Maggie has been pretending to be a monster a lot lately. She hunches her back, holds her hands up, and tries to sneak up on people – usually while giggling and saying, “I monster, I monster”.

The boys went to an auction with Uncle Steve, Uncle Rock, and Aunt Amanda.

No, they didn’t buy a tractor.

My friend Shannon spoiled them with play-doh, Lego sets, and a new baby for Maggie.

My Aunt Cathy spoiled them with new pillow cases. Luke’s have Thomas the Train and Batman on them, and Maggie adores her new Minnie Mouse pillow.

Uncle Steve helped them build a door out of pipes.

And Maggie is just cute – even when she’s breaking the rules and standing on a chair.

We went to a Fireman’s Picnic over the weekend.

The kids loved playing in the corn pit. We did have to stop Luke from “cannonballing”.

Uncle Steve tried to bury the boys and Adam made corn angels.

They also liked riding in this tractor pulled train.

And playing in the bounce houses.

It was a great way to spend the afternoon (especially since we got a round of milkshakes before we left).

This little peanut has been extra sassy lately.

You can see it in her walk. I love when she gets her little arms swinging.

She’s a spunky little lady, that’s for sure.

“Shhhhh Mom, the engines are talking!”

We went to the zoo today. The kids got their faces painted. Maggie got a butterfly.

Adam chose a turtle.

And Luke picked a tiger. The whole time his face was getting painted he kept saying, “You’re tickling me” and wiggling around, so it’s a bit of a wibbly wobbly tiger.

This elephant just relocated from Orlando a few months ago and she was having a blast in the water. She splashed around and completely submerged herself a few times too. It was so fun to watch.

All of the kids loved watching the sea lions.

We even managed to get a nice picture of all five kids (the two cuties in the front are my nephews – they’re awesome).

It was the perfect day for a trip to the zoo. I’m so glad we were all able to go.

Maggie adores her little cousins.

We visited a playground after basketball camp one day.

The boys and I went to the movies.

Luke is crazy about my brother’s dog, Bruzer.

The boys borrowed Bruzer’s dog lead. They took turns attaching it to their clothes so they could safely rock climb.

Adam and Luke have both been all about superheroes lately.

I stole five of their superhero figurines and froze them. It was their job to free them from the ice.

Adam and my mom won $5 playing the grocery store version of Monopoly. Adam was pretty excited, mainly because Mabel let him use the money to buy a new kickball.

I had the perfect thing for Maggie to wear on the 4th of July. When I tried to put it on her that morning though, she refused. Instead, she shoved a tutu at me and said, “princess!”

Princess indeed.

I was finally able to talk her into the red, white, and blue outfit three days later.

My brother-in-law runs a week long basketball camp each summer. This year, Adam was finally old enough to go to it.

He had an awesome time. He learned a lot too – not just about basketball, but about sportsmanship too. Rob really does a phenomenal job with the camp.

He even got a certificate at the end of the week. He was the “Dribble Duck Duck Goose” champ for his age group.

“Please mom, can I go for basketball? I’m wearing my basketball shirt, my basketball underpants, and my basketball shorts.”

Our summer is off to a great start! We’ve had some great walks in the stroller.

A lot of fun golf cart rides (the other night my dad was driving my sister, her friend, and 7 kids around the yard on it).

And of course, the “vehicles” at Papa and Mabel’s are always a hit.

We’ve been able to spend time with my siblings and their spouses – always a good time.

Adam and Luke got to go to school with my parents one morning. They watched a track meet, played on the computers, and had lunch with Rob.

Maggie, Connor, Amanda, and I picked the boys up and then went to the playground.

Adam LOVED the zipline.

All four kids had a blast.

We’ve also spent a lot of time at the playground closest to my parents’ house.

We tried to get a picture with all the kids on the slide. Getting a picture with all five of them happy and looking at the camera is my impossible dream summer goal.

I’m excited to see what other fun this summer brings.