Sisters

Harvest

A few weeks back we took the kids out to Russell/Victoria/Hays so they could see harvest (and have a little cousin time). I was really fun to see them all playing in the wheat truck, riding the combine and tractor, and entertaining themselves in the back of Grandpa's truck. I haven't been out to harvest with the Ballard family in years (I know, big booooo for me) but it brought back a lot of memories of playing with my cousins!

 

The Crew :)

The kids and Dain with his cousin Travis

Dawn and cousin Chad

Grandma, Emily, and Brandon

Kale in the wheat truck

Being silly at Fort Hays

Taking a break at Fort Hays

Jordan and Shay-Shay

bAiLeY's BiRtHdAy

Our princess loving, crazy outfit wearing, joyful little girl turns four today.  It's hard to believe that in just over a year we'll be sending her off to kindergarten!

Here's four reasons we think you are simply FaBuLoUs Miss Bailey:

1.  Given any topic and a well known tune (or what ever happens to be on the radio at the moment) you can make up a song.....and not just any song....one that rhymes!  Your brother may not always appreciate your musical talents, but Dad and I absolutely love them :)

2.  You insist on snuggling on my lap for at least 10 minutes every morning while we watch Caillou, Berenstain Bears, or Chloe's Closest.  It's one of the best parts of my day!

3.  You always keep us informed on what Granny Bo-Bo, Jenna, Leeda and all your other imaginary friends are up to...and I'll tell you what, that's no small feat!  They are always ending up in difficult situations and we're grateful for the constant updates.

4.  You are a fantastic artist, a super fast runner, and the sweetest little girl we know.

As your Grandpa Hammy says, "Bailey-Loo, we love you.....yes we do.....Bailey-Loo!!"  Happy Birthday to our Bailey Boo! :)

Denver

Our quick trip to Colorado

We sat in the "Rock Pile" at a Rockies game...lots of entertainment both on the field and off when you sit in the $5 seats.

Friday Layne took us hiking on Green Mountain.  It started relatively easy....

Still smiling......

By the time we made it to the top my legs were worn out and reminding me just how flat things are in Kansas :)

Nonetheless, the view from the summit was worth it!  So cool.

I have since vowed to increase the incline on the treadmill and hit the StairMaster a few more times before attempting to climb another mountain ;)

Thanks to Layne and Casey for showing us a good time in Colorado!

School's Out for Summer!

Soccer is done for the season.  If there were some sort of award for "kid who gets knocked down the most but rolls and jumps right back up"  Kale would win for sure!

Dain and I went to the Eric Church concert.  It's hard to not like a guy who sings songs with lyrics like, "I love your love the most," and "Jack Daniels kicked my ass again last night" all in the same show.

I do think, however, that for the next one we attend I'm going to splurge to get Dain and I matching rhinestone belt buckles and we're going to borrow a pickup truck so we fit in a bit more.  Showing up in a Jeep wearing flip-flops is just not proper etiquette at a concert like that ;)

Grandma and Grandpa stayed with the kids overnight, which makes it acceptable to drink chocolate milkshakes at 11:00 in the morning :)

Kale and his female-version-mini-me.  She adores him just a bit....can you tell?!

Brett and Kel are getting geared up to move to Tulsa.  I'm trying not to think about it too much because I get all teary-eyed thinking about not seeing these cute faces as often.

Baseball is in full swing.  These two are quite a pair (Kale plays pitcher and his buddy plays first base). It's not been a winning season thus far, but we've watched enough Royals games to know that you can still have fun even if the scoreboard doesn't end up in your favor :)

Bailey's Turn

After waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting (or so she thinks).....Bailey finally got to play a sport!

(No, not extreme ballet....but this is such a Bailey outfit, I had to share)

Here she is in all her blastball glory.  And will you check out that technique?  You gotta teach good form early you know ;)

She has already decided that next she wants to do soccer.......

and basketball, and dance, and football!  Seriously.  The girl wants to play football.  And I know I sound sexist, but really.....I'm okay with her trying a variety of sports, but I think I'm drawing the line at football.  I can deal with skinned knees and a few bumps and bruises, but I don't think I could handle seeing my sweet girl in a helmet and pads.....so I think I'll keep advocating for softball....or volleyball....or track........

And in the mean time, we'll keep enjoying our blastball super star :)

Cruising on a Sunday Afternoon....

Brooks was in charge of the driving,
Shay was in charge of the music selection,

 happy as can be cruising around the cul-de-sac.

I mean really, they looked like lovebirds.....

It's a shame they're cousins :)