Happy Birthday!

September is a big month for our family. We had Brooke's 2nd and Joshua's 5th birthdays and our wedding anniversary to celebrate. In the past few years, we've done a big birthday bash at a local park, but we decided to keep it low-key this time around and just have a few friends over for dinner, yummy cake, and presents. What more do you need? Here are some pictures of Joshua's birthday. I'm still looking for our pictures of Brooke's birthday. I'll post them once I find them.

  

 

 Hook 'Em Horns!

Labor Day Weekend in San Diego

Ever have one of those trips when everything just seemed to fall into place? This happened for us on our trip to San Diego this past Labor Day weekend. The first hotel we booked at a Navy base in Coronado didn't allow children under 12 and there was no way to sneak in three very loud youngsters. So they called a hotel on another base at just the right time when a room became available (on Labor Day Weekend!!!). This new hotel was right on the beach and in close driving distance to all the great restaurants and attractions we wanted to see. What a blessing! We had a wonderful time on the beach, at San Diego Zoo, and at SeaWorld.Ella didn't want the waves to "get her" so she preferred to stay on dry ground and dig for seashells with Brooke and Mommy.

Joshua and Daddy enjoyed playing football on the beach and playing in the waves.
The coolest part of the zoo was getting to be face to face (with glass in between of course) with this sleeping lion. This picture doesn't do justice to the incredible size of this amazing creature. One paw was about the size of their heads.

This had to be the best part of SeaWorld. We got to watch Shamu play in her tank right after the park opened. Again, the picture doesn't do justice to the size of this killer whale.

Giddy with excitement!

First Days

We had a few fun first days this week. Brooke had her first Parent/Tot Gymnastics class and Ella had her first Ballet/Tap class. They both had so much fun and were excited to get started. Joshua won't be left out of the fun though. His soccer starts in a few weeks. I came to the realization today that I'm already becoming that mom trekking her kids around to activities each week. It's so worth it though. They're having a blast and I consider it our "PE" for homeschooling.

Waiting for gymnastics to start.

1st Position

* By the way, everytime I upload pictures on this blog, they show up too small and when I try to expand them, they're blurry. If any of my master blogging friends have any tips on the best way to upload pictures to a blog, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

Tech Junky

Ella replying to some of her friends' comments on her Facebook wall.

(Really she's playing a Dora computer game.)

I don't know what's worse, that my 3 year old is playing on my laptop or that she's eating corn dogs while doing it. I hope nobody turns me in for this.

Summertime Pictures

Yes, it's been awhile since my last post. We had a busy Summer and many pictures to prove it. From mid-June to mid-July, we had lots of family come visit us. At one point there were 5 adults and 8 children sleeping in our one little house. It was a whirlwind blast that we'll never forget.

Bathing Beauty. Too Cute.

Joshua's T-ball team "Go Hogs" got to stand on the field at the 51's game.

Joshua's 1st day of homeschool kindergarten. Ella wanted to get in on the fun.

At the Bellagio with Grandpap

Ella at our friends' 4th of July BBQ

Valley of Fire, Bellagio Fountains, Hoover Dam, and Grand Canyon
All in one week...whew

No words necessary :)

Babies R Us

We went to a sneak preview grand opening of the new Babies/Toys R Us combo store with our moms group. They had all kinds of characters and activities for the kids there. Joshua and Ella got to see a magic show and get their faces painted. Each of them got to pick out a new toy (reasonably priced of course). It was really alot of fun.

Ella got to be one of the stars in a magic act. The halo on her head turned yellow.

I was asked to be interviewed for a local morning news show while we were there. It's supposed to air next week, so it should be interesting to see. I'll post a link if it's online and if I don't look weird.

Fun in the Sun

The triple digit temps are here and we're always looking for ways to cool off that doesn't just entail sitting inside. So we got a little pool to splash around in. If I fill it up in the morning, the water is pretty warm by the afternoon. We figured out how to make our own backyard water park by pulling the big blue slide up to the pool and letting the water sprinkler spray over it. I'll try to get a pic of it next time. Happy swimming!