Okay, are you ready for the cutest kitty picture EVER? Are you sure you are prepared for it? Here it is!!!!

 I may be a bit biased. We've only had Pico (who we now know to be a boy) for a little over a week now, so I'm still camera happy around him. Don't worry; Michael will win out again shortly.

 Here are the two kids being goofballs. Michael is obsessed with MY new kitty. He'll even stop watching Chuggington just to play with Pico. We're working on reminding him that the cat's name is not "Hi, Kitty" or "Pepo"but is, in fact, "Pico."

 Pico has tried claiming a few of Michael's toys for himself. You can tell he feels a bit guilty about it in this picture.

 But, really, the big news for this week is that JD has been gone, mountain biking in Colorado with his friend Brian. We have missed him soooooo much, and I hope to steal a few of his trip pictures to put up on the blog next week. He gets home late tonight, and we are definitely looking forward to it! But JD prepared for our sadness by leaving us some presents to find while he was gone. I got a beautiful, most amazing IPhone! Really, I was thinking maybe some chocolates or something, but I love my new phone!! And Michael got a huge train set, complete with new trains, construction trucks, a helocopter, and animals. We sure are lucky to have a husband/daddy who loves us so much. His gifts have made his absence tolerable!

One more cat video for your enjoyment...

Our New Family Member

We got a new kitty!!! JD surprised Michael and I on Sunday night by taking us on an adventure to a farm about 10 miles outside of town to pick out a barn kitty to come live with us. We chose this 5-week-old male, Pico. He is the new love of our lives. Not only is he soooo tiny and cute, but Michael is really good with him. He is gentle and laughs when Pico follows him around. Meanwhile, Pico is enamored with Michael too. If Michael becomes interested in something else for a moment, Pico runs over to chew on his toe or climb his leg. What a wonderful gift for our family, John David. Thank you.

Camping

This weekend, we took Michael camping for the first time. Now, we've talked about it many times ever since he was born, but we just weren't sure how he would behave and whether he (or, more importantly, we) would get any sleep at all. Friday night, we decided to brave it with the Morrisons, and the experiment was a success! Besides knocking on someone else's tent, trying to touch the fire, playing in the dog's water, and crawling around the tent at all hours of the night, Michael was perfect!

 He loved the s'mores, calling them "Num Nums" for "Yum Yums." And, he really did sleep well once he fell asleep. We think that once we start getting out there more often, Michael will learn the camping rules and will be a regular hippie! Commence the cheap vacations.

Michael has never been able to get his hands around any water pistol that I have gotten him, but this dinosaur one is perfect. I LOVE how he chases after JD, shouting, "I shoot you, Daddy!"

The Rickers Visit Normal

The Rickers visited us this past week, and we had soooooooooooooo much fun. I took over 150 pictures. Michael fell in love with Lucas (4) and Hannah (2 1/2), and the three of them played from dawn to dusk; there were several wrestling matches, and Hannah touched my heart when she declared, "I love Michael!" We kept very busy, having adventure after adventure. The Rickers drove the 10 hours (that turn into 12 with the kids) from Atlanta, showing up Friday afternoon. Saturday morning, we began the festivities with the Farmers Market. It was hot, but that didn't stop us.

 Friends already!

 After stopping by a local hobby store with an AWESOME model train (because Lucas loves trains too), we went home to cool off in the backyard pool and sprinkler.

I named this picture "Man vs. Sprinkler."

 After naps, we went to the pool in the evening. What a perfect pool day!

 

 We got up for church Sunday morning.

 After an early lunch, we headed on our bikes to the art festival in Uptown Normal.

 The clouds really cooled everything off even though it still hasn't rained.

 After naps, we relaxed a bit before heading to the park.

 After-dinner popcicles at the park.

 Monday morning, after checking out the local windmills and the dairy farm, we went to the zoo.

 We had a picnic lunch outside the zoo, and Michael wanted to see what it would be like to be a canon ball.

 After naps, we took a ride around town and ended up on the ISU campus where there was a concert. The musicians were Bavarian polka players, and they were hilarious (by accident). The kids totally ignored them and just ran around having fun.

 Tuesday, JD and Steve went mountain-biking while Laurie and I took the kids to the lake park. We all enjoyed the Discovery Museum and Garlic Press for lunch before heading home for naps. We closed out Tuesday by returning to the pool.

What a fabulous four days! We can't say enough how grateful we are that the Rickers spent their time off with us, especially when most people don't think of Illinois as a summer vacation destination! We sure do miss having them nearby.



Visitors!

We had a great weekend, hosting Uncle Mike and Ms. Katie at our house in Normal. Michael fell in LOVE with our guests, fussing if they even tried to use the bathroom! I guess that just goes to show how much fun we had.

 Sunday, in addition to having fun with Mike and Katie, JD and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary. What a wonderful day in our lives. When I look back at those wedding pictures, I finally think we look younger; I told JD that means that we're already growing old together. :)

 I'm going to write a blog sometime soon about how Bloomington-Normal, Illinois is the perfect place to raise a child, and Fairview and Anderson pools in town are perfect examples of how the city makes life so much fun for kids.

 We already miss our guests, and it won't be until September that we see them again. But we can't thank them enough for making the long trip to spend some time with us. We love you guys!