The Kingdom

The All-American Kingdom

or as Lily likes to call it, "The Pirate House"

Daddy and Lily testing out the new digs
Clint and Ella making some calls to let everyone know the Kingdom had arrived
Jay giving Lily her first pushes on the swingsBoys watching the kids enjoy the playset after all their hard work

Six boxes and a slide

Ryan and Clint working hard on the finishing touches

Not much left to go!

So over this weekend, we had a good old fashion barn raising. We weren't sure if anyone would want to show up, but thankfully they did. The beginning of the All-American Kingdom started Friday night with Jeff and I sorting out all the nuts, bolts, and screws into baggies for each step they would be needed in the building process. Then Saturday afternoon the workers started showing up to get this massive job underway. Five hours later, the major portion of the set was up and ready to go. We really weren't sure who had the tougher job...the boys outside or the girls inside watching all the kids. Either way, we had a lot of fun, food, and the boys had some drinks too. On Sunday morning the workers showed up bright and early and the job was completed just a few hours later. Lily was soooo excited. On Sunday morning when she first woke up she turned to Jeff and said, "Swings and Slide, dad!" Without all the handy help from the boys there is no way we would have completed this in anything under a month.

Imagination Day

Sugar Grove is a wonderful nature preserve South of Bloomington in Funk's Grove. The Three Amigos had a fantastic day checking out all the grove had to offer. We crossed the covered bridge to find a kid's dreamland... A small creek to splash in, zip line, big mud hole to dig in, sandbox, and much much more. After the kids were nice and dirty we had a nice picnic and played in the wildflowers. It was a great place for the kids to run around and be close to nature. We even saw a baby deer. I forsee many more trips out there.

July is gone already?

This month has been a lot of fun...trips, visitors, and crawling. It was very busy and I apologize for not updating more often. Here are a few highlights from the month!

Melissa and Keaton took us out for an amazing day at her family's horse stable. I think this may have been the most exciting day for Lily in her short two-plus years of life. Melissa and I were both shocked and amazed at how fast Little Miss Cautious took to the horses, and what was even more unbelievable was how much she loved riding Elliot the horse. As she rode along, she yelled out "yeeha, ride 'em cowboy!" She made it clear that she did not want get off...ever. Thanks, Melissa, for a great day and great pictures too! I will cherish these forever.


My little baby is almost 1! I can't believe it! She is changing so much and so fast. In the last month she's started crawling, pulling up, climbing, and basically getting into everything, as all little ones do at this age. She is always smiling and is really trying to talk. Instead of sitting back and watching everything as she used to, she is now in the thick of things with her sister and the dogs. Lily is loving all the attention she gets from Ella and is looking forward to all the years of playtime together.




We were very excited and thankful to be invited to go for a long weekend to the Ozarks with Clint, Tara and the kids. We all had a blast, especially the kids. Lily totally stepped out of her scared and cautious box and enjoyed tubing and driving around the little boat we gave D for his birthday. Thanks, K family, for the fun time--and I hope we get to go again next summer!

For Uncle Patrick's birthday, we had dinner on BCC's terrace. After dinner Lily found some kids to chase at the tennis courts...and we all know how she loves chasing kids!
Happy Birthday, Packie :) We are going to miss you when you leave for school!