Still having fun, how about you?

Mike took half a day off to go bowling with us and a neighbor friend this week. When it's $1 a game, why not. :)

Eliza struggled to place a 10lb ball on the ramp, but she did it!

Evan was amazed by the size of the bananas this week at the store.

We finally got our Zelda day in. It was one of things I wanted to do with the kids this summer. Old school 2d Zelda. 

We put Rosie's window perch back up, and she's happy to look at all the critters in the yard. 

Still getting moles, I believe this is our 6th one.

For science this week the kids build different robots again.

Evan has a vibrating drawing robot, Alex had a lippy robot that walks, and Eliza made a bubble machine.

Fun with bubbles!

Back to school supply list for the kids.

Sorting through last years stuff to see if we can reuse anything and clean out what needs to be taken out. Going through supplies that we have to see if they work for this year as well.

Eliza and Evan joined me on the hammock on one of the cooler days which was delightful.

We had our annual ice cream social with the neighbors which was wonderful. Perfect weather and we ended up staying up with the neighbors until 9pm talking and laughing.

Lots of kids this year.

My flowers are dry and look lovely. I put them in some wax paper and in a large book to keep them flat. Now I am attempting to dry some more and I'll make something with them this winter. I think I need to walk a WB trail and pick some wild flowers and grass to dry as well.

 

Summer isn't over!!!

This week we headed to the Washtenaw 4H fair with our stowaway Lila, my friend Emily's daughter. 

 We enjoyed touring the barns looking at the animals and also the craft/art/produce barn. Then we settled in to see the main event.

Maggie and Clara showing their cows.

They both did well, considering neither of their cows decided to lay down, and weren't as vocal as some of the other cows being presented, and they didn't have running water because of an electrical issue they were having at the fair. Clara didn't place in this event but she did get....

First place in Market Class and Reserve Grand Champion overall in Feeders! Well done, Clara and Huey!!!

Every year I find it fun how sticky purple green beans are. They are literally like Velcro to clothing, as Alex is displaying here. 

Alex got a bee in his bonnet about seeing if he could hook up the Nintendo Switch to the cars video system. With a little digging and a bit of trouble shooting we figured it out. The kids are over the moon that they can play Mario Cart while I'm driving listening to all the sound effects. *eye roll*

On another hot day, because that's all we've gotten this summer, we headed to a local beach with some friends and enjoyed a morning in the water.

Evan enjoyed himself looking for rocks and shells. Alex was there too but he was sun bathing on the floaty we brought and I didn't get a picture of him. 

Alex finally got to use his & charcuterie board. He was very excited to make these boards, and we all enjoyed a delightful lunch.

I had a hummingbird moth visiting my garden this week.

We had the Christman family over for a pancake dinner. We made cinnamon swirl pancakes and banana bread pancakes, with some fruit and sausages.

Yum!!!

Then the kids lit off a few fireworks and sparklers before they departed. 

Eliza and I made some Gluten Free sugar cookies for our family gathering with the Degen family the following day. We all enjoyed a riveting game of Telestrations. 

Eliza got her wish and we all enjoyed KFC after church. 

Eliza loves fried chicken and we have been trying to find her a fried chicken place, and this was on our bucket list for the summer to visit. After this fried lunch we headed to see Elio at the MJR, another summer bucket list item checked off.

6th Week of Summer

While the AC was getting fixed the kids and I enjoyed a riveting game I got from the library. You have to select plants and make sure they have the correct light requirements and feed them and water them. I know what you're thinking, doesn't sound like a game I would enjoy at all. :) We also got the garage door fixed, a cable broke so thankfully it wasn't too bad of a fix.

Eliza and Evan finally did a baking show it's called "The Baker's Bakery" where they made chocolate cloud bread on video.

It was kind of like a chocolate meringue 

I've been seeing Black Swallowtail butterflies in the garden. I think the ones that were eating my dill have transformed into butterflies. 

Summer nights are a great time for ice cream on the deck.

My volunteer cucumelon has started to climb and I see a few baby cucumelons on it. 

Eliza showing off the height of the garden. After the big rain storm we got both the tomatoes and cucumbers have fallen over and are expanding to the left or right.

This dragonfly in the cucumbers was huge! It was as big as a leaf and you can see in the picture above the leaves are not small. 

Harvested oregano and thyme to dry for the winter soups. Put the leaves in my dehydrator and in a day they were dry and crispy.

This week for science we looked at Ph's with one of the kids science kits. We made mixture of an acid, a base and an indicator of cabbage water.

We had fun mixing and seeing how the colors changed depending if it was more basic or acidic.

Mike and I made foil boats and the Sheiko event we attended. Evan tested to see if they were sea worthy in a large puddle. My speedboat design did well, and Mikes pontoon did well but was a bit slower. :)

Summer isn't summer without a visit to Greenfield Village. It was a cool day with a lovely breeze and it was perfect to walk around. We went to the farm this time, which we haven't really been to. I quizzed the kids on what was growing in the gardens and we toured the pottery area and glass blowing buildings. 

And a visit is not complete without a ride on the train.

I visited with my friend Emily for the weekend while the kids

 and Mike.....

tried White Castle and ate ~30 sliders, which they really liked....

Had a late night swim with friends where they were kind enough to supply swim suits to my people...

Visited Aunt Jamie and met Davey's pet scorpion.....

And got to ride dirt bikes and got ~15 bug bites each.

and.....Evan picked the first carrot of the season Sunday before we left for church.