July

Whenever it seems that I am finally catching up on this blog, another month shoots by and I'm even further behind! Here are some pictures from July.

Brennan is an official bike rider now! He was very focused and it took less than a week of running behind him before he was riding off on his own.





Happy 4th of July!



After having been home for 3 weeks Patrick left for a month in Italy (with only one day of notice) so the rest of July stars just us chickens. Brennan watched Toy Story for the first time (of many!) Here he is pretending to be Buzz Lightyear and leaping all over the house. In his spare time he also helps me to mow the lawn and attends ice cream socials.



We took a great trip to the Aachen zoo with Erika.



You can feed the goats, but they get a little bit aggressive. Erika kept cool under pressure though.



Isla's new chair came in, an early birthday present from Mommy and Daddy. Both kids were pretty excited about her new (personalized) furniture.



I took the kids blueberry picking in the Netherlands. Brennan did a great job helping to fill our bucket, and Isla gorged on berries with some mulch mixed in for good measure. It did end up raining on us, but we had a really good time and came away with a full bucket of delicious berries.



We converted our harvest into some tasty muffins and a batch of blueberry jam. There's nothing like canning to make you feel productive and self-sufficient.



Enjoying Paula's birthday party.



Isla borrowed Mr. Potato Head's dentures during evening story time.



Leah came to visit! We had a wonderful time with an old friend who took a long weekend to fly up from Italy. It was so great to see her and we had a ton of fun. Here we are taking a daytrip to Monschau.



Here are the kids taking an ice cream break in Monschau. Brennan is so good at sharing!



Waiting for fresh, heavenly waffles at the Tongeren antique market in Belgium.