone, but only small portions as he was completely engrossed in watching his sister. I don't know if he was concerned or jealous but it still makes this Mama's heart melt seeing him watch her. Have I mentioned how much I love our libraries?!

Sunday we handed off Maya to her parents (no more ants in my house thanks to dog food - yay!) at Grammy and Dido's where all of Dusty's siblings and families came out to watch the Lumberjack Days Parade. It's always a hoot with the family and the kids have such a good time.

Allison was so cute, she'd hide whenever she saw a float with water guns. She absolutely did not want to get wet this year!

And Andrew got a shirt in the parade. Imagine our surprise when he opened it up to find this castoff shirt from 2008!

Afterwards we headed back to the house where we ate, talked, and most importantly, watched hot and overtired children splash in the pool.

Allison and Oliver were on hand to help with drying off!

It was a great family day. Thanks Grammy and Dido for hosting us all again, we really do appreciate it!

My cousin Jean just linked me up with her pictures from when we met them at the Wilderness Walk while on our vacations. There were some really cute pictures I just had to share.

First and foremost, my favorite. While feeding the camel Rory stuck her arm in too far. Don't worry, she wasn't actually bit as we examined her arm after the incident, but it certainly looks much meaner from this shot!

The kids were adorable, but of course getting a good shot of the four cousins all looking and smiling was impossible, although we never did stop trying!

Jean taught the kids how to live inside of a tee pee.

I had a good time feeding the llama. I so wish we could have a llama at our house.

And lastly, they got a cute picture of my babies that I had to share too!

Thanks Jean and Jim for getting such fun shots of the kids, we had a great time seeing you guys! Next time we should head to Atlanta, right?

This was too funny not to share.

I don't know what is better, the fact that he got his truck to haul Rory's "broken" vehicle, or that he has his fishing pole all loaded up for the trip. Do you think our weekend fiasco had an influence on him? Such a smart boy!

Today the kids brought their sticker charts to the library so that they could get their prizes for reading 4 hours this summer. When the librarian handed them their coupons for a free ice cream cone at Dairy Queen Max forgot about proper library etiquette and started yelling with joy. So we left rather quickly to cash in our coupons.

Needless to say, they really enjoyed those ice cream cones and they deserved them! Hopefully we can get another 4 hours in before the summer is over to enjoy another cone, but if not, it was so worth it just to see their excitement. (Ok, maybe Max's, Rory just kept singing the "I scream" song.)

Later this evening I caught an adorable moment as Max and Rory tried to hide from me on the chair so they didn't have to help pick up before bedtime. Yes, I am being slightly sarcastic, but it did make for a cute picture.

And last but not least, Max's awesome scratch. After this picture was taken he got another scratch on the side of his head.

You'd think by now he'd know not to jump all over Maya when she's laying down. She's got no choice but to bat at him with her paws to get him off of her which leaves scratch marks!

Maya is here for two weeks, and already she has become a spoiled puppy. She will no longer eat her food out of her dish. She will only eat it if it's being fed to her, and the kids are always more then happy to oblige.

After she's had enough, she'll play for a while and then crash.

You see those tea cups and saucers? Yup, she even gets to eat as if she's at a tea party, put on by one Ms. Lorelei. Such a tough life Maya lives! Now if only we could break her of this "boxing" habit. I've got scratches all over and Max's face looks pretty gnarly thanks to one jump at the eye. I'll take a picture to post later.

Dusty had promised Max that we'd all go fishing today in the new fishing boat. It was a perfect day to be on the water as it was hot and muggy. We had a little issue finding the launch as we'd never used this one before, but when we pulled up it was gorgeous. I couldn't have been happier!

Then Dusty shut the Jeep off to get everything together and when I went to start it again, it just would not start. So here we are, blocking the boat launch, unable to move.

I walked over a mile one way trying to get cell phone reception to make a phone call, or find a car, and ended up turning back completely unsuccessful. The children? Were completely happy frolicking in the muddy sand next to the river.

Eventually a man on a motorcycle came down and let me use his phone to call for help. Once we knew Chris was on his way and no one else seemed to be coming to use the launch, we relaxed a bit while we waited. Dusty and the kids walked out to fish.

And while Chris and Dusty pulled the Jeep out of the way and hitched the boat to his truck,

the kids enjoyed a snack picnic in the shade.

We're back home now, with both the boat and the broken Jeep, and we'll be enjoying the water from our hose today. Too bad, it would have been a beautiful day on the river, but at least we got to enjoy it from shore for a little while.

What? You don't occasionally have your picnic under the picnic table?

It was a hot one today, but we still find ways to make it fun!

You guys? We had our pictures this morning and well, just take a look.

Max was a bit more difficult as he had a hard time getting a real smile out but Rory just shined! That girl was all about facial expressions and it was hilarious! And that picture?! It just slays me. How beautiful can one little girl be?! The pictures of the two of them were pretty much impossible, as you can see what I picked, but it's cute, shows their personalities, and now I just have to worry about a family picture. So I'm happy, very happy.

P.S. Maya is freaking out right now. She has no idea why the kids are locked in their rooms away from her and continues to walk down the hallway just to check on them and make sure they are still not coming out. So cute. I think we're going to have a lot of fun with a dog here!

A few more funny pictures. My parent's took us to the bar that has the World Record Musky on it's wall. It also has a bunch of stuffed animals all over it's walls and a lot of them are posed in all sorts of weird outfits, scenes, and setups. There was a box full of gophers, chipmunks and squirrels which got us all laughing, we know how much Dusty loves those little animals. Here he is making fun of them in their stuffed state.

The kids got to practice making bubble beards in the tub, and are getting quite good at it!

And lastly, we went and visited with GG yesterday. We had a bunch of fun helping her around the yard and she in turn fed the kids more sweets then they knew what to do with and even made us a delicious dinner. It was a fun day spent with GG!

And I should be all caught up now. Just in time for a quick break before we watch Maya for the next two weeks. So yes, there will be lots of posts of a silly puppy and all the fun we will have, get ready!

I'm so excited to show these pictures. I should have a few more tomorrow but these are probably some of my most favorite of the bunch!

As I showed previously, the kids learned how to swim in their life jackets off the pontoon boat. We took it a step further later in the week as I swam each kid over to Bear Rock to take their picture next to it. Look at Max, he was so proud of himself swimming on his own over to the rock.

He did want me to stay close and we sure giggled when I pulled him next to me and we worked on making big splashes!

Rory was a bit more complicated, and to be honest I didn't have nearly as much energy when she jumped in after swimming with Max. So we took the scenic route and I threw her on my belly and we kicked and kicked.

But she was still happy to stand next to the rock and smile for the camera! (That's my girl.)

I also took the kids for a ride on the jet ski. Max was not thrilled with the idea, and only agreed to go because he couldn't handle the thought of Rory going and not him. So we had to go slow, and by slow, I mean not a single wave came off the jet ski, but we did it, and it sure made for a cute picture!

Dusty and I also took the kids tubing behind the pontoon. I know, I know, we are just so fun you wish we had been your parents! The kids giggled a lot while we tubed. Rory did a lot more giggling as Daddy would bounce them on their tube - she thought that was the greatest thing in the world! Max preferred we just sit still and let the boat pull us. Although he did enjoy yelling at Bopa to go faster.

And last but not least, we went into town and found an adorable ice cream parlor. (Katie and Andrew, we're going back with Lyla, it was adorable.) So enjoy the messy ice cream pictures!

I had a great time up at the lake, but I am so glad to be home. Apparently a pretty nasty storm came through our neighborhood last night, I was completely oblivious as I was locked in a passionate embrace with my bed, we really missed each other. Sweet dreams for me!

Sorry for the long gap in posts, we lost our Internet connection while on vacation making it impossible for me to create a post. We're home now, but we will be spending the next couple days getting adjusted to being home since we were gone for 16 days. I have more pictures to post and stories to share from our vacation and of course lots of plans for the week so stay tuned.

We've been having more water fun and fireworks!

Auntie Ta-Ta taught the kids how to blow water out of the noodles, which they thought was really cool until they realized their lungs weren't quite strong enough to do it.

Both Rory and Max went swimming in their life jackets off the pontoon boat. Seriously one proud Mama over here!

We went to the local casino to watch the fireworks there on the 4th of July.

It was really interesting because they had a tent where you bought fireworks and then you'd go to the grassy area and light them off. No roped off areas, no safety precautions, everyone just lit them up wherever they wanted. It was entertaining as we safely sat in the parking lot. And the casino put on their show after nightfall which trumped anything that we saw beforehand.

And of course we had to get a game of ladder ball in. Mom and Dad came out the champions between Andrea and Taylor, and Dusty and I. We'll get them next time!

And today is another beautiful day, so I'm off to enjoy the sun!