Winthrop Harbor.

While my parents were here visiting we took a drive to the lake. It was 100+ degrees so we quickly enjoyed looking at the boats in the harbor. As always, we wondered how people afford the giant boats and we had fun reading the names of the boats.

Yia Yia, Lincoln, and Cassidy.
Papou chose to head to the restaurant for a beer instead of being outside in the sweltering heat. 

The Gough Gang. 

Thumbs up for an ice cold pink lemonade.

Yup, this is yummy. 

Tee ball wrap up.

Lincoln thoroughly enjoyed his first season of tee ball. He's learning the game and is practicing his skills. What more can you ask?

Swing and a hit. 

Ready to run. 

Sister doodling in her notebook.
What? There's a game going on? 

The participant trophy which Linc proudly displays on his dresser. 

Check out more tee ball pics here.

I can do it myself.

Cassidy is now dressing herself each day, which is fantastic. Most days, she picks her top and she lets me choose matching bottoms.  Today she chose her outfit on her own. Love it.

Stripes and checks. She is quite the fashionista.

Whoopie Pies!

We made desserts for a little 4th of July gathering, one of which Cassie enjoyed "helping with". I remember my mom regularly baking when we were growing up and she always let us lick the beaters from her hand mixer. We loved it. I happily carry on that tradition. 

Cassie licking the creme filling. 

The final product:
Homemade Whoopie Pies.

Daddy's Day 2012.

After having a steady schedule of visitors here (or us visiting Michigan), we enjoyed a quiet Father's Day with just the four of us. The afternoon was spent at our neighborhood park flying Linc's new airplane, practicing baseball skills, and playing on the playscape.

Daughter, Daddy, and Son.

Ready for takeoff!

Go Cassie...let 'er rip!

I think this is the first time ever that Cassie let me put all of her hair in a ponytail. It was hot outside so she acquiesced. Usually, she prefers her hair down and in her face. Even gently putting it behind her ears doesn't work for her. She'll immediately untuck her hair and push it forward. It drives her mom bonkers. 

Batting practice.
Matt was teaching Linc to work on his form. I heard a lot of  "elbow up, eye on the ball".
He had a ton of great hits! 

Little Sister playing the field. 

Look at that face!

What a handsome daddy and husband we have. 

Her head can hardly hold the batting helmet up! 

This scene took place in the house in the morning and I thought it suited a Father's Day post since Cass was busy with her tools. Here, she is trying to unscrew the back of her music maker to put new batteries in it.
Perhaps we should teach her to put the safety goggles on her eyes instead of her head? 

Happy day to all of the daddies out there!

North Beach Oasis. Racine, WI.

After the girls visited the Racine Zoo, we came upon a nice stretch of beach along Lake Michigan called the North Beach Oasis. We decided to take the whole group there the next day for some beach fun.

Frigid water temps didn't keep Linc from enjoying the lake.
He spent nearly the entire time jumping the waves that lapped on the shore. 

It was a gorgeous day. Just look at the sky in the picture below. We also got to watch some jet ski races while we were there.

Our bathing beauty fanning herself. 

The boys played some football on the beach: big guys against little guys. 

The little guys making a play.
How adorable is this? 

The big guys deciding how to counter the play. 

Cassidy in her embryonic state.

Summer, summer, summertime. Oooh summertime. 

jelly belly!

There is a Jelly Belly warehouse near us that offers free tours so that's one of our go-to things to do when we have visitors.

There are tons of pictures throughout the place that are made from Jelly Belly's.

Here are Cassidy, Lincoln, Brendan, and Juliana posing with the most popular, Cherry, jelly belly.

The engine of the little train that takes visitors around the warehouse.

 The best part of the visit is the store at the end of the tour. There are lots of goodies to purchase (of course) and there is a sampling station where you can try any flavor you like.

Lincoln and Brendan stood politely raising their hands to try several gross flavors...and some yummy flavors as well.

Here are some of the more interesting flavors.
Linc tried Booger and Baby Wipes, while Brendan tried Pencil Shavings.
And Katie tried one that made her breath smell like dog food as she ate it. I dunno how Mark felt about that one.