Father's Day Weekend

Our family had a great time celebrating all the amazing Father's in our life this June.  We were able to begin celebrating Friday once Daddy came home from work.  Here are the kids helping Dad with one of his new gifts.  I think they were having more fun with it then him (it was an electrical cord holder).

On Saturday we had a nice leisurely morning.  Here are the kids hanging with Daddy watching some Saturday morning cartoons.

Then we got to hang out with Jim's Dad, Pops.  We all had a yummy lunch at B.J.'s that day.

On Sunday we woke up and went to church (the picture above was taken at church).  Then Jim came home and mowed the lawn (yes on Father's Day, but he was okay with it).  Evan went out to help him.

Don't you love the tongue?!?!

Then later in the day after nap time we went over to my parent's house.

  

The Dad's taking a little time out to relax and sit down.

Evan was so excited to give Grandpa his card.

We had a nice BBQ dinner.  Here is Evie helping her Daddy out by passing him the corn to BBQ.

I leave you with a picture of my Dad and the Grandkids hanging out in the backyard.

Hope you all were able to celebrate the special men in your lives too!

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

A special birthday present that I got this year was a family trip to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.  I thought it would be so fun to take the family and enjoy a day at a theme park.  The drive was just right about two hours away and Jim even took the day off.  We went on a Friday.  The weather was also perfect.  It was another unusually cool day in June. 

To start our adventure, first the kids and Jim checked out the map of the park.

 

Evan wanted to make sure we saw everything.

Our first stop was the kid roller coaster.  Everyone was very excited to ride, until the ride began.  Even Jim and I realized this probably wasn't the best first ride.  It was a little wilder than we thought it would be, however, the good news is that no other ride that day really compared and they were all really tame in comparison. 

Then we headed to the train.  A much smoother, calmer ride.  Nevertheless, Evie was distrusting at first.  Then once it began she realized that it was going to be a much better ride. :)

 

Then we looked at some of the fish and visited the Shark Experience.  This was pretty interesting and the kids enjoyed the large aquarium with the Sharks and Eels swimming over their heads.  We also saw some Dolphins swimming in their tank (later that day we saw the Dolphin Show too).

One thing we were really excited to see was the animal shows.  Our first show of the day was the Sea Lion Show.  Here is the crew waiting for the action to begin.

This is a picture of some of the stars of the show.  It was pirate themed in case you were wondering about the costumes.

Then it was off to the Butterfly Experience, after we had a little lunch.  This was one of my favorite things we did during our visit.  You can't see any butterfly's in this picture, but I just thought it was a good one of everyone walking through the tunnel in the Butterfly Habitat.

Jim and Evie are checking out the butterfly that is in the above picture.  Isn't it beautiful?

Here is Evan looking at a butterfly too.  He thought this place was awesome and was really wanted to catch one.

After the butterfly's we headed to the Killer Whale Show.  You can see the whale warming up in the background pool.

Then we visited the giraffes.  We hit the giraffes at the perfect time - snack time.  It was very entertaining to see their purple tongues.  We could have feed them, but it cost $5.  We enjoyed watching other people feed them for free. :)

We also visited the lions.  This is Evan and I doing our best ROAR!

Lastly we did a quick visit with the Elephants, to name some of the animals we saw that day.

Then we decided to try a few more rides.  This was one of the kids favorites.  I thought it was pretty fun too.

  

After the Jeep ride we headed over to a Loony Toon Character play area.  The kids had fun climbing on all the structures and get out some energy.

Finally, Evan was super brave and rode this airplane ride all by himself.  It took him awhile to build up the courage, but once he did I think he was very pleased!

Our family had a great time at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.  I look forward to the many more theme parks we will visit in the future. 

On the way home every fell asleep almost immediately which made for a nice peaceful drive for Mommy and Daddy too! :)

My Birthday way back in May :)

I had a fantastic birthday this year. The super cool thing is that I got to celebrate it all weekend long, starting on Thursday!  The crazy thing is it actually rained on my birthday and the weather was pretty chilly throughout the weekend.  I have to say I haven't had a rainy birthday for some time.  I don't even know if I have ever had a birthday where it rained. :)

First my friend Natalie and the kids hung out with us at the mall.  Here are the kids playing at the playground.  In the picture below, Jayne is squeezing Evan's cheeks.  I think she thought, "I am going to test this out on someone else.  Everyone is always squeezing my cheeks."

Then Natalie, Tyler and Jayne spoiled us with lunch at B.J.'s.  However, Jayne did pass out from all the fun that day and is sleeping during this picture.

Then that same day my Mom took me out to get some new clothes, etc. while my dad watched the kids.  I have to say this was AMAZING!  I felt very spoiled.  That evening they took us all out to Islands.  Our family got some awesome eating in this year! :)

On Saturday, my official birthday, Jim and the kids surprised me with my birthday gift after we all got ready for the day.  They got me a brand new purse that I had been wanting. 

Then we headed off to an outing of Miniature Golf at Sun Splash.  This was the first time the kids got to golf.

The really got into the fun.

  

They especially enjoyed all the little buildings while we golfed.

That night we celebrated my birthday with a few friends and dined at Buca Di Beppo, I told you we ate well this year. :)

The kids had a great time and hung in there for the most part.  Evie was a huge fan of the birthday dessert.  She is our little sweets eater. :)

 

On Monday I was able to have one final celebration, with my family at Leatherby's.  This time my Brother and Sister-in-law and Grandma were all able to come too!

 

We had a nice time.  Evan helped me blow out my candle.  I actually didn't order any ice cream here funny I know.  I was getting a little bit of sweets over load.  The hilarious part is that they brought me a mini cup of whip cream with a candle for me to blow out, since I didn't buy an actual ice cream treat. :)  However, they did sing a very nice song.  

Thank you everyone for making my birthday so special!  Love you all! 

"Wonder Pets" and the perfect snack :)

While Evie was napping on June 16, Evan came up to me asked me for some celery so he could enjoy it along with his friends on the show "Wonder Pets."  This was all his idea; I couldn't help but giggle.  Here he is enjoying his celery along with the show.  He requested the whole celery stock.  For those unfamiliar with the show one of the main characters, Linny's (a Guinea Pig) catch phrase is "This calls for some celery!", usually declared at the conclusion of each adventure.

Here he is munching away.  Sure do love this boy! :)

Soooooooo behind!!!

As my regular blog followers will see I am extremely behind on my blog posts.  This last month was crazy, both in time and fun.  Thus not much blogging was able to take place.  However, I am hoping to catch up soon.  :)

Here are some cute Summer pics to help fill the void. :)

Here are the kids playing outside on our play structure.  They love this thing.  It came with the house when we bought it.  Jim has made some modifications, but most of it is in the original form.

 

Here are also a few cute pics of the kids in their new camping chairs.  Our friend, Dan Risdon, took them with his fancy camera over at that our house.  We have also enjoyed hanging out with friends over the summer. :)