Visiting Grandma Schueller

The girls and I headed back to Lucan for an overnighter and on the way stopped in to see Grandma Schueller.  My aunt Rosie was home for Josh's wedding so we saw her too!  I'm sure Grandma is exhausted after watching 5 lively girls but is also thankful for the company.  She took us out to Pizza Ranch for dinner and we all had a wonderful time.  I think I have the sweetest grandma in the whole wide world!

Celebrate Me Camp

This was Caitlin's first big camp away from home- Celebrate Me.  A camp for incoming 7th graders to uplift, encourage, have fun and meet new friends.  She had an awesome week and learned lots about herself.  There were thousands of pictures taken throughout the week-and I'm not kidding when I say thousands-but here are a few we took upon her arrival and at the end of the week.

July Wrap-up

OK, I really need to catch this blog up a bit...So here's the rest of July in a nutshell.

Emily and Rachel finished swimming lessons, both passed with flying colors.

Emily and Caitlin were in "Jack and the Beanstalk"...they practiced all week and did a fabulous job and had a fabulous time!

Then, we went to Minneopa State park to do some more rock climbing....It was very hot and humid

Caitlin and I slipped away from the family for an overnight stay in the cities with our friends Mary and Kylie.  We had fun shopping and going out to eat and just hanging out together.  Mary and I made it fun by picking out outfits for our girls and then the girls picking out outfits for their moms.  It was amazing to see what they can come up with and they did a pretty good job!   It was a very fun time and I can't wait to do this with all my girls as they enter 7th grade!!  It will be a fun tradition!!

The girls and I headed to the Como Zoo to meet up with Auntie Laura and cousins Mya and Ally.  Despite the weather and stressful time nursing Lauren and watching 7 kids run different directions we had a good time.  Ended the trip to Old Chicago for pizza which was well worth it!  Always have a fun time with the Moore girls!!  Even though Ally was there she didn't like me to take her picture so she is "missing" from these photos. :)

Then we wrapped up the end of July by celebrating Owen's 5th birthday with the Lindbo crew in Prior Lake... Oh such a sweet boy.  I just love this little man who cracks me up, is a joy to watch and is so outgoing and friendly and I could go on and on.  Just love him so much!

It was a whirlwind of a month but I wouldn't trade it in for anything!!  Good times and Great memories made.

Lauren 5 months

 5 Months 7/28/13

Well here we are 5 months old and such a happy baby!  I was a little behind the eight ball getting her picture taken with the 5 months sign so these two will have to do.  Lauren is rolling over, giggling, grunting, cooing, finding her toes, not sleeping thru the night, not liking formula, loving her sisters, loving her exersaucer, growing a little, caught her first cold/cough, rolling with the punches and went on her first vacation.  We are loving this little lady and besides the not sleeping thru the night thing she's a great baby.  She's full of bright eyed smiles.

Lauren's 4 Months & Rolling!

4 months 6/28/13

Well, Lauren finally did it!  She's officially rolling over.  We lay her down on her back and immediately she rolls over to her belly.  She wants to see what's going on I guess?!  At her well baby check she was a whopping 12.4 lbs.  She's our smallest babe so far to date, even little Caitlin had her beat in lbs at this age.  I'm sure Lauren will get her growth spurt eventually.  She's being a little bit of a bugger when it comes to taking a bottle.  We've found she'll take it if it has breast milk in it but not formula.  So I figured out we can water it down and add it to the breast milk then she'll take it but not overjoyed with it.  She has been a good nursing baby so I really shouldn't complain.

She is such a fun baby and always happy and loves to watch her sisters whether they're fighting, laughing or having fun.  Her older sisters are very good at helping me with her too.  She is such a joy to have in this family.  So happy God's plans are bigger than ours!

4th of July

We have been having the most beautiful weather and the 4th of July was spectacular!  We first went to the parade and sat at the Yost's who so kindly invite us all for prime seats to the parade.  Afterwards, we got pizza and ate with my parents who also made it down to the parade (a tradtion)  we took naps, mom and dad left and then we headed to the Crowley's for a 4th of July potluck supper.  the kids had fun playing in the water, down by the creek and their fort they made in the woods while the parents enjoyed eachothers' company.  We are so blessed to have such a great group of people to hang out with!

candy coma?

photo bombing grandpa tom

the girls barely sitting still long enough to take a picture the g-parents

Mini Vacation

We decided to take a smaller trip since Lauren wasn't at the ideal age to be traveling a far distance.  We originally had planned to visit the southeast corner of the state but due to the bike trail being closed in the area we wanted to stay we decided to go up north to one of our favorite places instead- Duluth.  The girls just love being outdoors, climbing the rocks and enjoying nature.  The first stop we made was...

Duluth - Canal Park - Park Point Beach

I thought I had packed the umbrella for Lauren to lay under but I didn't.  I hate that when I do that!  But being married to the man that I am, I am lucky that he is handy, he went searching for sticks and made a little shelter for her so that she wouldn't get fried in the sun.  She was a happy girl just hanging out while her sister's played in the ice cold water and played in the sand.  

I'm always amazed at the amount of time the kids can spend playing by the water.  It's just a simple thing to do...no screen...no noise...no gadgets...just water and sand.  And they LOVE it!  And I love watching them.  It makes me happy when they just enjoy each other and don't fight.  Ahhhh...sisterly love.

I knew there would be a point I would have to nurse Lauren.  I thought I would be able to hide under the umbrella (the one I forgot to pack) but instead we made due and at least I had my hooter hider.  It was a little cumbersome especially when she's batting the fabric away, I'm trying not to flash the guys that are on both sides of us.  Granted there isn't much to see, it's still stressful.  We did just fine though and laugh about all the fun places I've had to nurse in public.  I should really start making a list!

Brian helped Natalie build a sand pool.  She wanted to be the only one to play in it though.  She wasn't about sharing this time.

We even managed to get all our fee in this photo.  Look at all the toes...70 in case you can't do the math!

Lauren's first dip in Lake Superior...brrrr...pretty sure we had to change her diaper afterward!

Me and my ladies...Look!  We are all smiling and looking at the camera!

At the lighthouse...we added one person since the last picture taken here. :)

While I was nursing Lauren..this time in the van...Brian took the girls down the street to check out the water feature and let the girls walk around before we headed to our cabin in Lutsen.  For some reason natalie felt that she needed to hold her shorts up even though she wasn't in the water. :)  Funny girl!  She did this almost everywhere we went.

See!  They love eachother!

After getting unpacked in our cute little cabin in Lutsen, having a good nights sleep, a yummy breakfast and packing our lunch we headed out on a new adventure to.....

Cascade State Park

this was a beautiful park and my favorite day of vacation.  We had beautiful weather for hiking and Lauren was awesome in her baby bjorn.  We saw the waterfalls, went on a pretty hefty hike (a few miles) had a picnic and saw the top of the world (i will explain...)

The girls named this tree the "Butt" tree and of course it wouldn't be right if they didn't show theirs as well!

At the end of a smaller hike from the water falls to where the river meets lake superior.

Our first sighting of our state flower, the Ladyslipper

The girls thought this was cool too, the tree roots exposed.  It was pretty cool!

The Hikers

Finally we made it to the top!  Natalie asked me "Momma, is this the top of the world?"  Me:  "Yes, Natalie this is the top of the world!"  It's all about perspective right?  Gotta love kids.  It ended up being a long hike and Natalie for being her age, did very well and there really wasn't any complaining.  After getting off the trail a bit, and me thinking we were lost, we did find our way back to the car.  It was an awesome day!

Fun day number 3, staying close to home (our cabin) we spent some fun time going down the alpine slide and riding the gandala to the top of moose mountain.  The girls didn't feel like hiking much today-can't imagine why! :)  We got lots of comments too on the shirts the girls wore.  They were pretty cute and Brian and I were proud as peacocks!

Lutsen - Alpine Slide

Our Home Away from Home
This was our cute little cabin we stayed at in Lutsen.  It was a VRBO and worth the money!  It had a hot tub the girls loved sitting in and HGTV for our tv fix.

Our last stop was one of our all time favorite places....

Gooseberry Falls

These were some cool trees the girls found to climb on and were having fun until one bit Emily's leg....

Good thing we packed lots of neosporin and band-aids. :)

We had such a fun time and so glad we took this mini vacation.  It makes me smile knowing we're making fun memories with the girls.  Very grateful and blessed beyond measure.