Frogs and ice cream (don't they go together?)

Tonight we had an impromptu ice cream cone party outside in our neighborhood.  A couple of families joined us and the Hunes outside. A hot day actually turned into a nice evening and after the ice cream, the kids went crazy catching frogs in the pond and creeks in our complex.  It was such a fun, spontaneous way to end the week.

Attempt

Oh I hope this attempt is successful. Life has come at us fast these days while our internet has been ...S-L-O-W.  Too slow to attempt blogger at all. So I will try.  Backing up a few weeks, here are some highlights from Lucy and my trip to the States.  It was great to connect with family, meet Harrison and Grace, get to catch up and see what life is like for everyone.  Lucy loved her cousins and loved to give them their pacifiers or toys...however when it came to sharing Mommy if I held them, she was not such fan. Shrieking jealous. However we managed to make it work because I did have to hold my niece and nephew! Lucy charmed everyone as she usually does and really did well with all the travel, jetlag, new beds and people.  After throwing up the day we left at home, she made it the whole plane ride with NO throw up though she did have a fever.  Coming home she did great and slept half the ride.  Poor Chris wins a great husband award.  He got strep throat right after I left and was pretty miserable the first week.  And 3 of our close family friends all got sick and could not help with the boys like we had planned (with various things like strep, hand, foot and mouth and throw up bug). But he took great care of them, took them along to his class, meetings, took them camping and they had lots of boy fun.  Bennett greatly warmed up to Daddy (as he usually had preferred me to Daddy a lot) and is usually as happy if not more to be with Daddy now. Score!
Here are some pictures...I really did not take a lot of pictures and not many good ones (if any of you have some, don't forget to send them on) but here are a few (with my sisters, Mom and Grandpa all missing... sorry!) :

 Lucy and Bop...Lucy was a crazy gymnast around Bop and loved to dive off his lap headfirst to the floor. Fortunately he was quick and usually caught her.

 Attempt #47 to get all the cousins with Bop on Father's Day to look at the camera. Pretty much impossible but I thought Lucy and Bop's shared moment was a winner...and the littles are at least facing the camera.  Might be hard to tell but Lucy and Grace dressed in matching outfits and it was so cute.

 The "big sister" Lucy trying to entertain Grace with toys and the singing doll...she did a pretty good job trying to be a little helper.

 We were so glad to have a visit from Grandpa and Nai Nai...Lucy warmed right up to them and had fun trying on pretty dresses that Nai Nai gave her.

Harrison!  What a cutie and it was so fun to get to hang out with him (and his parents) and see him in person.  He is an active little guy and keeps Emily and Mark moving.

I love this sweet picture of Grace. She is such a treasure and really overall is doing well.  She will have challenges ahead but I was really impressed with her spunk and sweetness. She had just started wearing her new shoes after her casts came off when I arrived and there were some rough days for her and for Charlotte and John as she did not like them and Grace kept getting her feet out of her shoes. But by the time I left just a short time later, she was doing so much better and had adjusted a lot. 

Uncle John!  Lucy continues her love of men and Bop and her uncles Mark and John were no exception.  We spent a long weekend in Newport News and Lucy would run around the house screaming for John at the top of her lungs (John and Campbell, their black lab). She does not know a stranger, this girl!

Hopefully this works and there will be more posts to come...look out for a humorous description of the boys' last day of preschool/kindergarten.  There were songs, performances, awards...and shoving a brother in the middle of his lines.  To peak your curiosity....