Wheat Harvest

In July, our beloved Sister Atkins finished her mission. Her dad, David, and one brother and sister, Liam and Charlotte, flew from England to pick her up and drive around a bit to see things and meet people. We met up with them at Charly and Tony Diaz's farm. The Atkinses had never seen a farm before, which is something that had never crossed my mind about England. Farms are such a normal American thing, especially in Kansas, that I hadn't considered England not being an agricultural country.

We all took turns going for a ride in the big tractor as it made rounds over the wheat field.

{Dancy and Megan}

Thora loved David Atkins from the moment she stepped out of the van. She ran straight to him and jumped into his arms. No big deal that he was a complete stranger! She gave him hugs all day, completely melting into him. When she adopts a buddy, she really adopts a buddy! David had no resistance to this little bundle of love.

Thora and David going for a tractor ride!

Watching the wheat pour.

Camera skills.

Shad and Katie

Tommy (and Emily, though you can't see her)

Emily loved getting to hold and play with these kids more than she could on her mission!

{Tommy and Emily}

We ate meatballs for dinner at Charly's house. Emily loves a good prank, and Brits don't usually eat much finger food, so I told Liam that Americans eat meatballs with their fingers. He tried a couple bites, then said it was ridiculous and got a fork! We all had a good laugh when I told him it was a joke. We enjoyed good conversation with David, Emily, Liam and Charlotte, the latter two seeming much more mature than their teen American counterparts are. Liam was a good sport and engaged in tickle fights with Tommy; Dancy loved that she and Charlotte had matching shirts.

{Back row: Thora, David, Emily, Samson, Megan, Shad, Liam, Charlotte}

{Front row: Katie, Tommy, Dancy}

And we ended the evening with a grape eating contest.

Grandma's Museum

I don't even remember when this was anymore. It might've been in June. That makes the most sense to me.

Anyway, on one of our visits to Colorado 3 months in a row, we went to Grandma's Museuem, aka, The Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Samson started with a good, hearty breakfast of leftover salmon.

It's so yummy!

While we were in Space Odyssey, we got to see an astronaut demo. He told us about the Mars landscape, the rovers and such things, and the atmosphere, or lack thereof. He explained that if the surface temperature is around 50 degrees, then at his waist it might be around 15 degrees, and at his head it might be -20 degrees. Something like that. Big drops as you get farther away from the surface! He also said to never stop asking questions.

There it is. "Never stop asking questions."

We did not pay extra to go to the Vikings exhibit. Things like that are best enjoyed without temperamental little ones. But we pretended to be fierce warriors.

There was a huge Lego Viking display! Viking raiders returning home to the farmlands of Sweden.

I love the shields. And the change in water color.

The tagline for the exhibit was "Because 'Really Good Farmers' earned them no respect."

The village lodge.

I love the alternate use for the flower stems.

These trees are gorgeous! And the texture and dimensions. In case you can't tell, I really liked this display.

Thora was upset about everything all day: Grandma and I wouldn't carry her; she had to sit in the stroller because she refused to walk; the penguin looked at her wrong; we took the Viking picture; I said she could have a cookie if she ate 2 apple slices.

Playing in Kid Zone cleared that alllll up!

Some museum workers put on a circus. They said they hadn't done it before and wanted to see how it would go. It was a hit for all the kids who participated!

Katie dressed as a butterfly for the circus.

Samson couldn't get enough of the water. He tried a few other things, but mostly got his clothes good and saturated. Thank goodness for air dryers!

We must have left Kid Zone some time around 3:00 pm. Samson fell asleep before we even made it to the doors to leave the museum! We cranked some souvenir pennies for Tommy, Katie, and Dancy, who collect them, then looked around the gift shop before finally leaving. Samson stayed passed out the whole time.

* * *

And since this post is revisiting June, I need to add that Jimmy came to babysit the kids one Friday to let Shad and I get away for 24 hours. (Katie was upset that he wasn't Ruth's boyfriend Coltyn.) It was wonderful! We got to talk, eat, play Frisbee golf, go to a Magic draft night, and just breathe without a million kid interruptions. The last time we got away overnight was when Dancy was a baby. So...3.5 years ago. And before that, never. And when we got back, Jimmy's report was, "I don't know why I was here. These kids could have taken care of themselves." He was pleasantly surprised at how our kids maintain their good behavior even when Mom and Dad aren't around. They rock like that!

June. All of it.

After all these kids, I still love seeing peaceful, sleeping babies. Even if they aren't babies anymore.

Oh, this morning! This one was a trip. I came down to these kids blasting The Beatles on Tommy's kindle and excitedly telling me how they have plans to rearrange all the living room furniture. And Tommy is in his underwear. 

It was just like Michael's sugar rush on The Office on pretzel day: "Okay, everyone! I am officially streamlining the efficiency of this company...Phyllis, Stanley, I want you to switch desks. I'm going to reorganize and restructure the physical layout of the office to maximize EVERYTHING! I think we can get a lot done, don't you? On paper at least. And we are, after all, a paper company, are we not? Are we not? Are we not? Are you with me? Are you with me? Thank you very much."

Samson enjoyed having a seat perfectly sized for him...until I sold it. We just didn't need that booster seat any more. Dancy told me that she's four and can sit in a big chair instead.

Having a pretend phone call. "Hewo? Hewo?"

I took Tommy, Katie, and Dancy to see Wonder Woman. Dancy passed out cuddling on my lap.

Princess Poppy and Princess Sofia!

Samson loves driving!

They play hard.

Gorgeous clouds.

Oatmeal is soooo gooooood!

Sooooooo goooooood!

Seriously, you should try this stuff.

And then there was that time Samson pulled his diaper out of his onesie.

FREEDOM!!

Tom and Katie took swimming lessons! It all happened very fast. I found out on a Saturday night that there was a second session starting on Monday: one week, an hour every morning. They still had room, so I snagged it. Hooray for finally matching schedules! Here are Tom and Katie freezing while they stand in line to go off the diving board.

We had a play date at Bonnie and Emily's house and Tommy made a Lego creation that looked like it came straight out of Mad Max: Fury Road. I could not stop laughing!

Shad and I went shooting on a date. I forget which rifle I used for this target, but I destroyed it!