end-of-the-summer party.

I can't believe I had to write "end of summer" in this posting. It has blinked by, don't you think? Ethnie was invited to her friend Olivia's house, who lives down the street from us. She had a party celebrating being a big kid getting ready to go back to school. It was really cute and there were many neighbor kids there. Ethnie had a great time. Emmett was grumpy so Matt had to come over and pick him up. Ethnie and Olivia get along really well. Here are some pictures from the party:

alphabet find

craft bag

marshmallow construction

Each child's name was written in chalk on the ground.

Olivia the hostess!

obstacle course

Olivia and Ethnie

most of the group!

Thanks for the great party, Olivia!

state fair.

Ready to rock.

PERFECT day.

The sea of people.

Favorite booth! I am a bit biased. 

yeah baby!

Ethnie's favorite part. She would have stayed in here all day.

"This is the best day ever!"

The best thing I ate this year! So good!

JUST in case.

Take 5.

horse barn

skyride

Mr. Bubble's 50th birthday bubble foam pit. 

Ethnie HATED this.

wiped. out.

Matt made me go on this ride. I was mad at him because it was so scary.

Deep fried candy bar (three musketeers, here). I can handle sugar, but after two bites of this I was done. 

Italian gelato

flowers in the Horticulture building

lots of honey bears

Midway view from the skyride.

Until next year!

new couture.

Here is dolly's new wardrobe addition from grandma Meg! A pink fancy dress. Ethnie was so excited when she brought it over. She does great work! 

14 months.

SO close to walking! I'll keep you all posted!

a new pet? a pest? both??

For the past week or so we've had signs of a mouse roaming around at night. Eeek, I know. We've had traps set up for a while, but this little guy seems smart and won't fall for them. Well, tonight we finally heard him munching on something in the corner of the dining room. I quietly got a flashlight and tried to catch him in the act, but I could only hear him. Then Matt took the flashlight from me and pointed it into the radiator. There he was, perched inside and terrified. He is really small and light brown with tiny black eyes. He's cute! Now that we've seen him, we want to try and catch him without killing him. I guess I am a softie when it comes to animals. Anyone have any ideas or methods they've had success with in the past ???

This picture was really hard to take. The mouse is out of focus but he's in there!