the brower hour: summer 2017!!!

its hard to believe that summer has come to a close. it's definitely a favorite season around our home. here's a brief synopsis of what our summer entailed:

end of the school year awards ceremonies.

all the kids did super this year and ended the year with great grades. very proud parents!

charlie won the kit kat award because he's such a hard worker and deserves a little break :)

charlie had to have surgery to remove an extra tooth. yes, thats correct. an extra tooth! right smack dab in the upper front.

one cute story that i always want to remember is how charlie didn't realize that his gown was open in the back and at one point, while lying on the bed, he rolled over, exposing his little bare buns and was totally oblivious to it!

the tooth on the right is the extra tooth that they had to go way up in the gums and bone to retrieve. the one on the left was a casualty of the aggressive surgery.

he was pretty sick afterwards, but handled the whole thing like a champ! also worth noting was that because we had to be at the hospital so early, i left jack in charge at home. the kids were only awake for about an hour before we got home, so he didn't have to be in charge too long, but he did a great job. what an amazing stage to reach as a parent! freedom!

we had a summer kick off with a few friends that included a water balloon fight (we had probably half a dozen water balloon fights this summer!) and a watermelon eating contest!

somehow jack always wins an eating contest.

we spent countless mornings and afternoons at Parrot Island Waterpark this summer, thanks to grandma and grandpa! season passes to the waterpark is the best christmas present ever!!!

ellie won the hula hoop contest multiple times and was always so nice to share her slushes that the winner would receive.

the kids participated in multiple athletic camps this summer too!

while jack and ellie were at tennis camp for a week, charlie wanted to have a go at wrestling camp! he did great and had a fun time. the last day they had each boy compete in a match. charlie lost his match, but i think it had something to do with the fact that they had a 6 year old wrestling an 8 year old. he's so tall!

jack also attended football camp again and it helped him decide to sign up for football again this fall. he was nervous because of his injury last year, but we are glad that he is facing his fears and playing again. at camp, he placed 1st in his age group for the 20 yrd dash.

we celebrated Chris' 37th birthday in june!

no birthday is complete without a piñata with a picture of your family on it!

we spent many days just lounging around after swimming. it was perfect for snuggling.

i also tried to perfect the cuban sandwich this summer. so, so, so good!

we decided to invite 5 families over for a fourth of july celebration!

we had a bbq, then water balloons and sprinkler fun before the fireworks. chris took us to the fireworks stand for FHE the week before and we bought probably more than we should have, but it was spectacular! hope our kids always remember nights like this!

it was A LOT of kids, but everyone had so much fun! in fact, two kids have asked me when we are going to have another party at our house, so it think it was a definite success!

nothing better than celebrating our freedom with food, friends, and fireworks!

we spent a day in NW arkansas!

we went ice skating. all the kids loved it except charlie. after forcing him around the rink one time, he was done.

after skating we stopped at a biker's pub for pizza and burgers... we kinda had to, seeing as it was july during the tour de france...

after lunch we swung by the Museum Of Native American History. it was pretty small, but it was fantastic! we really enjoyed our time there.

by the teepee you were allowed to dig for arrowheads! we hit the jackpot and found hundreds of them. each kid was allowed to pick one to take home. so cool!

we celebrated baby brother's birthday on july 14th with cupcakes!

of course we couldn't pass up celebrating national ice cream day either ;)

owen and i walk each morning during the school year, so during the summer that had to be switched around a bit. i ended up going M, W, & F and sometimes the kids came too (meaning, i had to force them to turn off the cartoons and get out for some exercise while it was still "cool" out).