Turner's Birthday Party

We bought Preston a slip and slide and brought it over for the kids.

They enjoyed it, but I don't think they really grasped the slip and slide concept.

Grandma got this Spiderman sprinkler.

Posing for Grandma with their guns

 Bubbles!

How many of you are picturing that fish on Finding Nemo? Just me?

 Presents!

 Turner's Grandpa Randy got him this sweet ride.

Turner's dirt cake. It was delicious!

I hope you had a great birthday, Turner!!

I'm 11 Months Old Today!

As you can see, Lilli Jo can now stand on her own! She can stand right up in the middle of the room without any assistance from the furniture or us.

She wants to walk so badly and took the tiniest, little step the other night.

Almost there, baby girl!!

It's important to note that just about every time I post on a potential milestone, she reaches it shortly thereafter. As much as I want my baby to stay a baby, I so look forward to her milestones and watching her grow up. Here's hoping she starts walking in the coming weeks! :)

Turner is 3!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Turner Allen!!
We love you!

4th of July Fun

Tuesday night before the fourth we headed to Bruce, which has become a tradition for the Hovey clan. Mike and Louise, my uncle and aunt, host a gathering every year and their neighbors put on quite a fireworks show.

 The kids had their fireworks show first.

My cousin's daughter, Grace, was quite enamored with Dustin and spent most of the evening with him. :)

Lilli Jo was enthralled with the fireworks.

 Allie displaying her sparkler cheerleading skills.

After spending the previous evening in the heat, we decided to forego the 4th of July activities in Brookings. We filled up the pool and let the kids play for a bit.

We also decided to skip the fireworks display that evening. It was the first time in a very long time that I didn't go and I was slightly bummed about it. But it was still so darn hot out at night that I just couldn't do it. I went to get a drink of water before bed and noticed that someone just to the South of us was shooting off some pretty impressive fireworks. So Dustin and I sat on the patio and enjoyed their display for a bit.  :)

I hope everyone had a great 4th!

Random Fun

 Lilli Jo can't get enough of her brother's puzzle. We took away the pieces so she would stop eating them and this is now her favorite way to play with it.

 Snapped this photo before Preston realized I was taking his picture.

 Then he promptly hid so I couldn't take his picture anymore.

 I'm not really sure what the exchange is here. :)

"Hawk Smash"

That's how it sounds to me when he says it. It could be something else entirely. For weeks he was running  around saying "Pop Bombers". We later discovered that it was Power Rangers.

The Beringers Go Camping

This past weekend we took a little camping trip to Lake Thompson Recreation Area. It was the best weekend ever!!

Happy camper! :)

The fire/grill master attempting to make us some coffee.

It worked, but we scrapped it on day two.

A view of our campsite

We quickly decided we had the best campsite. We were relatively close to the comfort station (a definite plus) and this view of the park was from our chairs. Preston was able to play there all day long and we could keep an eye on him without having to be over there the whole time. Perfect!!

Matt, Jessica and Camden came out to visit on Saturday and brought their dog too.

Preston and Camden took her for a little walk.

Aunt Jessica took Lilli Jo over to play with Molly for a bit.

Preston in Uncle Randy's new chair.

The Hofers came out to visit on Saturday as well and brought their super-fun, new inflatable boat and some other floaty chairs/loungers to take to the lake.

 What's that over there, just out of my reach?

 Preston, Camden and Turner played some ladder golf.

 Turner having some fun running around.

Preston missed but was still pretty excited about the game. :)

This seriously was the best weekend ever. I think I can safely say that I love camping now and I'm trying to figure out why we haven't gone until now. (I still don't like the bugs and I miss the air conditioning. All that aside, I had a great time.)

We cannot wait to go camping again and fortunately we don't have to wait long. We'll be joining the Hofers and some friends at Lake Poinsett in August to celebrate Nichole's 30th birthday!!

Preston Goes to the Rodeo

A couple weekeds ago, I took Preston to the rodeo in Estelline. We went with Nichole, Turner, Allie, Courtney and Kiera and met up with Matt, Jessica and Camden.

Preston had a blast!

 Getting pretty dirty from all the dust flying

 The boot race

I wasn't sure if Preston would actually participate, as he kept running back and forth.

 As you can see, he chose to participate.

He didn't really understand the rules ... the kids were to remove their boots (or shoes) and throw them in a pile. From the starting line, they had to race over, put their boots back on and race back.

Preston kind of cheated, as he didn't remove his shoes. The clown determined that he got second place and he got a $10 prize. I felt kind of bad, since technically he cheated.

I decided it all worked out though since the rodeo personnel didn't follow their own rules with the mutton busting, which prevented Camden from participating. Karma, right?

 He took a spill while in the arena which left him even more dirty than he was before!

 Howdy ma'am!

My little cowpoke!

Preston borrowed Camden's hat for a bit. He looks so darn cute in it that I might have to get him one of his own!

We had such a great time, even though we were filthy by the end of it. We both promptly took showers once we returned home that evening!

I can't wait for the next rodeo in our area so we can go again! I forgot how much I love them.

Vacation Bible School

 Preston received an invitation to attend Vacation Bible School from my mom's friend, Jennifer. He had so much fun! For three nights, he learned all about Daniel's courage in captivity in Babylon.

Preston made some great crafts and they are now proudly displayed on our refrigerator. I can't wait for him to start Preschool now so I have more great things to display!

My apologies for the poor quality pictures. I have a love/hate relationship with my camera. I love it for the most part, but it takes terrible pictures indoors.

RibFest 2012

 Checking out the critters

 I want to go in the inflatables too!

Preston had a blast in the inflatables!

 Preston after RibFest

 Lilli Jo after RibFest

(She later conked out once we got home)



I'm 10 Months Old Today!

We are a mere two months away from Lilli Jo's first birthday. {gasp}

Lilli Jo has eight teeth now. Seems like a lot for such a little girl.

She's starting to walk around the furniture more and follows her brother wherever he goes. She has a fascination with the dishwasher and can hear it open from her bedroom. Whenever she hears it, she makes a beeline for it. She also LOVES Preston's puzzle table that we got him a few years ago at the arts festival. She mostly loves to take the pieces out and chew on them. Looks like we'll be tracking down that booth this year and ordering a puzzle for her. :)

One of Lilli Jo's favorite games is to drop things and have us pick them up. She especially loves to drop her snacks from her high chair. She will look at you, smile and lean over to drop whatever she has on the floor. She'll repeat this until she runs out of snacks to drop on the floor.

I don't know that we've had an official first word yet, but there are lots of "mamamama's" and "dadadada's" and I think she said "yeah" today when I asked her if she was a stinker.  :)