Adventures in Iowa Part 3: A Week with the Kiddos

When my sister called and asked me if I would be interested in hanging out with her kids for a week during the summer, I instantly said shouted "YES"!  I was thrilled!!!  I didn't know exactly what I was saying "yes" to, but I jump at any opportunity to spend time with my nieces and nephew.

I am a little type A, ok, type A+.... which means I like to plan and be organized, so about 6 weeks out I started planning my week with the kids.  I had a bunch of great grandiose ideas of craft projects we were going to complete, and songs we will going to learn, treats we were going to make, and games we were going to play!  I let Katie in on my preliminary plans and she gave me a reality check of life with 3 kids... I guess things get a little crazy and plans get thrown out the window.  I realized I had to reel it in a bit and be a more "go with the flow", after all, Katie's only requirement was that the kids were alive and well when she came home from work (really? I could do better than that, but she didn't want any pressure)

After the weekend full of celebrating Hudson's baptism and 1st Birthday Party, Craig left with Trooper back to Colorado, and time had come... I had prepared and I was ready... FOR A WEEK ALONE WITH THE KIDS!!!!

I settled on a small game plan and thought it would be really fun for the girls to decorate birdhouses throughout the week (during Hudson's morning nap time).  We also spent a lot of time riding bikes, playing games outside and cooling off in the pool!

Day 1: Painting the Birdhouses

Day 2: Embellishing the Birdhouses

The birdhouses look awesome and the girls did a outstanding job working on them all week!

I also made good use of Katie's extra baby food that Hudson refuses to eat by making smoothies for the girls.  I added squash and peas to the fruit smoothies and put sprinkles on top and the girls thought they were fabulous...

a classic Lorelai pose : )

and a classic Amelia pose : )

And we spent time cooling off in the pool in the backyard!  We had a splash contest- judged on technique, landing, and of course the SPLASH...

And momma Katie got in on the action as well ...

AND SHE WINS BEST OVERALL!!!

I had an absolute blast hanging out with my sister and her family.  I realized that I don't have many pictures of Hudson during my week with the kids.  I think it's mostly because if I was taking pictures, Hudson would take full advantage of me not paying attention and get into mischief... he is a VERY busy boy and he kept me on my toes at all times!!

Thank you Brubaker's for sharing your life with me, I am truly blessed by all of you!