Bowling

On Saturday, my parents brought Claire and Rachel to Sterling for the day. After lunch and quiet time, we took all the kids bowling. Deb and Brant and his family met us there too. This was the first time the cousins on both sides have played together. Bowling went pretty well and then we came back to our house for pizza and playtime. I was surprised at how well all the kids played together and no one was left out. They all had fun and us adults had a nice visit.

Back to Great America

Claire and Rachel were back in Gurnee staying with my parents again, so the kids and I made another trip with them to Great America. The kids enjoy it so much. They loved the Looney Tunes Dance-Off. We heard Leah singing one of the main songs, "Please Don't Stop the Music", the next morning. In addition to all the kids' rides, we took them on all the water rides. Each time they would squeal, "Let's ride it again!"

More of Swim Lessons

Jadon and Leah loved this round of swim lessons. In the last 2 months, both kids have become comfortable with putting their head underwater and jumping in without being caught. Jadon can doggie paddle now.

Garden Update

As Leah put it, "Our garden is like a jungle." It has grown quite dense and next year we will spread out the big plants a bit more. We are seeing lots of green tomatoes, we've still been harvesting lettuce, and our zucchini is quite nice. We've been getting a lot of rain so the garden has been pretty low maintenance.

More Dells

On Sunday night, the kids put on all kinds of glow accessories and we went for an evening walk. We heard the ski show, so we made our way down to the lake and found some good seats across from the grandstands. We saw some water skiing and hang gliding before heading back to the condo. We missed Dale and his family, but had a really fun weekend. We can't wait to do it again next year! Thanks Larry and Cindy!!

The Dells

We took our 3rd annual Jones Family trip to the Wilderness in the Wisconsin Dells this past weekend. We arrived at lunchtime on Saturday and jumped right into the action. We have the packing and food down, and now we know our way around the different water parks, so things seemed to go real smoothly.

Grandpa Larry rides the shuttle bus with Leah, Dylan, Kylie, and Jadon.

The kids really enjoyed the splashy play areas this time. They tried to stick together, although Leah would often lag behind. They liked to climb up, go down a water slide, and repeat the process over and over.

Family Day

Going to Family Day at Brian's workplace is like going to the fair. They have food, special treats, games, trucks, and lots of bounce houses. After eating and playing, we went inside to see Brian's new job area, the banana section. Brian recently transferred from order filling to loading bananas. This is done with a forklift so it is less strenuous. His hours will now be 12:30-10:30pm, which is a little earlier and better for getting sleep.

Niabi Zoo with Cousins

Last Thursday the kids and I spent the day in the QC. I had a van appointment, did some shopping, and then headed over to Amie's house for lunch. Afterwards we took the kids to the zoo. That night Amie watched the kids while I ran the Bix at 6. What a great day!

Betty's Birthday and Boating

Dan and Betty Jones celebrating Betty's 79th birthday at Miss Mamie's.

We celebrated Betty Jones' birthday at Miss Mamie's restaurant. The kids stayed home with babysitters so we enjoyed a nice relaxing dinner. Afterwards, Brant, Amie, Brian, and I went out for a night cruise with Keith on his cigarette boat, The Fountain.

Boating on the 4th of July

We had a full holiday weekend, but the highlight was going boating on Sunday night. Vicki and Keith took about 10 of us through the locks over to Bettendorf to watch the fireworks. It was really neat going through the lock and dam. Then we got to sit on the front of their boat, watch a beautiful sunset, and then see the fireworks over the bridge. The kids got to sleep over and Grandpa and Grandma Jones' house. The next morning, we all did the Firecracker Run. It was a tiring, but very fun 4th of July.

Brian and Cindy ran/walked with Jadon and Leah in the 5K. Larry and I ran the 10K together. Here are the kids next to the cannon that sounded the start of the race.

First Harvest

Our garden is growing and last week we were able to start picking some veggies to eat. We've been enjoying radishes, spinach, and lettuce.