labor day weekend

so, august was pretty much the same as july.  a few crafts/activities with the kids, the library, a tupperware party, girl's night out, and kids' birthday parties.  fun, summertime, relaxed stuff - but no pictures.  i feel better when i tell myself that my lack of picture taking is just because it was summertime.  i'm taking more pictures now.  really, i promise!  (i'm feeling a little guilty about that statement.  i am taking a few more pictures, but really, i'm just remembering to ask dave to take them. :)

dave's brother and sil, sam and tanya, flew in for the weekend.  they came to visit before their big move to hawaii.  yup!  hawaii.  sam's going to school and working, and tanya is working and has an internship.  we're really excited for them and their fun adventure (and a little jealous!).  hopefully we can afford to go out and visit them.  we had a great time with them; i'm glad they stopped by before the move.  chris and naomi love spending time with their uncles and aunts.

they had to fly out monday, which was labor day, so we partied on saturday.  we went to a lake that's about 45 minutes away.  it was perfect!  my idea of a fun day.  great sand for sandcastles, roped off swimming area, picnic tables, and a playground.  it was pretty hot, though.  i was glad for my hat. :)

the month of july

so, i took a total of 4 pictures during the entire month of july.  katie took the ones from the 4th.  i am such a camera slacker!  i need to do better, but in the meantime will rely on the skills of those more prepared than i. :)  

the kids had their cousins over for a sleepover, which was fun.  i had bought these plain canvas bags a while ago, and decided to get them out for a fun craft.  who doesn't love fabric paint?  i saved one to make for myself :)

other than the sleepover, there wasn't much else (in the way of blog-worthy material) happening.  we did get sick for a solid two weeks, which was miserable.  my kids don't get sick too often *knock on wood*, so i was a little unprepared for the long haul we had with that.  i got it too, so we all just stayed home feeling miserable.  good thing i keep my pantry well-stocked!  it was a bummer, too, that when we were finally feeling better - it rained for a week!  luckily dave and i had such a fun date while we were in washington, because i was sick on our anniversary.  7 years!  sounds like a big number to me. :)  they've been a great seven years.  we did get to go out a couple weeks later, though.  it's fabulous to have grandparents in town - for more than one reason!

4th of july

next in line to blog about is our 4th of july celebrations. don't worry, people. i'll get caught up eventually! :) luckily, as far as the blog goes, there was little to nothing that happened in august. so, things should get up-to-date pretty quickly from here on out.

a few days before the 4th, katie did these fun crafts with the kids. then they had their own little parade. it's cute how much fun they can have with simple things like that.

waiting for the parade to start. it was fun to have dave's parent's here with us this year.

we watched the parade together for a bit, but honestly, it wasn't worth braving the heat for. oh well. maybe next year's will be better. there weren't even any floats that were throwing candy!

after the parade the boys checked out the car show. i think they really enjoyed themselves.

the girls opted for some shade! lily and naomi were adorable together.

our little monster :)

after our downtown fun, dave and i took the kids to lunch at dickey's bbq. the kids are free, and we all get free ice cream. fabulous! after that, we all needed a rest to recuperate from the heat. donald and stella watched the kids while jonathan, katie, dave, and i went to watch the fireworks. it was great of them to do that for us, and really fun to just get to watch the show with just the four of us. a fun 4th!

family picture

Okay, so I'm going to end this family reunion blogging saga with the family picture we got. Yay for family!

p.s. i'm finally over the 100-posts mark! took me forever, but i'm still here, pluggin along :)

fun with my family! part 5

Sunday - Day 9 - was Amy's birthday. Happy 18th, Amy! She's off doing the college thing now. I can't believe my *little* sister is in college! (As you've probably noticed from the pictures, she's not exactly smaller than me :) I got the short genes.) We got her stuff for school, and since we couldn't be there for her graduation, I combined the gifts for birthday and graduation together. I had fun shopping for dorm room stuff.

Then, of course, was dinner chosen by the birthday girl. She chose pasta salad, and then gave us free reign on the rest. She's quite easy going like that. Here we are singing to her. Naomi's looking so excited about the whole thing. I'm not sure why Chris is hiding in Dave's arm, or why Dave has his hand over his mouth. Probably just got caught by the camera at the wrong moment. :)

Happy Birthday, Amy! We love you!

Day 10 - Monday - And also our final day. :(

We decided to go back to the beach, this time with Dad, and see if we could show him how awesome it was the last time we were there. Unfortunately, it didn't even compare. But, we did have fun. We played in the "sand" for a while (it's more like gravel), and then decided to build a fort to eat our picnic lunch in.

So, that was the end of our trip. We had such a FUN time! We spent the next day traveling, and were so sad to leave. It was nice to be home, but we definitely don't see enough of my family! Love you guys!

fun with my family! part 4

Day 8 - Saturday

another super fun day! dave's birthday present from my parents was a day of paintballing, which was such a great idea. they both opted to stay home and hang out with the kids. I wouldn't have minded getting a babysitter, but they claim to wanting to spend more time with the kids. that might be true, but i think they just chickened out. he, he :)

dave, me, todd, and amy left in the morning to head out. we were able to join in with another large group that was there, which was great of them. it wouldn't have been very much fun to play with just the four of us.

we played for about 5 hours, and had such a fun time! it was the first time i'd been, and i was a little nervous. once i got used to everything, i must admit that i held my own. i'm proud to say that i even took the shot that won the game for my team, one time around. and, even better, it was dave who i hit! he, he. we weren't on the same team, so he got me a few times too.

i guess i bruise easily or something, because the welts i had looked a whole lot worse than dave's, todd's, or amy's. i just considered them battle wounds, and wore them with pride. :) except when it was time to put on a swimsuit, since they were mostly on my thighs. they looked horrible - all green and purple - like i'd gotten beaten or something. totally worth the pain for the fun of it, though!

when we got home, we showered (seriously necessary! paint and sweat mixed together!), and dave and i took off for a date. thanks for watching the kids all day, mom and dad! i know the kids had a blast with them to themselves for the day. they played on a slip 'n slide, with the hose, and even got pizza for dinner. what could be better as a kid??

we went and saw transformers 2 (lame movie - and i liked the first one), and then went to applebee's for appetizers and dessert. seriously the best day that dave and i have had together for a long time.

fun with my family! part 3

Day 7 - Friday

After everyone regrouped from the morning's activities, we decided to skip nap time for the day, and head up the mountain. It was a clear, sunny day, so we had to take advantage of the sunshine!

There's not many places where you can go to the beach one day, and up to the mountains to sled the next. This was the first time my kids had ever been sledding, and they had such a great time. I had such a great time! My mom had even gotten snow clothes for them. The rest of us were a little more makeshift in our attire. It was fun to be able to play in the snow in t-shirts, though.

grandma and chris had the first run of the day

naomi would cling to me for dear life, but laugh like crazy when it was all done. she loved it, but only went a few times. i don't think she's too much of a thrill seeker. :)

after sledding, we found this beautiful trail, which has been covered in snow when we've been up before. actually, it was still covered in snow in some places. that just made it more of an adventure!

christopher couldn't seem to be able to keep his legs under him on the snowy places, so dave ended up carrying him like this on the way back. he was so funny about it - he just hung there patiently until they got to the part without snow. content to get carried by the back of his pants.

we saw these cool things on the trail. not at all sure of what they are, but they were rubbery, bright yellow, and you can see how small they are from my finger.

after getting back from the mountain, we grabbed some food, and ate outside in the backyard. after dinner was a marshmallow roast in the fire pit. a perfect way to end a fabulous day!