Mieska Reunion

 GG & Mav

 Our first family photo

 GG & her "greats", she'll have 19 total come September!

 Omi & Papa

 Max LOVES Maverick, aka "Averit"

 My first jet ski ride, I love the ease and freedom!

 Family jet ski ride without Mav

 Auntie Heather has a captive audience while talking to Sean

 'Cause he's just that cool!

 Daddy and Maverick, who wears the aviators better?

 I think the kids were operating a drive thru in the play house, Sue was their only loyal customer.

 Auntie Whitney and the Mav-man

 They're so cute together...when they're not getting into trouble together.

Catching Up

 Maverick's Bath time: He has never cried during bath time, yay!

 Audrey flew in from Washington and spent some time visiting us, we had a lot of fun going to the zoo, playing in the water, and just visiting.

 Poor Brody was sick last week.  He started a fever Sunday night (July 1) and by Monday night it was 104.9, yikes!  We took him in to make sure he didn't have strep.  It wasn't strep so he's been fighting the virus ever since.  I got sick as well as Maverick.  I'm ready for it to be done with now.

 Last week Claire and Max came over with Omi during the day and we played in the pool.  Lots of fun even though Brody wasn't feeling himself and Claire was starting to get sick.

 On the 4th of July we went out to a parade to campaign for my dad's reelection as Rice County Commissioner.  Even Maverick was sporting red, white, and blue!

 More visiting time with Audrey

 And visiting from Kelly too!  As you can see, Maverick finds it difficult to get comfy and relaxed:)

 I love baby feet.

 Packing up for a weekend in Ely.  I think Audrey wanted to pack him up and take him back to Washington once she found out he fit nicely in a suitcase.

Brody and Maverick snuggling before bedtime in Brody's bed.  *snuggling*...yeah right

While I'm still behind in posting pictures of our recent happenings, I'm trying to catch up!  I still have Mieska reunion pictures and pictures from the trip we took to Ely last weekend!  Oddly it isn't busy life that's keeping me from updating, it's just the my computer fan isn't working so anytime I have the computer running I feel like I'm gambling on weather it'll over heat and fry the hard drive.  Time to get out the screwdriver and see about fixing it!  A happy coincidence though is that this makes for a great excuse to procrastinate on my Statistics assignments.  Thank goodness for self-paced online courses.

Bubbles

Brody loves bubbles!  Really, what kid doesn't love bubbles?  He loved them right up until he got some in an eye.  It's a rare case where he gets remotely upset about being hurt, so when he cried and cried and cried, I felt bad for him.  Luckily nap time was near which meant 2 hours with his eyes shut to get the bubbles out:)  He learned his lesson and reminds me when we play bubbles not to get it in my eye.  I don't know what the average 2 year old memory is like, but Brody does not forget much and this includes a scary attention to detail and pointing out when something moves.  He could have 100 toys on the floor and if I take away the hammer, he'll ask me where it went.  Seriously?  As if he intentionally left it on the floor in a random spot in the middle of chaos.  Apparently.

Happenings with the Parks

 Clearly a lot of Brody's summer while I am off will consist of playing in the water on our deck.  Thank God for that little deck!!

 Kelly meeting Maverick

 Claire loving on Maverick

 Making footprint butterflies with all 4 kids for Father's Day.

 Claire asked to ride the Barbie car about 85 times, almost as many times as Brody asking to ride "me motorcycle".  Those two love those toys.

 Max sneaking some cookies from GG.

 A smile with his eyes open...miracles do happen:)

 Gotta start 'em young with the slave labor!

 Paco holding Mav for the first time :)

We all went in on a new grill for my dad for Father's Day.  Here's the construction crew that put it together.  We grilled kabobs as soon as they finished, yum!