Happy Birthday Samantha Paige (oh, and Jeff too!)

As much as "sharing" a birthday is kind of a drag for kids, it's kind of fun for us (adults who aren't Sammie's parents) that Sam was born on her Uncle Jeff's 30th birthday.  Happy birthday to our brave, outgoing, no-holds-barred, sweet, FOUR-year-old niece, Samantha Paige!

Happy Birthday Molly!

Two girls ready to PARTY!  Molly walked in the house declaring "I'm FOUR!!  Melanie is four, and now I'M four!!"

Partying with Poppy

Birthday girl with her beautiful Mama.  I tried this shot about 10 times without Molly smiling; then, Julie said we could do cake if Molly smiled.  Ta-da!

The kids taking a break while the party goes on in the background

Someone wanted to be a part of ALL of the celebrating!

In their dresses Gigi made them, getting ready for their sleepover

We had a great time celebrating Molly's birthday on Saturday with a pool party at Gigi & Poppy's!  There were 14 kids 10 and under, and then Melanie stayed the night with Molly that evening, enjoying the Hotdog Festival, movies, and games at Aunt Julie's house.  Happy birthday, Sweet Molly!!

Fun week!

Ellie & Gracie came over on Tuesday night for some backyard water fun

We had our typical Wednesday night playgroup with a change of location to our house - Melanie LOVES Claire!!

Friday night Indians game with Jeff's work.  As you can tell, he's really close to all of his coworkers!  :)

The kids helped Gigi water her plants.  Or, in Joey's case, he was doing a lot of watering his toes

Sunday evening we went to Randy & Cory's for a cookout with Bart & Angela Hoemann, who were visiting from Seattle.  The kids had fun playing with their kids Isabelle and Alexander.

General Goofiness

The kids decided to run through Tom & Paula's sprinklers fully dressed, and then play with brooms in the front yard.  All while Melanie was wearing Joey's shirt.

Ready for action.

Upon Melanie's first listen of the song "Cotton Eyed Joe" several months ago, her version is "Cotton-ball eyed Joey."  It's especially appropriate given the fact that Joey is rarely seen without a cotton ball in his hand while sucking his thumb.  It's the one thing guaranteed to calm him down.

College Friends!

The annual "matching dress" picture - L-R Janie, Elise, Abby, Melanie, Natalie

Having fun at the park after the Farmers Market

Clayton - look at those eyes!!  The two 2-year-old boys also had matching outfits - Colts! - but we weren't so lucky as to get them to pose together.

Melanie showing love to the only person who would braid her hair

We had a great weekend with the Galloises, Boscherts, and Nutts (aka, Gretchen, Kate, and Shelly) this past weekend.  Kate and Gretchen arrived with their families on Friday evening, and we just hung out and had pizza while the kids all re-acquainted themselves with each other.  Saturday, while the guys played golf, the moms took the kids to the Zionsville Farmers Market and the park - then Shelly's family came in and we headed to the pool.  We capped off the day with a cookout at our house that evening, and had a great time getting caught up.  Sunday morning before the trip back to St. Louis, we went to the splash park for a while, and then my kids took a loooong nap Sunday to recover from all of the festivities!  When asked what Melanie's favorite part of the weekend was (I thought there would be a lot of highlights, hanging out with all of the "older" girls - 2 seven year olds and 2 five year olds!!) - her answer was "My favorite part of the weekend was God and Jesus."  Well, then.

We're lucky that not only have we maintained our 17/18-year-old friendship, but also that our husbands genuinely like each other, and our kids have fun together.

July - A Month of "Firsts"

First, Saturday started with the annual Whitestown polo match, which we attend courtesy of the bank most years.  After a fun (HOT) polo match, Jeff and I headed downtown.  We realized we had never left both kids overnight, so we headed  for a stay at the Marriott on July 14.  We are glad to have Grandma & Papa Worzala in town; they stayed with the kids, and we had a great time just hanging out downtown.  This is a view from our hotel room (Lucas Oil Stadium)

On July 15, for the first time, Joey slept overnight in his toddler bed.  The very first night he was in it, he woke up briefly, crying and trying to get out of his room.  By the time Jeff got up there, he was back in bed, and he hasn't had any problems since!

July 16-20, Melanie attended Summer Camp at a Jewish synagogue right around the corner from us.  She went from 9am until 3pm each day, and had a blast learning about all things "water" - all of their crafts, activities, science lessons, etc., revolved around water.  The highlight of the week was that Jeff sent a ham sandwich as part of her kosher lunch.  Luckily, she was not kicked out of school, and was allowed to finish the week.  This picture is of Mel on her first day of camp, SO excited.  By the time it was time for me to leave from drop-off, she had changed her tune - but after the first day, she got easier and easier to drop off, which was my intent - get her out of her comfort zone a bit!

This was Mel's first night of VBS - she was enrolled July 15 through 19, 6-8pm.  Her first night, she did great.  2nd night, didn't want to stay because Joey was helping me with drop-off, and she felt if he and I left, she'd be missing something good.  3rd night, I stayed with her.  4th and 5th night she opted out.  The church (ZPC) did a great job with the program, but it was a bit too much going on for her.  She was brave and tried it, though!!

Pool

This was the first night Melanie was in her swimmies by herself all evening.  It was great, and offered a level of independence since I had both the kids by myself.  The very next night, she declared that since now she knows how to swim with her swimmies, it's time to learn how on her own.  A GREAT mindset in general - but I was looking forward to some independence first :)

At Gigi & Poppy's pool, she can touch; so she is much more confident, and will jump in and swim all by herself.  She'll stop and put on her swimmies so she can practice kicking out behind her; and then take them off to see if she can sustain it.  Her own little swim instructor!

Playdate at the pool!

Joey trying to figure it all out

We are down at the pool nearly every evening; Melanie is really increasing in her confidence level, and Joey is just trying to keep up. He'll jump in if you're holding onto his hands, and he sometimes likes to be "dunked" over and over again.  Mostly he just likes to hoard his toys and not share them.  Melanie loves to jump in with her swimmies (doing "cannonballs"), touching the bottom with her toes.  She'll jump in on her own, and swim on her own, in small doses.  We're really enjoying the water!!

Random summer fun

Uncle Randy lit fireworks for our entertainment!

We went to see "Once Upon a Shoe," put on by the youth theater in Carmel

A day off of work/school; Mel and I went to the zoo for the day (I was vying for the water park - it was HOT.  She chose the zoo)

Hanging out

After the church carnival - with a ladybug on her face

Bedtime snuggling

Sparklers!

Family Reunion

The Doan/Starbuck family, roasting in Wilmington

Uncle John, David Gregory, and the granddaughter-in-law of Pop's sister.

The kids back in the hotel after a long, hot day and a cool-down in the pool

The last weekend in June, we headed to Wilmington, Ohio for a family reunion.  We reconnected with this branch of my Dad's family just last summer, when he, Uncle John, and I traveled to Wilmington to do some family "research."  We're so glad we re-made those connections, as they have supported Dad through his surgery, and participated in Pop Doan's induction to the Purdue Hall of Fame.  We had a great time getting to know more of the family, and having a little road trip of our own.