Summer Adventures 2011

This summer we had so many fun times, and I didn't have time to record any of them!  So here is the first installment of our "Summer 2011 Family Adventures."

One beautiful Saturday morning, we loaded up the troops and headed of to hike to this cool waterfall not too far away.  The sign at the trailhead warned of rattlesnakes and poison oak, so we braced ourselves for the worst. (Not really...Aimee kind of freaked out about the snake thing, so I told her I'd give her $50 if she saw a real live rattle snake on the hike.  That changed her tune.  She started walking around saying, "Here, snakey-snakey!" Crazy girl!)  I was a little

paranoid about someone falling into the poison oak, however, and drove everyone nuts telling them to be careful, and not to brush up against it.  Here we are, on our way:

Ryan, with his favorite baseball cap:

The girls:

One of the river crossings:

Another crossing...don't they look like little ducklings following Daddy Duck?

Ryan had a good deal going here:

A super cool tunnel of fig trees, nice for a little rest in the shade:

  

Whew...getting closer...hang in there kids!

Some pretty views:

The boys checking out the little dam below:

Ryan's 'cheezy' smile, which I love:

Discussing which way to go, how much farther to the waterfall, when to take the next break, or something important like that!

Cute kids:

And finally, the waterfall!

Ryan was more interested in the snacks:

Ahhh, cool and refreshing:

Anna, helping the boys over to see the waterfall:

Aimee opted to stay a little dryer than the rest:

Headed back to the car.  Looks like Ryan had a good time! 

This concludes the first edition of our Summer Adventures, 2011.  Tune in later for more updates!

Ryan is Two!

Can it be that this cute little guys is really two?  Hard to believe, but yes!  We had a fun day celebrating this boy...I feel so lucky to have him in our family.  Here is how we spent the day:

He started off watching Nathan play Daddy's iPhone in the morning (Nathan loves Saturdays because it's about the only day he gets to play it...)

Then the girls came in to join them:

On to his bath, complete with his parade of animals.  He loves to line them up all along the side of the tub.

And then off to play with his tools....just like Daddy. :)

After he got dressed, he went downstairs in search of some breakfast.  He found some sugar cookies and decided that was the perfect birthday meal!

So nice to share with big brother...(after he'd taken a big bite out of each of them:)

Helping Anna make his real birthday breakfast...

Everyone pitched in...here is Aimee cutting strawberries for us:

A delicious crepe breakfast:

Yummmmm......

After breakfast we headed over to shop and help out at a garage sale/bake sale/boutique for baby Ruby's family.  I didn't think to bring my camera, but we had fun and bought WAY too many treats!

We headed home for a quick lunch and then piled everyone in the car to go pick up a kayak Scott had been eyeing.  (Picture coming later...)  He found a great deal on Craigslist, so we drove out to the cutest neighborhood ever to pick it up.  Every little house looked like it should be in a magazine.  I fell in love with this one:

Ryan thought this would be a good time to sneak in a birthday nap:

Lucky for the kids, our neighbors asked them to feed their Koi fish while they were on vacation.  It was the highlight of every day that week!  Definitely a birthday highlight for Ryan:

Now time to get ready to party!  Here is the birthday set-up:

Everyone helped out...

Ryan loved his pinata so much that we couldn't bring ourselves to break it.  He spent the few days before his birthday carrying it around and riding it.  (We wondered why he chose the 'donkey' over the cute little green monster one...he wanted a 'horsie'!)

Taking it all in...

We had to head outside to take a picture of Ryan with the kayak.  I told Scott that since we bought it on his birthday, it should officially be his.  Makes sense, right?

I think he likes it:

After a yummy taco dinner (one of Ryan's favorites) he decided it was time to open presents:

Gator Golf:

His favorite fish game:

Some cool party horns from Grammie and Poppa:

A Clifford dog from the kids...

...which he promptly sat on. :) (???)

And this cute little sock bunny Aimee made for him (she is so creative!)  He loves it...

Oh, and a cute frog umbrella to match his favorite rain boots:

Talking on the phone with Grandma Beth and Grandpa Mark (they did most of the talking:)

And, probably Ryan's favorite part of the day...the candles!!!

He is a pro at blowing them out...

Aimee sporting the birthday hat we couldn't get him to keep on:

Hooray for cake!

It doesn't get better than this!

What a day!  Happy 2nd Birthday my fun, sweet, completely worn-out (baby) boy!

Twelve

My sweet Anna turned twelve this month and things have been so busy, I haven't yet had time to post about it.  There aren't words to describe how much I love this girl.  She is amazing.  Smart, funny, sweet, cute, and talented....I am so lucky to be her mom. 

One of my favorite things about Anna getting older is that I have the best babysitter around living in my house. She takes such good care of the kids, especially little Ryan. They are buds. Life completely changes when you have a live-in babysitter (I really don't leave her with the kids that often, but little things like a quick run to the store or dropping Aimee off at gymnastics are SO much easier when I can leave the crew at home.) It is wonderful...

Anna is so much fun to be around.  Some days we laugh ourselves silly, and we get lots of eye-rolls from Scott, but oh well!  We have a great time. :)  I love that when she sets her mind to do something, she works hard to get it done. Whether it's getting straight A's or learning a new piano piece, she diligently works at it until she accomplishes her goal.  Something else I've noticed about her, especially the past couple of years, is that she rarely complains.  She had strep throat last February, and the only way I knew she was sick was that she started running a fever one night.  I had to pry out of her that her throat was sore...but it didn't seem like she was too miserable, so I sent her off to school to take her mid-terms.  A few days later I ended up with it, and I couldn't believe she hadn't said a word about the chills, aches, horrible sore throat...nothing for at least five days.  Then again when she got a bad sunburn on her back at Girl's Camp (which was a few days old when I finally saw it after she got home and it made me hurt just looking at it!)  She didn't say a word to anyone, including Scott when he came up the next day.  Not sure how she slept all those nights in a tent...she is such a trooper.  (I do have to point out that we aren't always complaint-free when it comes to chores!:)

I'm so excited to work with Anna in Young Womens (I hope she's okay with me being in there...)  I know the next few years are going to fly.  Before I know it she'll be going to dances and driving and applying to college.  *Sigh*  I don't know if I'm ready for this!

How does Anna feel about turning twelve?  This picture pretty much sums it up:

Happy Birthday, cute girl.  Thanks for twelve wonderful years.