Sunday, August 24, 2008

California Dreamin'

We just returned from a last minute, last summer fling in sunny Southern California and we had a blast!  The weather was perfect (mid 80's and clear), Disneyland wasn't too crowded, and the beach was beautiful!  It was hard to come home!  We have SO many pictures (don't worry, I wont post them all) but I do feel the need to share... so here is a little taste of our wonderful week...

The iconic family picture at Disneyland.  No trip would be complete without it.

Here we are on the train.  I have never been a fan of this ride until this trip.  This was day 2 at Disney and I was pooped!  In fact, I made everyone stay on the train (so we went around the park twice) so I could take a little power nap.  Now I see that train ride in a whole new light! Oh, and thanks for your shoulder Cam :D

Papa gave each of the kids $2.oo to spend on whatever they wanted at the park, and they decided very early that they wanted cotton candy and popcorn to eat while they watched the parade and fireworks.  We had a hard time finding either of them, and they were SO excited when they saw a cart with cotton candy on it right before the parade started (I wish I would have had my camera ready for that) and once they had it... life was perfect!

After helping Nana get her classroom put together, we headed for the beach on Friday.  Aahhh, the beach... do I have to say anything else?

We all had a great time: the kids loved playing in the sand and water, finding sand crabs and seashells; I loved just chilling on the beach and playing with the kids, and Cameron spent most of his time in the water body surfing - a true California boy!  Cameron's mom was nice enough to come with us and even though she got wet, she claimed she had a nice time too!

It is weeks like that one that leave me asking the question "Why did we move again?" - Oh yes, I remember, but all 4 of us will be dreaming of California for at least a few more weeks.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Summer Fun

I just realized that summer is almost over!  So sad! 
Here are a few pictures of our favorite summer memories so far...

Brinn was loving collecting and holding these caterpillars while camping.  Shortly after this picture was taken, the caterpillar had had enough and bit her.  She then walked over to my sister and asked, "Would you like to hold him?  He's not worthy of me anymore"!

Lauryn has been taking piano lessons since about January and was so thrilled to be in her first recital.  She did great (no mistakes!) and received the award for the most "prefect songs" during the year!

In June, Lauryn had her dance recital.  She looks so cute in her ballerina costume!  She is a great performer and it was so much fun to watch her.

What would summer be without swimming? (and its even better when Dad is around so mom doesn't have to swim :D )  The girls loved their swimming lessons - Lauryn can pretty much swim across the pool, and Brinn wishes she could.  They both love the water, especially the diving board.  They both learned to do flips off the board, granted not gracefully, but they did it!

And no summer is complete without Girls Camp.  Camping is not my most favorite thing, but with these girls it is a lot of fun.  And dirty. But mostly fun.  We have a great bunch of young women (there a quite a few missing in this picture) and wonderful leaders.  I love the opportunity that girls camp provides to get to the know the girls better.  They are amazing!

There are still 2 weeks left until school starts - we had better get busy!  California, here we come!

Happy Anniversary

August 11, 1998


Add the following:

August 11, 2008