Our Little Soccer Players

We gave the girls the option to take a break from gymnastics and play soccer for the season. They were up for the challenge. My guess was that with Isabel's "aggressiveness", she would do well in this sport. My theory proved right! It is pretty entertaining to watch the littlest on the team knock down the oldest on the other team. Isabel is a little allstar. She does not let anyone intimidate her and aggressively takes the ball up the field! Alexandra, on the other hand, is our more timid gal. She reminds us of her Aunt Lindsey. She is a solid player and does extremely well defensively. We often times find her lingering in the back ready to defend!! And Daddy has been an awesome coach. He does so well with this age group that I wonder if he would ever consider teaching the elementary aged kids. He's had so many of the parents compliment on his "teaching" skills. It has been good times :)

The Renaissance Fair

This weekend, we decided to take the girls to the Renaissance Fair. I had always heard very good things and was told that our girls would absolutely love their time there. Lindsey and Morgan decided to come along which made it even more exciting. Alexandra and Isabel were in aww to see a whole land of kings, princesses, and fairies. No questions were asked when we gave them the ok to wear their "dress up" clothes and they got quite a bit of attention for doing so. There were a number of shows.. some of the highlights were the acrobats, gypsies, dirt fighting, and even a jousting match! The jousting match was very action packed as it got very bloody! Alexandra did not want to leave! We practically had to drag her out of the park at closing time. It definately made for a fun filled day.. it was like being in a different world for a short time!

Eww la-la.. guess who?

Maidens with the pirate

Jousting tournament w/ the Queen! One part of the match req'd the horse and knight to jump over a circle of flames. Alexandra turns to us and says, "wow.. they were almost incinerated"!

These acrobats were amazing.. remind me of the Chinese

We couldn't resist this picture. This gentleman clearly couldn't deny the beauty of fair maiden Lindsey!!

Family Fun!

What would we do without family fun? This past weekend we were with family almost every minute of the weekend. We ventured to Chambersburg on Friday to help work on houses, Saturday drove to Maryland for a birthday bash, rushed back to PA for Jason & Lindsey's fiesta, and finally on Sunday drove to Maryland again for a crab feast..yum yum! What a weekend! Our family is so blessed to be able to visit all of our family in one weekend!

We had a wondeful time celebrating Lindsey's graduation along with her engagement! The food, company, and weather couldn't have been an better!

Roderick, Aunt Lisa, & the bunch

What's up w/ those Lyons kids? They love lotions!!

Fun in the Sun

This past weekend we celebrated Elana's birthday at the pool. Talk about fun! Although the weather was rather mild, the girls took full advantage of swimming. They absolutely loved playing with family and only wish they lived a bit closer!

A Punishment to Fit the Crime..

Don't ask me why, but this summer our girls seemed to have forgotten how to flush the toilet! Seems like a no-brainer ehh? Yeah, that's what Michael and I thought. We finally had enough and thought long and hard as to how we could put this bad habit to an abrupt STOP!

So this is what we came up with.. every time A or I forget how to flush the toilet, not only are they asked to flush the toilet but also clean the bathroom. How nice it was the first day to have a clean bathroom the whole day.. you can't beat having the toilet cleaned every time it is used! After two days, we have not had to remind the girls to flush..

I guess the punishment really did fit the crime :P

* A Visit from the Tooth Fairy *


Alexandra has been working very very hard this past week to pull out her 2nd loose tooth. She absolutely had enough when we decided to have corn-on-the-cob for dinner. By this point, she was determined to pull it out that night.. and she did!

When it came to putting her teeth under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy.. she came up with her own idea! She preferred to keep her tooth rather than giving it up for money. The Tooth Fairy managed to still pay a visit for all the effort put into pulling out her tooth.. but we shall see.. we may have yet another person in our family join the dentistry field.

Isabel insisted we post her smile as well..

Ropa!!

Many of you ask, "Why aren't you going to the Greek Fest in York this year?" My response, "You haven't experienced a real Greek Fest till you've gone to Maryland.. the York festivals are always so commercialized"!! Check out the small churches.. that's where you'll find a diamond in the rough!

Alexandra, Isabel, and I were visiting Papoo and Yia Yia and had the chance to go to their annual church fest. It was awesome! There was a live band, dancing, games for the kids, a moon bounce.... and get this...... real Greek food! The food you get from the local commercial festivals are canned, frozen, and lack the important ingredients which is usually meat!!

Our menu for the day consisted of Calamari, Greek salad, spinach pie, Greek fries, and honey balls. It was delicious and even more important, the girls loved it! Alexandra and Isabel were entertained by the school aged dancers. They spent the whole time practicing their Greek dancing skills and showed major improvement by the end of the evening! Thanks Papoo and Yia Yia for taking us!

Lake Tobias

Angela and I decided to take the crew to Lake Tobias. This park is far more entertaining than the Baltimore/ Washington Zoos. The animals are all sooo close as well as in close proximity. You don't spend the whole day walking from one exhibit to the next. The kids enjoy a real safari ride where they can feed the wild animals and even enjoy a petting zoo and reptile show. Oh and the best part.. it's 1/2 the price of the Zoo!!

Trek

Our Trek Family!


We were asked to be a Ma & Pa on trek this year. For those who don't know what that is.. the youth and some leaders imitate the pioneers traveling west pulling handcarts. It's like survivor!It was a trecherous journey but we managed! The kids in our family were truly amazing. There was not one complaint.. surprising after 14 miles of uphill hiking just the first day! Bro. Bennie said we were one of the most awesome groups he had seen. We made it to base camp about 2.5 hrs early and that was after an delaying us for another 1.5hrs. Along the journey we learned how to kill chickens, make honey taffy, and survive w/the bare essentials! Fun huh? It actually was! We learned alot.. and felt alot..

assembling the our handcart

all hands on deck

one of our team building games

what a handsome young fellow

Sarah plain and tall

Summer days driftin away...

Celebrating an engagement w/ fireworks!!
Sparkler fun!
Uh oh.. what's Papoo doing?That's one tough little girl
HHeather & Meno 4th of July
Ward picnic
Swimming fun
Catch!

Sisterly love.. sometimes!

Wow.. summer is flying by! I can't believe we are already in the middle of July. Our kiddos have a had real blast this summer. Here are some pics from our summer madness..

Isabel's Birthday! Isabel had a wonderful time celebrating her 4th birthday. She loves spending time with all of her cousins. This year Michael insisted that we just make Isabel a cake.. so that meant Sarah had to make the cake.. It was nice to work on something creative and Isabel was absolutely thrilled!

She has turned into quite the captivating young lady. People can not resist talking to her wherever we go. She is always so energetic.. sometimes overly energetic and seems to capture everyones attention with her singing and curls!! Now she is counting down the days to be 5 so that she can go to Kindergarden just like her big sister.