Safe at last!

When searching in our library last night, Zach yelled, "Bat"

This is what I saw...

Trust me when I say it looks a lot bigger when it's flying at your head!

As I went to go get the laundry basket to capture it,

Zach headed to the shop for a stick.

My theory was to trap it in the basket and was about to explain this to Zach

when he whacked the wall with the stick and yes, got the bat.  

Of course,

this is a big deal to the kids

who have had to sleep with doors closed due to the bat.

I'm happy to say we will be sleeping with our bedroom doors open tonight:)

A Visit, A Fun Day, and A Scare

My apologies for not being able to post for the last couple of weeks,

in addition to our computer being down, we had lots of things going. 

We had a visit that the whole family has been looking forward to for a whole month!

My uncle Bill was able to come and spend a couple of days with us. 

We had a wonderful time and definately tired everyone out with all the excitement. 

  We had a great time on Saturday at the park with our cousin. 

A picnic lunch was the icing on the cake.

My oldest just loved up his cousin the whole time.

That's right...a bat in the house! 

I didn't believe Zach until it flew right at me. 

The bad news...we still haven't caught it yet.

Zach assures me, "You don't have to worry, it won't hurt you"

Somehow, this didn't ressure me as much as I would have liked.  

Swimming Lessons

This was the first year we tried out swim lessons and

everyone was a fan!

 Because my two oldest are so close in age,

they were put in the same beginners group.

My little princess was attached to my oldest the whole time,

which was a good thing because he was in the water the whole time.

As you can see, my little princess didn't like having water in her eyes. 

And without knowing how the swimming lessons would go with the older two,

I didn't sign up for the mommy and me classes for the baby and myself.

They did have a wading pool, which she was in the whole time while waiting.

They had all sorts of fun. 

This is the noodle train they made and went into the deep.

The only negative of the experience was the temperature

dropping during the second week of lessons. 

The kids all had a tint of blue on them by the time lessons were done.

They loved their last day especially

because they got dropped off to go to Nana and Papa's for the weekend.

Their favorite game was chop, chop, cherry tree.

My oldest loved jumping in alone every time.

My little princess jumped into the arms of the instructor every time...

except this one! 

I was so proud of both of them!

My Wonderful Husband

My Zachary came home from work on Saturday with a big surprise for me.

He told me to look out by the garage doors and this is what I saw...

Four perfect apple trees!

We had to cut down a walnut tree to clear the shade for our orchard spot.

Then I hauled it up the road, which was just as much as fun as planting the tree,

as you can see by the smile on my face.

It was a family event and everyone wanted to help.

My little man and Zach were the diggers.

The girls helped to get the water.

The first apple tree in the ground...it's a Zestar. 

The other three trees are SnowSweet. 

My wonderful husband braving the heat to plant the trees.

He works just as hard as Zach does.

Yes, that's sweat pouring down his head.

The kids love the apple trees.

They help water them daily.

And I have to keep reminding them that the two apples we have on the trees,

 aren't ready to pick yet.

I can't wait to see how much they grow in the next few years...

and the trees too.

Her Big Day

The kids and I prepped pots earlier this year to put our plants we were growing from seed.

Unfortunately, the plants that they started with grandma as a craft project, all died.

So we went to a local store and bought some heirloom tomatoes.

My little princess has two tomatoes on  her plant so far

and my oldest aren't ready to be picked yet.

This was an exciting moment for my little one.

What a big girl!  I'm so proud of her. 

We've already saved the seeds from her tomato to start new plants next year!