Summer Fun - June & July

Looking back thru all the photos I took this summer I realized how much fun we had!  Here's a brief summary.....

swim lessons...

Natalie and her friend Beckham did two sessions of swim lessons with their favorite teacher Brent.
The kids did great!  Natalie started to put her face in the water without complaining and they went off the diving board (assisted)  They did alot of giggling!

Rachel also had lessons with another favorite teacher, Halle.
Rachel passed with flying colors and even started diving off the board.

lemonade stand...

Finally after two summers "talking" about building a lemonade stand we did it.  It was planned that we wouldn't use Dad's help but in the end we did and so glad that we did otherwise we'd still be "talking" about it!  The only thing we had him help with was hinging the sides, otherwise I used a skil saw, the girls painted and the most fun part that all of us did was buy all the fun things to bling it out.

The girls spent four afternoons raising money for Sharing & Caring Hands and managed to raise $200, half way to their goal of $400.  August was a busy month to fit one in so maybe this fall they can get one more time in before we send off the proceeds.

new garage construction...

After ALOT of planning, Brian is finally getting his garage!!  Construction started and the girls even helped out!  Can't wait to be able to park two cars in during the snowy winter months!!

princess dance camp...

Pretty sure this is the most fairest princess of them all!
Natalie LOVED princess dance camp.  Everyday they got to learn a new dance and then perform it for us parents.
They were all so very cute

And she graduated!!

random outings...

some cute Salfer girls shopping at Menards

Just Natalie and I playing at the pool

Picking veggies at our friends house

prairie fire theater...

This years play was "Sleeping Beauty".  It had nothing to do with the actual Disney story...bits and pieces yes but not really close at all.  Rachel was a black sheep that "baa'd" alot.

And Emily and Caitlin were Chorus Girls...they weren't all that happy with the part because it was a large group part and they had no speaking parts.  They still were pretty good sports and enjoyed their experience.

Sleepovers...

Rachel says she NEVER gets to have sleepovers, so I gave in and had this sweet girl, Katie over for a sleepover.  She too, like Rachel likes coffee. :)  But decaf it is for these energetic two!  

When Brian was away for a youth retreat the girls and I had a sleepover in our family room.  We watched a movie, played wii, had popcorn and all slept together on my mattress that I moved into the room.  Surprisingly it wasn't too bad.  Only a small back ache the next day...sleeping next to a baby isn't something you want to do on a regular basis.

celebrating this special boy's birthday...

gymnastics...

Natalie was so very excited to start gymnastics.  She has been waiting a very LONG time!!!  She had a very small class which was awesome-much more one on one time with the teachers, Kris and Nick.  By the time gymnastics was over she was able to do a cartwheel!

sibley park/bike ride...

We loaded up our trailer with bikes and headed to Mankato to ride the trail along the river all the way to Sibley park.  Not sure how many miles, but it was alot of fun.  Mostly because we make a stop at Mom and Pops Icecream store on the way back.  

playing at Sibley Park

fun with Auntie Annie....

Annie Matt and the boys moved to Prior Lake (only late to move back to Fargo) and it was so nice to have them so close!  While I went to visit my friend in the hospital Annie watched the girls for me.  How nice to have cousins so close to play with!  The girls had alot of fun and of course didn't want to leave.  Auntie Annie is always so much fun!  

zoo with cousins...

Another fun outing with Annie and the boys and this time we had Mom join us!  It was a beautiful day to be at the zoo!  The kids had a blast!  Annie, Mom and I were pretty wiped out!  Lots of energy coming from these kiddos!  We ended the day at Champs for some adult beverages!

Oh Jackson....he really wanted to ride this goat but the goat just kept running away.  It was so funny to watch!  With all the exotic wild animals it always amazes me how the kid's favorite part is the Farm and the goats!  

Photo bomber!

4th of july celebration...

Again, this year we sat at our friends, the Yosts house for the 4th of July parade.  Matt and Annie and the boys and Mom joined us for the day.  There was quite a crew there to watch and it's always fun hanging with such awesome friends!  We got WAY too much candy again...maybe its because we have 5 kids? :)

Annie and Jackson

Oh Sweet Lo-Lo

Mr. Owen

Mom and the boys

Cousin Love-whether she wanted it or not!

Sparklers at our house before we headed to the fairgrounds to watch the big ones!

Quite memorable again this year at the Fireworks.  We got rained on!  And Lauren HATED the fireworks and cried for the whole 10 minutes they lasted!

visit from our Ohio friends...

4 Bieringer girls:  Sydney, Tess, Gabby & Cece
3 Pohlen's and a niece: Ella, Jada, Crist
5 Salfers: Caitlin, Emily, Rachel, Natalie and Lauren

It actually worked out to see our friends, the Pohlen's from Ohio and also our friends the Bieringers!  Normally with 3 family schedules all pulling us in different directions it didn't always work out to all be together.  I think the last time all our families were together we only had a handful of kids.  Now look at all these kiddos!!!  We were so glad it worked out and so grateful to have these guys in our life.  I love picking up right where we left off.  Old friends are treasures!

WHEW!......that was just June and July!  Fun Fun times!!!!!