The Mees Family: August!

My new favorite picture of the two of them. We were coming out of church and they were getting ready to run down their favorite ramp in front of the church--a weekly tradition.

This was at Burr Oak Woods Nature Center, in Blue Springs. It is such a great nature center with trails and a wonderful "outdoor classroom" to explore. This was in the outdoor classroom.

Lauren takes a turn on the marimba in the outdoor classroom...I think she has her Daddy's percussion genes. She was really into this and took it very seriously :)

Driveway art!

Messy!

Helping each other get cleaned off :)

They could have done this all day...paint and running water--what else does a kid need?

Lauren stops to pick a flower on a morning walk :)

Lauren LOVES baking. She gets so excited if anyone says the word "bake". She usually requests to make pancakes or "bickits". She is making biscuits on this day. Her all-time favorite cooking thing to do is crack eggs...she would crack dozens if we'd let her. She's actually pretty good at it!

Typical morning :)

Making cupcakes for her 2nd Birthday party!

Yummy cupcakes!

Lauren at her party with Papa!

Hard to see in this shot, but this is Greg and the kids in the backyard...Greg is patiently filling water balloons! This was a big hit!

Sam and Hannah getting ready to toss the balloons...they look pretty mischievous to me!

Lauren with her balloons :)

Lauren and Uncle Dave--good buddies :) When Lauren is in a bad mood, Uncle Dave can always cheer her up!

Aunt Geni and Lauren-Lou.

Gramma Jan and Lauren-Lou.

Lauren's Birthday cake. She requested a "Doc" cake, of course :)

And the cupcakes, of course!

Grampa Bill and Gramma Jan with the Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday, Lauren Lou! Hannah was too busy having fun with her cousins for the family picture!

Grandma Nell and Howard with the Birthday Girl...Lauren looks like she's ready for cake!

Maggie and Lauren-Lou...so sweet :)

Sam with Lauren-Lou

Sam was protecting Lauren from the flames on the candles :)

Maggie brought a snow-cone maker,...a big hit!

And the cats were there!! Grandma Nell's cats are always a big hit! And they made a special appearance at the end of the party :)

Pin the tail on Lambie...a character from Doc McStuffens. Hannah was in charge of the games and did a terrific job! I think she has a future in party planning!

Grace, Kate, Alex, and Carla made a LONG trek coming back from vacation to be there for the party, and we were so happy they were there! Lauren had such a great time with her cousins!

In August, we went to the State Fair! Papa A took all of the grandkids and we all had a great time! Here's Lauren with her first sucker :)

Part of the crew in one of the exhibit halls.

The petting zoo was a big hit. This was an exhibit of baby animals and they had a little kitten.

The biggest cheeseburger ever, which Hannah ate about 3/4 of...maybe because Kate Dyer was eating hers too?!

The kids at lunch

One of the many fun rides that the kiddos rode. They were brave! Even the little ones were courageous and rode some big rides!

Hannah sliding down out of the obstacle course...a favorite.

Papa A, Uncle Dave, and Sam having a great time

The big swing! Hannah and some of the cousins were on there somewhere!

Lauren Lou made it for quite awhile, but took a nap in her stroller while the big kids rode the rides...we were there for a LONG time!

Back on the home front...this was just a normal afternoon...until the girls got cards in the mail from Gramma Jan with dollar bills!! Silliness ensued :)

This was a really fun event--Blue Jay Nation Pep Rally at LHS. The girls and their Daddy having a blast :)

More fun at the neighborhood park.

Hannah's first day of school! Pre-K is going great! She loves it!

Wanted to get a shot of the backpack, so I had Hannah turn around. So of course Lauren did too :)

Lauren and I took a walk to the park that morning and already she seemed bigger to me. Won't be long before she's in preschool too!

The girls playing sweetly together. They both love to play doctor. Here, Hannah's checking out whatever ails Lauren. I have to hold my breath in those moments, because if I say anything surely an argument will begin! They really play sweet together sometimes, though...they are getting to be great pals.

Grandma Nell reading a book during a visit

Lauren doing a little Fall cleaning...getting the porch swept off!

This is Greg and Hannah's game of Quirkle...I only post this to remind us in the future how much Hannah loves this game. This was a particularly fun night of Quirkle where they made about a zillion Quirkles :)

These two are of Paradise Park...the first is of the girls in the construction zone. Awfully blurry cell phone picture, but fun memory of them having a great time playing together. The second is of Hannah showing off her art project in the art room.

This was from the Deck Dogs Competition that we went to see in Independence at the animal shelter. Both of the girls love dogs and got a kick out of seeing them jump off the dock. It was REALLY hot that day, but still a good time.