The beginning of summer

Caleb receiving his Character Award- Respect from his principal
Taking the kids to a family tradition at the cottage- Slack's store
Riding the ferry on Lake Wisconsin
Strawberry picking
Isaac ate his weight in strawberries
Going for a pontoon boat ride
My cousin, Emma, was a great help with Julia
Driving the boat with Aunt Beth
My aunt gave us this hand-me-down for Julia- Julia and Isaac love it!
Showing off a cute dress
Caleb making a gross picture
The men observing Nate's sprinkler system in action
Why does he need a big bed when he only sleeps in a corner of it? :)
Enjoying Lake Michigan

June is almost over, crazy! In early June we went to Caleb's moving up ceremony at school. Every student was given a Character Award and Caleb was given "respect." We are very proud of him for being respectful! Another little girl was given the award of "persuasiveness." That made me laugh. I can only imagine what her personality is like. :) Caleb was excited to move up to kindergarten and leave the ceremony with his new teacher.

I then drove the kids to my grandparent's cottage on Lake WI. I was proud of myself for doing the 6 hour drive alone! I am also thankful for the portable DVD player. Nate came up a few days later with my brother. The weather wasn't fantastic that week, but we still had a fun time. The kids enjoyed playing outside with my cousins, Ian and Emma, who are a little older than Caleb. I wish my children would sleep in during the summer. Isaac consistently wakes up as soon as the sun is up. I'm sure someday all they'll want to do is sleep and I'll be yelling at them to wake up!

We have taken the kids to Lake Michigan a few times. They all love playing in the water, no matter what the temperature. Julia continually makes a beeline for the water and wants to be outside when the boys are. She is imitating more words like, "water, shoes, socks, and bath." She understands much of what we say to her. Isaac still mispronounces words and it is so cute. For example, "sirsty (thirsty), pack-pack (backpack), and "I, Isaac, I not tired!" He can't pronounce his "L's" so he says "Y's" instead. He also likes to say, "Daddy and Caleb tooted!" even if they didn't. :)

Nate has been able to use some vacation time this summer which has been great. We'll head to the cottage again in July and do some short camping trips. Gotta love summer!