Catch up

I am finally back! Our laptop computer cord broke a couple of weeks ago and it took forever to get a new one. We managed with it for a while but it eventually just broke in half, so we were without a computer for a couple of weeks.
So... I will try to catch you up. We went to a family reunion for the Mattern side of the family which was held in Lincoln. It was fun to see some of the relatives that we don't get to see a lot and the kids got to see their grandparents. Abby finally decided that Grandpa Steve wasn't so scary after he fed her pop and helped her with her shoes. We also started a BIG project at our house. Robb is building a big deck on the back of our house. I am very excited for the end product but I have a feeling that it could take awhile. At least Robb is willing to take on such a project.
The next weekend we headed to Norfolk to help out with the apartments a little. Grandpa and Grandma Mattern had offered to keep the boys Friday night and Saturday. We celebrated Dad's birthday that night and just had fun playing outside and getting to talk to everyone. Bryce and Caleb did pretty well staying over at their house. I think they kept their grandparents pretty busy. Bryce said his favorite part was stopping at the park and eating out for breakfast. Caleb's favorite part was riding the golf cart, mower and seeing Grandpa get in the baby pool. I would have liked to see that too.
Sunday, I took the kids to Yankton to see my Great Grandma Ilene which makes her their Great, Great Grandma. She was back from California so it was nice to see her, but it was also bitter sweet because this is the first time she was back without my grandpa Eddie who passed this last year. It was sad to hear the boys say "where is the funny man who was with grandma last year" but it also made me so glad that they got to meet grandpa Eddie and had some memory of him. Him being funny is a pretty accurate memory too. Love ya Grandpa Eddie.
On Monday the kids and I headed to Columbus with Andy and my sister Steph and Draven. We went to the Pawnee Plunge waterpark. I was one of the hottest days of the year so it was a perfect day to be in the water. I had fun getting to see my sis and the kids had a wonderful time playing. Robb was working in Columbus that day and got to join us at the waterpark too.
Bryce and Caleb took swimming lessons the first 2 weeks in August. They love the water and have no fear so it was time to have them start learning to swim. They took lessons from a lady that does them at her home in her backyard pool. They were in a class of 4 little boys. They had a good time and I think the even learned a few things. Poor Abby had to sit on the patio melting two days a week. She really wanted in the pool! I think we will have them take another session in Sept. after preschool starts.