Outdoor Fun

One night last week the boys went out back to play and they entertained themselves for 

over and hour with mud and the air conditioner!

Zane turned on the water hose to make this mud puddle and then enjoyed running his trucks 

and dino's through it. He then washed them off in the cooler - and started over!

He was a big mess when he came in - but he had so much fun!

This instance reminded me of one prior, from 2017:

 

While Zane was getting covered in mud, 

Jaxen learned that our air conditioner blows air out the top.

He had the best time with this one piece of paper, watching it "fly"!

And then they gave me a concert to the end the night :)

And just for a laugh...

This is the way Zane came out of the house one day... haha!

I'm just happy he had pants on! Lol.

I did catch him naked in our backyard gathering up all his dino's so he could take a bath with them.

At least it was the back yard, right?!

**********

We ventured out to a park near our house on Monday night.

It was such a beautiful night.

Zane loves this Fish Playground!

Jaxen loves that he can ride his bike around the pond…

and I love that I can see both boys as they do different things :)

Can you spot Jaxen?

We walked around the whole pond and explored the area.

The boys loved it!

On the way home Zane got tuckered out…and sat down.

Would not move.

I had to pick him up and carry him the rest of the way home..

and he’s not light!

I am loving these beautiful summer nights of outdoor fun!!!

Summer Camp

Last week Jaxen had a wonderful opportunity to attend a summer camp - Kanakuk KampOut - at a local church in KC. Here's a little about the camp:  

This camp is a high energy, non-stop excitement, traveling Christian day camp experience from Kanakuk for 5 to 12 year olds. Every KampOut! Kamper will see and hear that God is a loving Father and wonderful Creator who loves them and desires for us to love others. Our counselors have been hand-picked for their Christ-like patience and sensitivity, and they are committed to creatively share the importance of a life lived for Jesus Christ! Kids will have a blast flying down our zipline, scaling the climbing wall, bouncing in the incredible inflatables, and laughing at our crazy skits!

Jaxen attended last year and was so excited to attend this year!

Here he is on his last day, with his counselor.

Nik and Zane were able to attend his awards ceremony on Friday.

Jaxen got the "Creative" and "Bold" Certificate of Character.

His counselor wrote the following:

"Jaxen's imaginative mind and resolute demeanor allow him to bring 

excitement to a variety of situations. 

His tenacious deposition brings purpose to each day. 

Jaxen is a strong leader and willing encourager."

And he also got the “Fired-Up-and-Going-Nuts-Every-Minute" Award!

While Jaxen was at camp, Zane got to have some great daddy time!

They explored the "Clifford the Red Dog" play area....

Tried out a new park....

And even got an ice cream cone!

It was a fun week for the boys!

As you can imagine, Jaxen was exhausted.

I offered to take the boys to the pool on Thursday 

and Jaxen told me he wanted to have a night at home.

I am really glad he had the opportunity to attend this camp though!

They learned great truths like:

Jesus is Alive, Jesus is the Doctor, Jesus is the Shepherd, Jesus is the Vine, and Jesus is Better!

Summer Update 2

We continue to knock things off our "Summer List" -
Here is another update of the fun things we have been doing....

Library

We vistied the Olathe Public Library and Jaxen got his own library card!
The boys had fun and have loved reading their new books.

Campfires

We have had a few campfires this summer - but for some reason, I never get a pic!
Our campfires usually consist of (at least) marshmallows, if not all the goodies of a s'more!

Slumber Party

Our summer Friday night tradition is to go swimming and then have a slumber party.

I let the boys stay up past their bedtime while we eat snacks and watch a movie in the living room.
They look forward to this time each week - so do I! 

Zoo

Nik took the boys to the Kansas City Zoo one day.

We have plans in July to go to the Omaha Zoo too - stay tuned!

Fishing

We have gone fishing twice.

Two weekends ago it was free fishing in KS so we went out Saturday afternoon

to see if the boys were interested in fishing much.

After awhile - when we saw the boys really were into it, we moved to a nicer location at the lake.

Sadly, we did not catch anything!

So we ventured out again Sunday after church :) 

My boys wanted mo-hawks for their haircut this time around!

After a couple hours - still nothing.

But it was fun!

So here's what's left on our summer list...

Deanna Rose Farmstead

Picnics at the park
Fishing

Movies at the Theater
Swimming

Backyard Camp Out
Library

Water Balloons
Zoo

Painting

Farmers Market

Bookstores

Bike rides

Berry picking

Flying Kites

Campfires

Slumber Parties