New sport?

Ella is really into baseball (softball) and golf rightn now. The last time we were at the lake, she wanted to play baseball just about every waking moment that wasn't spent in the water. She always wants to pitch like the boys (pro's on TV) and it drives me crazy, since she'll never throw that way in reality. Oh well, I just need to let it go.

As you can maybe imagine, she gets a little determined to do things 'just so.'

Nighttime cruise

More lake time fun. Don, Brenda, Kyle, Kayla and their dog MacGyver were up. We took the pontoon out for a nice evening/night time cruise. One of the best nights of the summer by far!

S'Mores

Another fun weekend at Lost Island! Can't have a weekend at the lake without s'mores. We had some extra large marshmallows this time that I found at Hy-Vee. These things are like the size of 4 big marshmallows - almost too big for s'mores, but they still worked.

Ella and Uncle Don are working on getting her marshmallow cooked just right.

Golfing at Pocahontas

A little out of order here - sorry!

Over the 4th of July, we took Ella on her first golfing experience. I'd say that overall she really liked it and did a good job. For the most part, we let her tee off at every hole and then when we got up to the green, then she got to putt her ball in. She even hit a few with her iron. But, BY FAR, she likes her putter the best.

In the one picture with her arms folded, she was a little upset that Daddy went out of turn.

Special thanks to Uncle Dean (again) for letting us borrow his cart!

Grandpa's Goofballs

On Sunday, my two brothers, their families and Charles, Ella and I had dinner at my parents house. It had been a while since we had some pictures taken with all 4 of them (minus Kyle, Cameron and Dylan).

So here are some funny ones. Once Josh put his hands up by his ears, Kyla would not stop doing it, except in the one picture where her lip is all puckered out.

Paige (6), Logan (5), Kyla (1), Ella (3) - they're almost in birthday order too!

Paige (August), Logan (October), Kyla (September) and Ella (November). Too bad the newest addition (coming soon) will most likely share a birthday month with his/her older sister, Ella. Oh well!

A night at the races

On Saturday night, we went to the dirt track car races in Algona to watch my brother Josh race. My other brother Brian and his family were there too. We got some interesting kid pictures and one interesting picture of an old ambulance hitting an old school bus. Seriously, only in Algona.

Ella with her ear muffs on.

Kyla, Logan and Ella

Kyla liking the cold can.

Grandpa Rog with Logan, Kyla and Ella

Golfing

Since the weekend wasn't conducive to going to the lake, Charles decided to go golfing with some family. Since he hadn't tried out Bobby's home course (Spring Valley), he decided that's where he wanted to play. He invited Don and Kory along as well.

Birthday boy Don and Ella.

Charles, Kory, Don and Bobby.




Ella putting with Charles' putter.

New pics of Ella Bella

While we were dropping off Charles to go golfing this weekend, Ella and I took advantage of the beautiful flowers at the golf course. Here are some new pics...

Barnstormer game

Ella has been asking to go to a Barnstormers game, so a few weeks ago, we finally took her. Charles got a good deal on tickets from work, so we went.

We were also able to take part in the pre-game festivities in the parking lot, including inflatables, which Ella loves!

Latest and greatest

I'll be sure to get some pictures posted soon. Been a little delayed. My computer at work can't open the pictures from the new camera, so I have to do it at home vs. over my lunch hour.

As you can see by the counter at the right, we're expecting another baby, come November. Actually November 10th. Everything is going great so far. A little over 22 weeks down and a little less than 18 more to go.

My next appt is the first week of August and I'll have to take the dreaded glucose test. Not that it hurts, just that the results could cause an additional test, and if that one is positive - gestational diabetes diagnosis and a special diet. I didn't have GD with Ella, so I'm pretty confident I should be fine with this one - but you never know!

We'll also have an ultrasound the first week of September to confirm everything still looks good for delivery. At that appt, we'll get to see the baby in 3D, so I know I'm pretty excited about that. We still are not planning to find out the gender. As Charles says, if we find out and it happens to be a girl, he'll certainly be an alcoholic for the next few months!

Although he says that, I know that he adores Ella and wouldn't trade her for anything, but he would like to have a little boy - and it would be the first Anliker boy in the family! Time will tell....