Happenings........

Calvin was playing near the stairs and got his head stuck. I, being the good mom, ran for the camera first. Don't worry, we was fine. It was cute, though.

Maybe too many bubbles.

He was done.

Catching fishy Calvin.

Man she loves when we put bubbles in.

Not too much going on. Calvin turned 18 months this week! How can he already be 1 1/2?? It is hot, hot, but maybe not quite as hot as Texas :) I haven't been taking too many photos lately, so I will put some old fun bath pics on here. We went to an open gym at a gymnastics place today. Emerald had a blast and Calvin mostly did. He was a little clingy b/c we were up late last night. It is an open gym for 1-6 year olds with bars, balance beams, trampolines, an open pit, little cars, mats, etc. Too much fun. Silly me, forgot my camera. I'll take it next time. We were invited by Tara, thanks, a good K-State friend, and also went with neighbors, Avery, Carson, and Miss Jamie.

The Miami County fair is this weekend. We may head that way, who knows. We continue to pray for Dolly, Skip's aunt, who remains in the hospital. We are thankful that Skip's mom can be there with her, even though it is hard on all involved.

By the way, thanks--you know who you are!!!

Cousins......

We are having 2 nephews and that is awesome! Jeff & Heidi had their sonogram this week and all is healthy with their little man. Laura and Shane tell us that their little guy is doing great, too, and can't wait to meet him. You can bet that you'll be seeing a ton of baby pictures in upcoming blogs :) I'm a proud aunt already and can't wait to show off the cutest nephews on the planet! Congrats to the proud mommy and daddy on the good news. In a few short months we will be up to 4 cousins in the Pankewich family! It is doubling in 2008. Poor Emerald found out that she will be the only girl among the 4. Is this a good or bad thing? She'll probably enjoy her role as boss of all the little guys while they are young, but then I'm sure the tables will turn and they'll want to beat her up when they get older. It is so much fun to anticipate watching them all grow up together.

Hot Fun in the Summer-time

Loving this--2 decent family shots in one weekend. Calvin, smile a little bud.

I loved the face on Calvin as he looks at Daddy. Too sweet.

This was when they were still dry.

Sunday afternoon we went out to eat downtown Wichita. They had this fun water "show" and the kids had a blast. The day was hot, so why not?? They got soaking wet and you know what, they dried out. No big deal. Grandma and Grandpa had fun watching them play.

Sorry there are 3 posts in one day. Emerald finally took a nap and I have 2 spare seconds. The video shows Calvin trying to catch the water. He was confused as to which place to focus on.

Up close to the "leaf" field

yep, that's a snake skin and a shocked me to see her touch it



isn't this just the sweetest picture?





Isn't it funny how fast your mood can change when you are this age?



the kids with steph's parents and her dad's mother, Beulah. This is her farm, where steph's dad grew up in Belle Plaine, KS


We went to Wichita to see Steph's parents over the weekend of the 4th. We were lucky enough to be there while they were cutting the wheat. I have been pointing out wheat fields to Emerald around home, and every time we'd pass one, she'd get excited and say, "look, that's a leaf field." It was too cute to correct. She was pretty excited to get to walk out into the "leaf" field and see what it was all about. Grandpa showed her how she can eat the wheat off the stalks. She will demonstrate to you still how you pick it, and then blow away all the yucky stuff. Calvin's interest only lasted so long (seems like a pattern with him). He did, however, LOVE riding on the tractor (a word that has become a favorite). Great grandma was there to see the kids and Emerald loved seeing her. We especially liked eating pizza with them in town. Grandpa let Emerald touch a long snake skin that we found on the ground near the wheat field. It was a pretty exciting day for the kids. Dad says it was a great crop this year that they almost couldn't cut due to all the rain. Life as a farmer is a hard, hard job!

Happy Independence Day (a little late)

what's that, a decent picture of the 4 of us--no way!



Calvin loves sharing his hugs, it just depends on her mood as to whether she chooses to receive them or not :)

Better late than never, right? We had a busy 4th weekend. We spent Friday, the 4th, with Jeff & Heidi at their house for a cookout, games, a parade, and fireworks. The next day we went to Wichita to see Steph's family. Those pics will come in a later post.



The kids had fun playing outside with all the grown-ups. I think their favorite part was the parade, because they handed out tons of candy! Poor Uncle Jeff even got hit hard in the head with a large dog treat. The fireworks were a fun way to end the evening, but Calvin was a little tired by that point. Emerald had fun taking turns sitting on different laps. I thought her shirt was quite perfect for her! Hope you all had a great day, too.

Feeding the Elephants at the zoo

We went to Topeka a couple of weeks ago (yes I know I'm behind) to visit our close friends. Rene invited us on a special trip behind the scenes to feed the elephants. We walked back behind all the normal gates and learned a lot about how much the eat, and poop, each day. It was interesting information. Then we were invited to walk out into the elephant area to put down food for the elephants. Dont' worry, the elephants were inside while we were doing this, we were safe! We threw a lot of food on the ground including BBQ sauce straight out of the jar, packets of Jello (dry), and the "trail mix" that they love so much. After we were finished, we walked outside the bars and watched as the elephants excitedly found the food we had put down for them. I never knew that they ate BBQ or Jell0. You learn something new every day! We had a great time walking around the zoo with Jessie, Noah, and Rene. Calvin is really getting into this animal thing and trying so hard to say names or imitate sounds of the different animals. Thanks, Rene, for allowing us to experience this awesome day at the zoo with you guys. Of course Emerald talked more about playing dress-up with Jessie than she did the elephants--that figures :) Jessie is Emerald's hero and is always looking up to her!

Swimming lessons and filling our pool

Emerald finished her swimming lessons. She had so much fun. She did a great job listening to the teacher and made me see an entirely different side of her. We put up our little pool in the backyard. Both kids were pretty excited to get to "help" fill the pool with water. It was one of those moments where you throw your hands up and say, "have fun" clothes and all. :)

A proud moment for Pop Pop

After we dropped Aunt Laura off at the airport we took Pop Pop to visit "his" store. Emerald and Pop Pop went on a trip to Cabela's all by themselves and man did she have a good time. Pop Pop taught her about different types of fish and showed her all sorts of animals inside the store. We then had to show Calvin how we feed the ducks. The kids enjoyed getting to spend time with Nana and Pop Pop while they were here visiting us.