The Lieslands

We had a great 4th of July this year, going to Joyce and Dave’s, which is where we always went growing up. There was plenty of Chex Mix and fun!

Our first day in Cincinnati we spent the entire day at the zoo. It was great taking our time and it was also great not having to push a double stroller everywhere.

We went to Saint Louis last weekend for Nick & Molly’s wedding. When we weren’t at the wedding, and when we were, we were able to partake of some of the finer parts of Saint Louis.

On our way to Saint Louis we stopped by the American Gothic House and Museum, in Eldon, IA. We had a great time dressing up and eating homemade apple pie.

Today we celebrated Mari’s birthday by inviting some of her friends over. It was a fun time and I think Mari loved it!

We just finished up our annual pilgrimage to Mahoney State Park with the Connors, the Reagens, and the Liesses. The kids had a great time riding bikes, playing tennis, hiking, fishing and probably about a million other things.

Summer is finally upon us and we plan to enjoy it. We have a busy Summer planned, with quite a few trips and camps. We have been spending a lot of time outside over the past two weeks. Here is a shot from Gray’s Lake last night.

Mary Connor, the kids, and I ran the Dam to Dam this morning. The adult race is a 20k and the kids’ races were 100 and 200 meter sprints.

I am Adventureland.

I am chocolate.

I am WII Sports.

I am baseball.

I am Penguins of Madagascar.

I am Mary Poppins.

I am a passion for my brother!

Mari and Andrew had their first dance recitals yesterday. They did really well and had a lot of fun. Both of them even managed to sneak in a wave to us during their dances.

There were no pictures or video allowed during the actual performances, but we did get some videos of their dress rehearsals.

Last night a thunderstorm rolled through right after we got the kids to bed. I heard some commotion upstairs, but I didn’t want to bother to find out what was going on. When I went to check on Mari and Elliot before bed they were both snuggled up in Mari’s bed.