So Great To be 8!!!!

My little Breanna turned 8 last month! She has been looking forward to this birthday more than any other. She has literally been counting the days. She decided to spend her big day with some of her cousins at Chuck E. Cheese.

Cute Kaylee!

Then we went down to Sea Port Village to wait for dad's plane to come in! The kids thought it was soooo cold!!

I let Luke get out of the stroller and he immediately ran to the water saying, "Ocean, Ocean!" He tried to climb over it this little wall but I put the kibosh on that idea. He was not too happy.

The next day, we made a quick visit to Claire's for Breanna.

Here's one final look at her un-holey ears!

She did awesome. No tears! Grandma S. was going to get hers done tooo, but she chickened out. She said she'd come back another time and do it on her own. Sure, Grandma!

It was a great birthday for Breanna, but the best is yet to come! We love you Breezy!!!

Summer in So. Cal

We spent 3 weeks in Southern Cali visiting family and we had a ball! We started our trip by visiting my extended family. Here are a few highlights: Luke, Olivia, Nicole ( Bree's in the background going up the slide).

Nicole Bree Olivia

Emily delivers a wet one!

Breezy flies down the slide.

Luke and Liv! Liv took such good care of Luke this trip. They were good buds.

Luke and Sawyer. They loved hangin out! Sawyer was fearless in the water. He'd jump in off the rock wall, put his head under, and do whatever the big kids did. On the other hand, when Luke got the tiniest bit of water on his face, he'd insist on wiping his face with a towel. You know what they say about opposites, so these two are destined to be buds!

Swinging on Nat's swing!

"Um, could you tell me why I'm in my PJ's?"

"Um, could you tell me how to take this fence down?"

Amber, Bree and Emily.

Jumping off the rocks.

Driving home to G-ma's!

A visit to G-pa's would not be complete without a jam session on G-pa's drums.

We did finally give Nat a break and spent one morning at the WAP. It was hot, but the kids had a great time. (Thanks for the passes G & G!)

Thank you P's and B's for putting up with us for nearly 2 weeks!! Thanks G & G for letting us shack up at your pad. We love you all!!

New Nephew!

Just over a week ago, my newest nephew, Conner Jeromy was born! Jake sat and held him for a good 30 minutes, and then went so far as to say he was cuter than Luke! As you can see, I tried to steal him from Jake, but that turned out to be easier said than done. Congrats Troy and Tiffany! We love you Conner!!

10 Reasons We Love Summer

Summer is no doubt my favorite season of the year!

Here are just a few of the reasons we love summer: Reason #1: Watermelon! I was cutting up this watermelon into nice bite sized pieces and they just couldn't wait. So I cut it in half and they devoured it. Deeelish!
Reason #2: Rollerblades are back! After Jake broke his leg rollerblading, our family took an unintended hiatus from using them. But this summer, we have been using them non-stop! The kids are getting so good too!



Reason #3: The Ducks! Luke decided to hold off on the roller blades this summer, so while the kids are racing all over the park, Luke and I alternate watching the kids and feeding the ducks.

Reason #4: Shoes! Okay, shoes go with any season, but this summer, Luke has discovered the joy of wearing other people shoes. And he's very good at it.

Reason #5: Free Lawn Service! So, this probably isn't one of the reasons Jake loves summer, but we do!

Reason #6: Friends! Well, this is a bitter-sweet reason. Our friend, Lisa moved and this is one of our last times together. We miss you already Lisa!

(Me, Bobbi, Lisa, Riley)

Reason #7: The Pool! Need I say more?

Reason #8: The Pool Playground

(Cause those 10 minute mandatory bathroom breaks are killer!)

Jake and Luke

Jake is on the low dive, his friend, Peter is flipping off the high dive.

The boys...and you can see Breezy's coming up for air in the background.

Reason #9: Nights at the Park!
Jake, Luke and Luke

(Bree's here too, she's just too busy to stop and take a picture!)

Reason #10: Grandma & Grandpa's House!

(pictures coming soon!)

The Boing Ding Ding

One night a few weeks ago, Breanna got hurt, so I was sitting on the steps, rubbing her back while she cried and Luke came up to us, started rubbing her back and said to her, "A boing ding ding?" We laughed so hard. He kept saying it over and over. It was just hilarious. It totally made Bree feel better. The next night, same thing, she got hurt, was crying and again, he came up to her and said, "A boing ding ding?" We finally realized what a boing ding ding is...... He just wanted to put this boing ding ding on his face for fun. Yesterday we swam all day at Nat's and we came in to find Breanna's toes rubbed so raw they were bleeding. Luke immediately called for the boing ding dings.

Tanked

I think the phrase Jeromy hates more than any other is "the toilet's clogged"! Unfortunately, it's one we heard in our house a few weeks ago. Usually a good plunge will do the trick, but this time, it just wasn't happening. So Jer broke down and bought the industrial strength Drano. Throughout the course of the day, he dumped about a gallon of it into the toilet. When the last drop fell without any sign of improvement, he grudgingly admitted defeat. And this meant the toilet was going to have to come off. So this morning, after dismantling the toilet and introducing it to the back lawn, here's what he found:Now, we aren't pointing fingers or anything (Luke), but somehow Breanna's plastic cookie ended up lodged in the toilet (Luke). Isn't he a cute handyman? Seriously, I am so lucky that he is willing and able to just dive in there when things go seriously wrong. Over the past 13 (almost) years, he's become a fix-it-all kind of guy. (In fact, he just replaced the door handle of the Corolla and the seatbelt in the Sienna too.) He's my hero!!!

Jake and Bree (especially Bree) are so happy to have their toilet back! Thanks Dad! We love you!!
Luke supervised the project and thought the whole process was very interesting. He's always been a huge toilet fan, but had no idea they could make for such fun outside too. What? It wasn't me!!!!