labor day weekend

I thought I'd better get around to blogging about our Labor Day weekend before September is over!

We had a great time at the lake over the weekend.  It was a nice day on Sunday so we had a great time spending it on the water and at the beach.

Kerigan has discovered she loves helping daddy drive!

Andrew was a little chilly after swimming!

We anchored at the beach and Andrew had a blast jumping off the boat!  He got so brave, he would just run off the back and jump super far!  

Love this one!  Ha!

Little Miss was having so much fun and I was capturing her many smiles...

Don't you just love "giggle smiles?"

 

I am so happy she loves boating as much as all of us!

My little man showing off his muscles!  Ha!

After a beautiful day on the boat, we went back to the hotel and got ready to meet my aunt, uncle and cousins for dinner.  We hadn't seen them in so long, it was so great getting together!

The kids all had so much fun reconnecting and wrestling in the room!  I am pretty sure the people below us were wondering what in the world was going on (yes, we are those people!)  Ha!

Kelsie and Andrew playing iPad

Kerigan with cousin Kendra

Andrew and Kolton, his biggest and bestest cousin.  Kolton is now 13, which officially makes me feel old.  I will never forget the day he was born and how excited I was to have my first cousin on my mom's side.  We are 25 years apart, and I had wanted a cousin for as long as I could remember!

It is so fun to now see him playing with my son like a "big brother."  Andrew loves nothing more!

He has always looked up to Kolton and just adores him!

So much fun!

The next morning we went swimming at the hotel before we checked out.  Someone was slightly excited- Ha!

She now can swim with just her floaties and she is loving the independence.

Andrew loves to dive down for his toys.

He is officially getting to be a swimmer now to where I can trust him in the water.  It is so fun to watch him!  He has learned so much the past couple of years.

It was a super windy day on Monday so we didn't take the boat out again, much to my disappointment. I had planned to take the kids pictures by the beach for our Christmas card but that didn't even happen because it was way too windy.

And a certain little girl refused to stand and smile at the camera!  She was too busy playing in the sand and we were all getting blown away so I just gave up!  But she did look adorable!  Ha!

The dock is officially out of the water and the lake is "closed" until next summer!  Labor Day always marks that end of summer but beginning of fall so I can never tell if I'm happy or sad!  I love fall and this time of year so much.  And it's always fun to look forward to our lake adventures next summer!

hot air balloons

We always enjoy visiting the Balloon Classic.  We hadn't been last year but I knew Kerigan would love it this year since she is obsessed with balloons.

They have lots of bouncy slides and fun activities.  This was so funny, I had never seen one like this before!  It's like a bungee cord where you have to run forward and then it jerks you back.  Andrew loved it!

Kerigan even went in the bouncy house!

She loved it!

I think we are finally making a break through with her releasing her death-grip on me to go do fun things by herself or with her brother sometimes!  Ha!

A few months ago she would have never tried going on this train.

She had so much fun and wanted to go again and again!

After all the activities we headed over to the balloons as they started blowing them up.

Andrew was pointing in most of these pictures because he was so excited about all the balloons!  Ha!

I've always wanted to ride in a hot air balloon.  I just think they are so beautiful and I love seeing a whole bunch of them in the air together.

We all enjoyed watching them fill with air!

When one was ready it would lift off and then the next one would go... it was an incredible sight.

Kerigan says, we can't wait to go back and see the "boons" next year!  

help-a-heart fun

I'm jumping back to the beginning of summer again!!

We had a great time at the help a heart silent auction.  Help a Heart is a support group for heart families that was started by two wonderful heart mamas who have become great friends.

All the heart kids got to go on stage and get a medal. We kinda think they deserve one for everything they have to endure!

This sweet little girl is Ava, who Andrew has loved since he was about 2.  

Some of you may remember Ava's mommy watched Andrew part time for me when I went back to work after a year off at home with him.  These two were/are just the sweetest and cutest kids ever!  

These girls have become like sisters to Andrew and Kerigan this summer, since they live in our town now!  We love having another heart family that we have known live super close to us!  It is so fun getting together and the kids all play so well together.  Plus an added bonus, we get to ride to the meetings together which makes the drive more fun!  It takes about an hour now, so we leave a little early and shop in Des Moines before the meeting!  So fun!  We just make an adventure out of it!

More heart friends, Lainey and Andrew!

My loves

I love these sweet moments they share!

I have no idea why Andrew was standing like that!  Ha!

But this is what I mostly got for pictures!  Seriously, Andrew??

My sweet little girl in her heart dress to support her Bubba!  She could not be any sweeter, I swear!

Later this summer our group had a family picnic which was so fun.  Daddy and Kerigan played at the park!  Daddy almost got stuck but it was fun anyway- Ha!

They had water balloons for the kids and they had a blast!  I love Help a Heart so much.  It offers so many wonderful opportunities for us families to connect, and also our kids.  I think it is so important that Andrew knows he is not the only one with a special heart.  That there are so many other kids (too many) that share that special mark on their chests, and they can show each other and feel connected.  It has been the most wonderful gift to our family to have this group of friends we otherwise would never have known.  We are all connected by our amazing and special kids, and it is just so incredible to sit in a room full of people where every single one of them understands how it feels to watch your baby being wheeled down the hall for surgery.  And to not know if you will ever see them again.  Since those feelings are impossible to explain to anyone, it is just so nice having people who understand.

"A friend loves at all times..."

Proverbs 17:17