Wednesday, July 1
Today Ben’s best friend Ali went to the library with us.  It was awesome to share one of our favorite places with her.

  
Thursday, July 2
Mmmm…our first corn-on-the-cob of the season!

  
Friday, July 3
The kids had lunch at our new picnic table with Garrett, Jenna and Leah, our neighbor friends.

Saturday, July 4
The rain held off long enough to have a huge bags tourney at the Johnson’s 4th of July party. 
  

Sunday, July 5
We had the Ben’s Sycamore birthday party this morning at Grandma & Grandpa’s house.

   
Monday, July 6
We all went to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.  It was such a fun outing for Ben’s fourth birthday.

   
Tuesday, July 7
Back to our routine…playing at home.  Emma is so attached to Ben’s new Wonder Pig!

Wednesday, July 8
Ben’s birthday party at our house tonight.  He had so much fun and loved everything he got.

Thursday, July 9
We got to take the new bike out for a ride tonight.  Ben got right on and took off like a pro.

      
Friday, July 10
Ali, AJ and Anna Klare came to our house to play and stayed for lunch. 

Saturday, July 11
Mommy Emma is at it again…this time it was Mrs. Potato Head who needed some juice.

Sunday, July 12
Dave and I had a great time browsing a variety of art at the Sugar Creek Arts Fair on the ISU quad.
   

Monday, July 13
Ben had a great time at  his very first swimming lesson tonight at the NCHS pool.

Tuesday, July 14
It’s always a compliment to the chef when Daddy sneaks in a few more bites after dinner is over!

Wednesday, July 15
This looks posed, but it’s not. Each kid is waiting his or her turn for a pitch from our neighbor Leslie.
  

Thursday, July 16
All these guys were lined up waiting for Ben to get home from preschool today.

Friday, July 17
Today was the last day of Bible School.  After a rocky start, Ben ended up loving it!

    
Saturday, July 18
We went through all of our winter things to see what fits and what could go on the garage sale.

    
  
Sunday, July 19
Euchre!  After a very long hiatus, Irene, Jeannine, Mark and I finally got together to continue our decade long tournament.

   
Monday, July 20
We finally got around to burning some of our sparklers tonight.  Even Emma could do them this year.

Tuesday, July 21
Ali came home from preschool with us today and we had a very fun playdate with her.

Wednesday, July 22
Diving board day at swimming lessons!  Ben was scared, but he jumped off the board onto a lifeguard float. 

Thursday, July 23
We went to Miller Park this afternoon for an NCHS playdate.  Both kids had a great time.

  
Friday, July 24
It was the dads’ turn at the swingset while the moms were getting dinner ready tonight. 

       
Saturday, July 25
This was what I saw in the rear view mirror tonight when we took our babysitter home.  Poor Ems…she almost has it right!

  
Sunday, July 26
We spent a beautiful Sunday morning at Anderson Park.  Everyone loved it there.

Monday, July 27
Garage sale prep has taken over!  Boy, we have a ton of stuff to get rid of this weekend.

Tuesday, July 28
Daddy brought home some of his toys from the farm.  The kids think it’s so special to play with his things.

 
Wednesday, July 29
We went to the McLean County Fair tonight, and we couldn’t have asked for a better night together.

Thursday, July 30
One benefit to going through all our stuff is the empty boxes lying around for the kids to play with and in.

Friday, July 31
After day one of the big garage sale, we’re doing pretty well.  I’d really like to see these tables more empty tomorrow, though!