Wedding Day

The kids and I drove to Nebraska last week for my cousin's wedding. The kids loved many things that the wedding brought our way. For one we got to see lots of cousins, aunts and uncles and Papa and Mimi.

Throwing bird seed as the bride and groom left the church was lots of fun. Getting the little sacks of bird seed open was a bit of a challenge, though.

My uncle is a buffalo rancher. On the way to the reception we took a little field trip to see Uncle Gale's buffalo.

We finally made it to the reception. Someone told my kids it was okay to run. I'm sure they regretted telling my children this because all they did was run once they had the thumbs up to do so. They ran inside and out. (I love small town weddings!)

Hi cousin Will and aunt Amy!

The kids ate very little dinner and lots of cake. This gave them a burst of energy to light up the dance floor and to be a little goofy.

A little (or a lot) of punch was consumed to keep the energy level up as well. Apparently Mimi and aunt Michelle forget that mommy prefers that Isaac drinks water.

Cousins Luke and Jake showed the Wright kids lots and lots of great dance moves.

I know it's blurry, but they were dancing that fast.

Stella needed a drink break after all that crazy dancing.

Papa's turn to dance with Isaac and Stella.

Luke shows Owen some moves.

Owen and Kelli during the dollar dance.

A very tired Carson is ready to call it a night so off we went.

The drive home was very interesting. We ran into a bad storm. I had to pull over on the side of the interstate in Nebraska. No cars were driving on the interstate at all. They were all pulled over to the side of the road. I still had more than an hour left in our trip home at that time. We eventually made it to Papa's and Mimi's safe and sound. It was a very long day, but very fun!

Thank you Kelli and Dathan.
Congratulations!

The Fourth of July

We typically go to my in-law's cabin in Nebraska for the Fourth of July. This year was no different. They always have a fantastic party (with party shirts for everybody) that has grown and grown over the years. The party officially begins with the adults vs. kids volleyball game at the top of the hill at Murphy's cabin. The adults always win the volleyball game thanks to my father-in-law's unique scoring system. (And when I say kids, I mean anyone under the age of 45.) During and after the volleyball game the younger kids play mini golf or go down the Super Slide (which came from FantaSea right here in Wichita, KS. It's the real deal.) Carson loved the super slide this year! Owen, not so much. Going down once was enough for Owen. After socializing and when those activities are over everybody heads to my in-law's cabin for an outstanding cook-out with the most amazing food you could imagine. The night ends (in theory) with fireworks. The fireworks show is always an adventure! Too hard to explain why. Take my word. During the fireworks show the little kids glow. They have glow necklaces, bracelets and glow suckers. The Fourth of July party is fun for all ages. This year the forecast said it was supposed to rain all day. It sprinkled in the morning, but the skies cleared up by 2pm. It was a beautiful day!

Carson and Owen swimming with Papa as Daddy watches.

Testing some fireworks on July 03.

Stella watches Owen golf.

My Father-In-Law explaining the ever changing rules.

Watching the game...or shall I say pretending to watch the volleyball game as they socialize.

Isaac even got a party shirt.

Cousin Kate and Stella with their hair and t-shirts alike.

Carson runs down the Super Slide. (This makes his mama a little nervous.)

And into the water he goes!

Owen preferred to observe.

A friendly football game after dinner.

The fireworks platform arrives!

Waiting for the fireworks to start.

Little Jack, Owen and Carson

Kate, Owen, Carson and Jack take their positions for watching fireworks. They've got their suckers, necklaces, and bracelets all lit up. Let the fun begin.

This is actually how dark it was. The kids glow as they watch the fireworks.

Thank you Gary and Nancy and all our friends and family for a wonderful Fourth of July.

Laundry

Sort, load, wash, dry, pair, fold and put away. Repeat as needed.

I know I am not alone when I say that sometimes it feels as if all I do is laundry. I really don't mind doing laundry. I don't do it as often as I should. On occasion I will skip a day, but will pay for it later. I get great satisfaction out of knowing our clothes are clean. I love how they smell and still appreciate the fact that I'm not plugging my washer and dryer with coins to operate them (as I did in college and our early years of marriage). I don't like putting the clean clothes away. Why is that task so hard for me? It never used to bother me, but as I think back that was before I had two sets of twins. I find myself folding laundry while my kids (primarily Stella and Isaac) are sleeping. It's really hard to put clothes away while my kids are awake (way too much "help.") But, it's even harder to put clothes away while the kids are sleeping in their rooms. I could do it, but I'm no idiot. I'm not going to risk waking them. I pick and choose my battles. I choose not to tackle that one until everybody is out of their bedrooms for sure.

The other night when I was folding the kids' laundry I got a little sentimental. Crazy, right? I was folding the kids' whites. There were way too many socks to count and over 40 pairs of little boys underwear. Socks do not make me sentimental. Folding the boys' underwear did. I was thinking to myself how cute those little underwear were and how it's always a surprise as to which character I'm going to fold up next. I know my days of character underwear will be short lived, but for now I think they are adorable! I love seeing Diego, Elmo, Handy Manny, sharks, guitars, football, Star Wars, Super-Man, Spider Man and etc. on a weekly basis. One day (probably way too soon) they will all be packed away to never be seen again. So until then I will keep reminding myself that this phase is short lived like so many so enjoy the cute underwear because one day I'm not so sure I will be thinking folding underwear is going to be so cute.

Bubbles!

A couple of weekends ago the kids were in the driveway playing with bubbles. Like most kids, our two sets of twins love bubbles ... that was until one child of ours lost his mind when he couldn't catch every bubble coming his way.

Lots and lots of bubbles.

Stella makes big bubbles for Isaac to catch.

Speedy Gonzales he is not. Isaac lost his mind when the wind would carry the bubbles faster than what he could run. If only he would have turned around. There were always more bubbles coming his way.

Okay, Isaac let's try this again.

Here's more bubbles for you.

Still wasn't able to catch them all. Darn it!

Better luck next time, buddy.

Summer, Summer, Summer, Summertime!

It's summer time! We have been waiting what seems like forever for summer to get here. Carson has been asking me daily for the last month or so if it's summer. I can finally answer with a solid YES! Now that that temps have been in the upper 80's and in the 90's it's officially summer at the Wright house. The kids and I spend a lot of quality time outside. The "new" summer activities that the kids have been enjoying most are ones that involve water. The Slip-N-Slide has been a big hit along with our kiddie pools. I love that my kids love their Slip-N-Slide. It brings back so many great childhood memories for me. We put our Slip-N-Slide on our little hill in the backyard. That has made it a lot of fun. Sliding on it while going downhill really makes you go fast. We are missing not having a "real" pool in the backyard this year, but the kiddie pools seem to be good enough for the kids for the time being.

Racing to the flag

Carson makes a splash

Isaac loves splashing at the bottom of the Slip-N-Slide. (Doesn't he look like Owen here?)

Owen splashes Isaac

Stella's and Isaac's turn

Another race

Stella going down a dry Slip-N-Slide

Isaac going down the elephant slide

Owen jumping into the kiddie pool

Daddy flips Carson into pool

Stella's got an itch

Fun in the kiddie pool

Pool time