Lazer Tag

The swim team had a laser tag fundraiser night. We decided to go and support the swim team and we had a blast. I don’t think Owen had ever done laser tag and Nathan may have done it one time. It was thrilling for them and it was really fun!

A New Puppy

Yes, we got a puppy! We’ve been toying with the idea for a long time and it happened! This little guy is a golden doodle, with a poodle father and a golden doodle mother. That makes him a golden doodle F1B.  He was in a litter with four other puppies and he and one other had a flat coat that resembled a golden retriever. The other puppies were super curly and resembled a poodle. We are super excited for our little pup. It sounds like he will grow to be about 50 pounds, a good sized family dog. We’ve never done the puppy thing but we’re excited to give it a shot. If we’ve raised six babies, I’m sure a baby dog can’t be too far off the rocker. We decided to name him Axel. We’re excited for him to grow with our family. 

Father’s Day 2022

We are so lucky to have such an amazing dad in our home. Nate is an incredible dad, always pushing the kids towards their goals and wants the very best for each one of them. He tries to spend time with each one and tries to engage in their interests. He’s available when we need him and he makes time for fun. We all love him so much and are so grateful for him. Happy Father’s Day daddy!

We went to Cosmos for breakfast to celebrate Father’s Day with grandma and grandpa, Melissa, John, and Jace. It was so fun to be out to breakfast together on Father’s Day morning.

Summer Swim Party Part 1

The kids have been begging to have a summer swim party here at our pond with all their friends from school. We decided to split it up into two parties so that we didn’t have the entire school over here at the same time. We invited Owen, Nathan, and Dawson‘s best buddies and their families over on a Saturday evening for a barbecue and swimming. They had such a blast. It was so fun to see all the kids and their siblings and the parents spending time together and swimming.

Owens best buddies are Ira, Ted and Ezra.

Future Farmers of America

Cooper joined the FFA organization at the school, Oak Farm Montessori. Crystal Leu is the Farm Manager at the school and she is absolutely fabulous. She got the kids involved in FFA and entered them into some contests which the students excelled at. Cooper did a public speaking contest and placed at regionals. He then moved onto the state competition and ended up winning first place in the state for individual public speaking. Essentially they gave him a topic and then gave him 30 minutes to research and prepare a speech. He performed the speech in front of a panel of judges and no audience. They critique the speech and gave him a first place rating in the entire state of Indiana. Pretty cool stuff!

Tin Caps Game Goofs

We’ve been doing some fun things as a family weekly and this week we went to a tin caps game downtown Fort Wayne at the ball diamond. Of course the game is difficult to follow and watch with all the kids, but the excitement of being there with all the people in the sun ice cream vendors and so much to see is exciting. These are some family goofy pictures we took while we were there.

Kaylee’s Dance Recital

Kaylee performed in her dance recital her hip-hop dance routine. The theme of the program was under the sea set in the 1920s flapper era. All the songs and dances resembled the flapper. And it was so fun to watch Kaylee dance on stage. She got kind of nervous in the morning at the rehearsal and was feeling kind of sick. We worried about that but somehow she pulled her self together and was healthy and happy and excited to perform. Great job Kay! We celebrated afterward at Zestos!

Cooper’s Presentation

Cooper has been wanting a dog really badly. One day he gave us a full presentation. He dressed up in a suit and tie, Slicked back his hair and displayed a PowerPoint presentation on the research he had done on German Shepherd’s.  He had researched the types of foods that are good and bad for dogs, the personality types of German shepherds etc. He also committed himself to do walks in the mornings and to be an active helper with the dog. It was a pretty awesome presentation.  Not sure if we will get a German Shepherd, but I think we will be getting a dog soon!

Downtown Scooters and Bikes

We took the family downtown Fort Wayne to Promenade park where we picked up some motorized scooters and brought some bikes and rode around downtown. I took the youngers and they rode bikes and scooters down by the river and to the playground. Nate took the older‘s who picked up scooters on the app and Kaylee had a bike and they rode around downtown together. It was a really fun experience. Biking as a family is a huge challenge because of the age difference and ability differences. So we managed to split them up and it turned out to be a good experience for everyone. I think we will do it again!

Rum Runner Boat Ride

Nate‘s Leadership Forum for business owners had a social event and a rum Runner party boat on the Fort Wayne rivers.  All of us got to ride the boat up and down the river for a couple of hours. They brought drinks and snacks and it was really fun to get to know the other people and spend time on the boat. The people in the group are also business owners and they can relate to the challenges of owning a business. Many of them also have families and can relate to the balance between family and business. It’s a great therapeutic group especially for Nate to have as he navigates all that he does every day. We had a nice time together on the boat!

Jax is Learning to Drive!

Jack’s went to driving school over the spring. His instructor was Howard and he learned a lot from Howard. He came out of each class smiling and excited about everything he learned. He got his permit in February and we’ve been driving together here and there since he got his permit.   Today he had his first driving lesson. Exciting stuff!