So Long Summer

We said good bye to summer and weekly outings with cousins with a trip to Kangaroo Zoo. We were really celebrating Ally and Hannah's birthdays, but it happened to be the day before school started.


Avery loved jumping with cousins, by herself, and sliding down the little slides.




Ethan was a real dare devil and went down the big slides head first on his back, chased cousins, and played with Avery.




Thanks Cousins for the super day! Good Luck back at school!

Family Birthday Celebration

Avery was lucky enough to celebrate her birthday 3 times this year...We love to have a birthday week and party.


We had cute little cupcakes and candles to blow out here at home.





Avery got a new baby, her only request, and her very own sleeping bag. She LOVES her new "baggie."




Ethan went down to the basement and pulled his sleeping bag out and the 2 of them had a ball playing together. We went camping 2 weekends in a row. The kids slept great in their sleeping bags and are still sleeping in them on their beds!

Finally we had a triple Princess birthday party with Cousins. Avery, Ally and Hannah were showered with gifts, love and birthday wishes!


Happy Birthday little Princess! We love you!

Beach Party Birthday

Avery loved the Beach Party we had for her birthday. We turned the back yard in to a beach and had a few friends over.

Sandy beaches....







Cooling by the pool...






Shaved ice (A family favorite this summer)






Everybody had a great time and Avery felt super special-Party Perfection!

Play Ball

Last week the kids and I went to the baseball game with Bob's family. Bob had a late night work meeting that went later than expected, but thanks to Granddad for picking us up we had a great time!

Avery loved the hot dogs, shave ice, and playing around with cousins.


While Ethan loved watching the game, asked me why we were cheering every time the crowd roared, and LOVED playing with Cousin Nathan and his friend Easton.

We had a super time and can't wait to go again with Daddy!

We Must Be Crazy IV

Even when the full moon threatens our viewing pleasure and the summer movie in the park keeps us up late we can't be stopped from getting up at 1:30am to drive out to the middle of nowhere to catch a glimpse of the Perseids Meteor Shower.
I'm not sure Ethan even knew he'd left the comfort of his bed, but Avery loved being up early and just kept talking about all the "dars" we were seeing. It's a great annual tradition. Look up in the night sky next August and you just might see a shooting star!

From Jungle To The Table

Our garden had become quite a jungle. We've been busy and it's been hot so we haven't groomed the garden in a few days...or more. Finally last week I went out and tamed the tomatoes and raspberries and harvested a bounty of goodness.

One night for dinner we had onions, tomatoes and baby rainbow carrots out of the garden. It was a perfect summer meal. The kind you dream about as you are planting the seeds and pulling weeds.

Our tomatoes are producing so well now we've made 2 batches of salsa with onions and jalapenos from our garden as well.


There's nothing better than seeing something through from start to finish! YUM!

Cookies Anyone?

The kids and I made sugar cookies, "cookies out of shapez" as Ethan calls them, last week. We had a ball. Both kids were great helpers.

They loved rolling out the dough (with just a little flour)...



Cutting out the beach theme shapes we'd chosen,





and frosting each cookie with a neon color.


The cookies were delicious, the kitchen was thoroughly dirtied and cleaned, and we had a fun day at home!