Cole's party

It occurred to me as I was posting Q's party that I had missed Cole's. So here it is. He had a camping party. No one spent the night (Bryan had summer school the next am), but we hung out for the evening. Bryan built a small fire pit in our yard and we roasted hot dogs and smores. We made marshmallow shooters out of pvc pipes and had contests to shoot them into cut outs of mouths. Our feet were sticky from the mallows, but it was well worth it, COle had a blast.

Q turns 5

Quentin had decided he wanted his first friend part to be all about firetrucks. We colored t-shirts. Q chose pizza and melon to eat. Bryan had also planned a tour with our local fire station. We talked with the guys on duty and sat in the engine. The kids loved it. When we came home we ate cake. A funny side story: I had worked on the cake for hours the previous 2 days without the kids noticing. All three came in just as Bryan was sticking on the hose and drawing the ladder (that was all he did). They were amazed and couldn't stop telling Bry how much they loved it. Great work Daddy.

Camping

We had the chance to go camping at Shaver the first weekend of vacation. The evenings were chilly, but the kids were all great. We kayaked with Erin (my cousin) and her family and had a great time. Came back a little sun burned and a lot dirty, but cleaned up quickly.

Flute

The end of school marked the completion of Avery's first year of flute. SHe has loved it... and has practiced almost entirely without complaining. She is making wonderful progress.

Kinder Check-up

Our caped Q had his kinder physical a bit ago. He was so brave and didn't even flinch during his shots. We celebrated with Cold Stone after.

Easter

We spent Easter at my parents' house (Cory's). My grands were there. We ate outside and relaxed before an egg hunt. The kids found eggs in tractor tires, in almond trees and all around their property. Each kid had a special egg with a redeemable ticket for a Klutz book. Anyone who has seen them and been wary, try them. They are my favorites and the kids love them. The kids enjoyed and continue to love learning more about Jesus and why we celebrate Easter. Quentin especially has learned so much this Easter. Thank you Jesus for what You did for us and my family.

DIsneyland

I would love to be able to apologize for my lack of picture uploading, but I'm not. Life has been so busy with working in classrooms, Church events, Bryan and teaching, my blog has been on the back burner. But here are a few pictures from Disneyland. I was prepping for whiny kids, and uneasiness upon meeting the characters, but there was none of that. The kids could have moved in and stayed there. Avery met the princesses and acquired several autographs. Cole rode Big Thunder Mountain about 9 times. Quentin loved Space Mountain. Funny side note, the first time he rode it, his tummy hurt at the end. I thought it was because of the speed and turns, but he tried it again later and loved it. As it turns out, he is so light, his bottom was lifting off the seat and hitting the safety guard. I was holding on to his sweatshirt for dear life, but I guess I should have held his pants. Thank goodness for the harness or the kid might have sailed out. We stayed in Mom and Dad's motorhome which was perfect. The campground had free showers and a heated pool. The kids were exhausted when we got home... but oh what fun!

Jelly Belly

The final week of vacation we packed up and drove to Fairfield. After passing the giant windmills and viewing the beautiful sheep filled pastures we made it. We only heard, "Are we there yet?" about 100 times. We took a tour and shopped with Grammy, Grandpa, and Grandma Jo in tow. We stopped at In N Out to refuel for the drive home and drove back. I highly recommend the 3 hour trip for those who have the time and patience. Quite a great day.

Christmas

We had a relaxing Christmas with many days completely unplanned. I wanted to spend time enjoying the kids at home and also allow Bryan to recover from surgery... BTW- all is going well with him. We had a quiet Christmas morning with our family, my grandma and parents. The kids played together and even let us sleep in.