Noyce Girls

Wow, I can't believe we are already nearing the end of July...We have been thoroughly enjoying our summer though, and here are a few of the moments I've managed to capture:
We took the girls to a "Big Cat Encounter" at one of the pet stores near us. There is a panther behind Tia, but that is as close as we got:
Tess has graduated from her tricycle to a "big girl bike":
Matt took the big girls to a drum and bugle corp show, so to placate poor Tessie who got left behind, we had a Mc D's picnic on the living room floor:
For the Fourth of July we took the girls to a demolition derby:
And made a flag cake:
Livvy testing out the car seat that had been recently scrubbed and prepared for baby brother's arrival:
Enjoying a bit of TV while they wait for dinner after a long day of playing outside:
My sister Phoenix drove up from NC to our house with her two kids, Haven and Easton. Easton is ALWAYS either drumming on something or playing guitar on something. Here he is teaching Livvy how to drum:
He really liked that my big girls were always willing to cuddle him even when his mom was busy:
Tessie and Haven "choosing" what they want out of an American Girl doll catalog. (They decided they wanted one of everything):
Phoenix and her kids spent a couple of days at our house before we all drove up and met my parents and other sister, Lexi, at a cabin on the lake in Northern WI. Here's Nana and Papa with Lu by the fire:
Here's the view looking down at the lake from the cabin:
We had 3 absolutely beautiful days that we took full advantage of before we got a couple days of rain. Here's Lu:
Becca and Tia swimming:
Uncle Matt and Haven cuddling. They are not normally very friendly to each other so I had to have photographic evidence that they are capable of being nice:
Matt and Becca fishing off the pontoon boat that we rented with the cabin:
Tess playing down by the water by herself. I had my camera on the wrong setting for a while and couldn't figure out how to replace it, hence the icky washed out quality. Sorry:
Riding around on the pontoon boat:
Matt enjoying his favorite cabin activity:
Tessie and Lu:
Tia floating:
Becca helping Haven float:



Tia caught several fish while we were there. This is just the first of her successes:
Matt caught lots of fish that were not big enough to keep, but we kept this one:
And filleted it:

Becca had been begging to take the pontoon out to the middle of the lake so she could jump off. This is her reaction to actually jumping:
Tia, Nana and Haven after jumping:Me after jumping:
Lexi discovered tiny little water frogs by the dock and caught several for the kids to watch:
Lu and Easton watching the frogs:
Everyone holding their frogs moments before Lexi insisted on their release:
Tessie and Haven saying goodbye to their little froggy friends:
Lexi made them all stop fussing about having to release the frogs by burying them instead:
Lu being very brave:
Tessie found another frog all by herself:
Nana helped the kids get these water lillies:




You see that muck they are standing in? It was even grosser than it looks, and only Nana was willing to help them wade it to get their lillies:The girls entertaining themselves on a rainy day:
This is Livvy in the car on the way home from the cabin. The most disturbing thing about the "camp filth" covering her is that we had a shower in the cabin that we actually used. Imagine if we had been outdoor camping for the week instead:
A good time was had by all, though somehow we managed to share a puking bug around the entire family.
Tia has reached another milestone this summer. Here she is practicing with Matt:
And here she is now: