August

And somehow we are already halfway through August. 

I found a bunch of strawberries on sale and had to do something with them. I also had a bunch of rhubarb still in the freezer from earlier in the year.  So, I had to made strawberry rhubarb jam. :)

yum :)

 Thankfully my mom stopped by to bring jars and entertain Gideon while I canned the jam. 

gideon made a tower! 

This could have gone very wrong...

We got to go to the pool one afternoon. Unfortunately, a storm rolled through and shortened our time at the pool. 

Gideon didn't jump off but he thought the board was pretty cool.

After the rain, I checked the garden. This watermelon burst!  

garden finds

gorgeous flowers :) :)

Gideon got to scoop watermelon 

The first weekend in August, we drove up to Kalahari resort in Wisconsin.  Nathan's work does a trip there each year and this year we decided to join.  I wasn't sure what to expect, since it was with all of Nathan's coworkers and I've never been to a water park resort. But, we had a blast. :) Kalahari is safari/Africa/animal themed and Gideon loved all of the animal pictures and statues. 

A little scared of the big elephant

Gideon "playing" in the arcade. 

An amazing burger for supper one evening

getting braver, plus a smaller elephant

Kalahari has an outdoor and an indoor water park. Gideon started out being pretty timid of all of the shooting water and slides, but by the end of the weekend he was going down the slides like a pro. 

outdoor water park

taking a break from the slides.

riding down the kiddi lazy river.

Gideon and Easton (Nathan's coworkers son).

such a big kid!

Saturday evening,  we went out with a few of Nathan's coworkers.  They took us to a restaurant where toy trains bring your food.  For a boy who loves trains, it was pretty exciting. 

food by train

Saturday also happened to be our anniversary.  Five years! It's hard to believe it's been that long.  It's been a great five years :).  

:)

sharing a fancy dessert to celebrate

Sadly, due to my condition ;) I was unable to go down any slides.  But, it was a great weekend. And, while not the most romantic or typical, it was a great way to spend our 5 year anniversary. 


One day last week, my mom and I did a few peaches.

They are so pretty!

And of course peach pie had to be involved. :)

Gideon and I met Katy, Emily, and Haley and their kids at the park one morning. 

checking out the lake

Friends :)

the kiddos

And then, Jenny and the girlies were going to Fritz's pool so we had to join for a while that afternoon. 

back on the diving board with Cadence :)

It was warmer and the water was nice, so Gideon did a lot of jumping in to me.

Nathan is singing with a men group coming up.  So, during one practice, Gideon and I spent the evening at the farm. 

Grandpa and Gideon having a lawnmower race :)

We had a play date at Kendra's one morning.  Gideon was out of sorts and mostly just watched the other kids.

'sharing' with Adelaide 

One hot afternoon, we got out the pool again. 

all kids need to learn how to drink water from a hose

 Our bathroom project has finally come to an end.  Which is very exciting. It took WAY longer than I imagined. Mainly because I couldn't work while Gideon was asleep and I couldn't work while he was awake. 

Gideon 'helping' to take up the toilet

preparing the new grout

Done! 

Toilet reset, floor redone, painted cabinet, 

new painted changing table.

before and after

Sigh. :) It looks so good and makes me so happy to see it look the way I wanted it to. 

Grandma Wyss turned 90!  We got together Sunday night to celebrate. 

It was a large gathering :)

We are incredibly blessed as a family.  

Gideon is something. He is so busy.   He's so much fun but so exhausting at the same time.  He's a talker and a singer and pretty much repeats anything he hears.  He still doesn't like sleep, which is rough and starting to get me pretty worried about how things will go with another.  But boy is he cute.  Nathan and I struggle to stay stern when he's acting up and often have to turn away to keep from laughing... 

One night at 10:45, while attmpting to put Gideon to sleep, Gideon and I had the following conversation:
Gideon: EEEEEEEEEEe
Me: shhhhhh
Gideon: People Seeeping
Me: ...people wish they were sleeping...

Then there was this:

It's just never dull.

I built him a slide for his cars

helping mommy carry in the heavy veggies.

Another massive watermelon

:)

And, that's pretty much been it. Keeping up with Gideon, doctor's appointments (all is well with baby), and working on getting ready for kid #2.

In Christ

~Michelle