The Frog Man

We have had a LOT of rain this summer.  The poor cornfield behind our house is not doing so great, it has pretty much been a huge marsh most of the time.  But that means we have had a lot of frogs in our yard, much to the kids' delight!  Here is one of the littler ones Shane caught,

Marissa has caught one too.  They name them, create temporary little homes for them, and catch little crickets for them that they never eat.  I think it's because they are probably scared out of their minds with all that attention!

The Picture of Domesticity

Sadie, helping me make muffins, with her baby, while wearing a dress.  She'll make a good wife someday.  Or doctor, she does a mean checkup too:)

Dettinger Reunion 2015

For the week of the 4th, Josh's whole family was in Indiana at his parents house!  All 6 of his siblings and their families (13 grandkids total), and his Grandma and Grandpa Elkins.  We had a blast!

Their neighbors put on a big fireworks show for the 4th so we got to watch from the front yard.

 We went to the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, MI (this picture makes me laugh because after Josh rode this with Sadie she kept telling me, "Daddy not fit in airpline. Him too big!")

 It is a really fun place with airplane museumy stuff and also rides, which Sadie and Shane enjoyed a lot,

 and Marissa took some convincing towards.

 We went to the dunes at Lake Michigan

 The pictures never quite do justice to just how big they are

 It was a windy windy day and too cool and too many riptides to swim but we had a lot of fun playing in the sand, making the trek up the big dunes, and cuddling with grandparents:)

 We stopped to get ice cream at the little shoppe in town,

 these kids sure love their Grandma!!!

 We also went to the South Bend Zoo and a fun park next to it.

 But I think the kids enjoyed being at Grandma and Grandpa's house with all their cousins just as much.  It is fun for them to be able to spend time with them and get to know them better since we don't get to see them very often!  Mine especially enjoyed jumping on the tramp.

 There were a lot of games of baseball played,

 and cousin/aunt/uncle bonding time

 And of course the kids love all the grandparent time they get,

 and it was even more fun with another set of grandparents there!

It's a BOY!!!!

 Having a doctor for a husband can be hard at times, but fun at others!  Josh has been doing ultrasounds on me about every other weekend since the beginning- it is good practice for him and fun for me and the kids!  And there is no doubt about it, we are having a little BOY!!!  Despite what everyone thinks, Shane really really wanted it to be a girl ("I just like sisters!"), and was pretty disappointed at first.  But I showed him some pictures of him as a baby and how a cute a boy would be, pulled out his old clothes, and he got over it and I think is pretty excited now.  We found out pretty early on, but decided since Josh's whole family would be coming out to his parents' house in July that we would wait to announce it until then.  The kids did a really good job of keeping it secret, and we had a lot of fun thinking of a way to announce it and baking this cake.  

Day of Fun

I love Josh's post call days (when he is on call overnight at the hospital he gets the next day off).  He had one last week so we took the kids to see the new Minions movie.  

 Do you think they were excited??

 And as luck would have it, it was also the same day as Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A, so we headed there after.  Josh gladly volunteered to take our picture so he could skip being in it- he still gets a little embarrassed about dressing up, but there's no shame for the rest of us!  Especially when it involves so much delicious free food!

Love this family of mine and the time we get together.

Children's Fest

I took the kids to the Children's Fest on Friday, and remembered quickly that I had forgotten that you could only go on the rides if you were 42" or under.  Marissa just barely made it, but Shane was way too tall.  I felt bad and hoped he wouldn't be too disappointed as he watched his sisters have a blast, but he actually handled it really well. 

 But then we found this Colts football toss and boy did I underestimate its power.  After throwing the first two footballs and telling him good try, he was insistent that he wanted to keep trying til he got one in.  "Mom, I want you to be really proud of me!"  Oh boy.  So he would throw his two footballs, get in the back of the line, and wait until his turn to try it again.  If it weren't for the waiting in line part and the girls waiting while we all baked in the humidity, I would have let him stay there awhile, but I told him after 10 or so minutes that we needed to keep moving and he freaked out.  "I can't give up on this challenge mom!!!"  I was really pleased with his sticktoitiveness, and told him how proud I was of him, and my mommy heart was sad that he didn't get to his fulfill his dream.  All part of life lessons I guess!

So we made our way around the booths and perked up with some free balloons and candy, and left 2 hours later realizing we should have brought some water- I felt like I was going to pass out and Shane looked like he might too.  Learning our lessons before our first North Carolina summer!

Summer Nights

I love summer nights, and the freedom of not having to worry about getting the kids in bed early for school the next day. Sometimes they're hot, and we go to the splash pad,  

or eat popsicles in the backyard.

 And sometimes they are cool, and we shoot hoops in the driveway,

 jump rope (there's Shane telling our neighbor how many baskets he's made.  Keeping track is half of the fun!),

 and do ballet

 until the sprinkles turn to thunder, and we head inside.

We Love the Zoo

We always love the zoo, it is  a great place to get some exercise and fresh air and learn new things.  On this particular trip Sadie insisted on wearing Shane's baseball hat.  I had told Marissa she couldn't wear her princess dress because the goats might eat it.  Sadie came up to me a few minutes later with the hat on and said, "Can me wear it?  Thems not eat it?"  How could I say no to her sweet little voice?

 They made up names for each animal they saw, and wanted to hang around for the "Hyena Chat" a zookeeper was doing.  After she did her schpiel she asked if anyone had questions, and of course my kids' hands shot up.  I love their natural curiosity about the world, even though answering all their questions gets exhausting!

 Sadie was worn out and fell asleep in the 2 minutes it took to drive to Kroger after, and stayed asleep when I laid her in the back of the cart, and through Shane and Marissa putting all the groceries on top of her.  They thought that was pretty funny!

Fathers and Sons Campout

Josh took Shane on our ward's Fathers and Sons campout last month and he had a blast.  

 It was even more fun because his friend/neighbor Sam came along with his Dad Troy.  Troy told me Shane gave such a compelling invitation he had to come!  He knocked on their door after their baseball game with the flyer and said, "Can you join us on the campout?  It will REALLY be a lot of fun!"

 And the girls and I were already planning on doing girly things while they were gone but it was even more fun because our friend Ellie came over while her mom was in the hospital with her new baby.