Let The Summer Fun Begin!

I love to go out and about with the kids and keep them busy all Summer long.  I do not want them to sit, watch tv, and say they are bored.  I want them to continue learn, grow, and explore.   For 2 weeks I watched my neighbor kids and I planned fun outings everyday to keep all of the crew busy as to not sit and rot :). 

Many of the following posts will contain “extra” children in the pictures.  The kids had a great 2 weeks of fun with their friends! 

Our first outing was to the Zoo!  We love the zoo. 

Here are some fun pictures of our day!    

A Visit With the Eberle Family!

The Eberle Family lives in Arizona and we try to see them once a year.  Jana and I have been best friends since 2^nd grade.  It is fun because our kids are pretty close in age and get along so well! They came and spent 4 days with us at the coast. This will be the last time we see them for awhile because they are heading off to Abu Dhabi to teach for 2 years.  Quite the adventure!

Of course, there is no “beach” in Arizona, so the boys really enjoyed the sand and seeing the ocean.  The last time Keegen was at the beach he was just a little guy.

We spent the days walking on the beach to Mo’s Restaurant and into downtown Cannon Beach.  The kids dug and dug in the sand, explored Haystack Rock, and got soaked in the ocean.  We had smores in the evening.  On the rainy day we went to the merry-go-round in Sea Side, played arcade games, and saw the movie Madagascar 3.  It was fun to just spend time with them and the kids had so much fun.  I wish we would have had more time with them!

Brenden's Creation.

Our Trip to the Seaside Merry-Go-Round.

Keegen in the Sand.

Porter... with a sandy nose.

Feeding the Seagulls In Our PJ's!

Sand Castle Contest 2012

To start Summer Vacation, our first trip was to Cannon Beach for the annual Sand Castle contest.  We love to go to this every year and look forward to seeing all of the creative works of art made out of sand.  My parents and brother Jon came down too.  It always makes for a fun weekend.

It was cold and windy, but the sky was blue.

This is the only day out of the year that cars are allowed to drive on the beach.  The cars this year were parked clear down to my parent’s house.  There were a lot of people!  We just walk to see the contest.    

Peyton's Favorite entry... Tangled in Sand.

A Dragon

The Knight Hiding from the Dragon

I loved the Spheres on this one... pretty cool.

My Dad and Bryan ran the Sand Castle Run along the beach one morning. 

 We were able to see them run by the house.

Madison's 8th Birthday - Family Party

We celebrated Madison’s 8^th birthday with Family on June 3^rd.  We had a Mexican Fiesta Party with Mexican food, pin the tail on the donkey, and a piñata.  The weather wasn’t too bad.  We were able to sit outside and have the festivities on the patio. 

Madison has been wanting an American Girl Doll for awhile now.  So, for her birthday gifts she received money to buy her doll.  She is so excited that she will get to pick out a doll when we visit the American Girl Doll Store in Los Angeles in July!  She is just thrilled. 

Dale and Tracy came from Washington!

The Party Hat!

Auntie Errin, Auntie Caitie, and Grandma.

The Cake.  Madison Picked out the colors, design, and cake flavor herself!

Making A Wish.

Madison Loved this card that looked like it had our dog Porter on it!

Some of the Great Grandparents.

A science kit about circuits!  Fun!

More Family!

Happy Birthday Maddie!   We Love You!

Madison is a Yellow Belt!

On June 1st Madison passed her Taekwondo test to get her Yellow Belt!  She did a great job!  We are so proud of her!  She had to go out in front of 4 judges with a group of 4 other kids who were also testing.  She had to show her form and two different sparing forms.  She did not make any mistakes and was very strong.  Next up is testing for Camo Belt.  She will try and be ready for for this test in August!    

The Short Clip above was one of the sparing forms.

Happy 8th Birthday Madison!

I can't believe my baby is 8 years old! I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. She is a fun, energetic, strong willed, independent and smart little girl! She enjoys reading, friends, taekwondo, playing her i-touch, sweets of any kind, and the beach. She is always asking questions and wants to learn how things work or why things do what they do. I have really noticed how her communication skills have changed and she can carry on a conversation in person or on the phone, and not just answer the questions asked of her.

 I love her so much and she is such a blessing to our family!

Happy birthday Maddie!

For her “friend party” Madison decided to invite 3 girl friends, 4 including Peyton, to go and get manicures and pedicures. We then had a pizza dinner and make your own ice cream sundae bar. The girls were cute and enjoyed each others company. It was nice to have a smaller group and the party felt more personal.

A little game of Just Dance 3!

Does she look like she is enjoying herself?

Peyton was pretty funny. She loved the entire experience.
 At one point I thought she was going to climb right in and sit in the tub of water!
 She would laugh a belly laugh because the bubbles tickled her feet!

All done and lookin' good in their matching flip flops!

The Party Favors...rainbow flip flops.