Kicking Off the Week

I had some free passes that were about to expire so we escaped to the aquarium.

Oh man, these three - lest you think it's all sunshine and roses over here, we had a pretty rough weekend. Summer! I knew it started too smooth. All five of us were on edge this weekend. We're working on it. It's a new week - so grateful each day is another chance to start fresh.

Penguins!

This guy was the coolest ever. We saw him twice today teaching about starfish, and what you find on the bottom of the ocean around Long Beach. Super animated, ocean and kid loving aquarium volunteer.

Came home and crashed - kids played with toys for a couple hours, then an evening of swimming. Kids started two weeks of swim lessons tonight. Big kids love it, jury still out on Cole - he did great his first lesson, though.

Temple Day

I had a Saturday morning off! (And another next week - woo hoo!) Spent it at the temple with the primary and their families. Love all these awesome primary kids I get to spend so much time with:

I also love that I've gotten to serve in primary so much while my own three are there.

 Karen planned a great "treasure hunt" for the kids. We walked the temple grounds finding and learning about significant parts of the temple.

 Cute little buddies:

Families are forever! Love this little one of mine.

Baseball Party

Belated end of season baseball party! Coaches vs. boys baseball game, then back to Coach Wes' house for pizza, cupcakes, and trophies. Sadly Adam couldn't go because of work. Farewell Farm Dodgers - it was a good season, Tyler grew a ton, looking forward to minors next year.

So Far This Week

Cute girls on Day 2 of girl scout camp. They made ice-cream and necklaces, played games, went on a hike and scavenger hunt with the older camp girls, made stamps and learned about letterboxing. They also made armpit fudge which sounds hilarious and I think Adam needs to do with the cub scouts. Tie-dye shirts came out so cute! They're obviously the pink group.

End of day flag ceremony:

Day 3 Audrey's leader drove the girls to camp but decided against dropping them off because of the nearby fire. Thank goodness because the park got evacuated. Luckily the fire seems contained now, but scary and sad with the hot, dry temps and wind. Audrey spent that afternoon swimming with the girls. Day 4 of camp cancelled because of fire conditions. Hoping she goes tomorrow! Sure grateful for all those firefighters out there, though.

The fire has thrown us off our game a bit, and we've been a little grumpy - hopefully on an upswing. Didn't help we went to the dentist today and have to go back for Audrey's cavities - probably the most money we've ever had to spend on teeth!!!! Oh well... it's just part of life and I guess Audrey needs a little extra parent help brushing. Why must we learn these things the hard way?!

We've swam a lot the last couple days, too. Love the pool. One of my favorite places really. This little guy starts his swim lessons next week:

Twins!

Skinny, silly, ice-cream cone devouring cub scouts. Thanks to one of their leaders, April, for the pool party. Fun group of boys.

First Camp

Just dropped this cutie off at girl scout camp!

She goes every afternoon this week and I pick her up after dinner. She told me she was excited but a little nervous. Once she saw Kallie she was all smiles, and didn't want much to do with mom anymore.

 Lots of new friends there, and she and her troop are some of the youngest. I'm excited for her - I hope it's fun. She took a white t-shirt today because they are tie-dying. Lots of crafts set up, hiking, and more.

Girls from her troop at camp: Angely, Mya, Audrey, Kallie (just missing Presley and Tanner in this shot).

Looking forward to the report when I pick her up!

Happy Father's Day

To our nearest and dearest...

Grandpas who are willing to build an awesome sand castle for you, or fix your broken water heater, take their grandkids fishing or on a great hike, and babysit.

Grandpas that are always up for a trip to Toys R Us or Chuck-E-Cheese, will take you for ice-cream, or send surprise packages in the mail.

Pop-pops who make you laugh, are always willing to hang out in the yard and talk, push you on the swing, and cook the best food.

Dads that will always, always wrestle, rough house, or sword fight. Tell two or three bedtime stories a night, find time to coach little league when there is none, or volunteer to teach primary and cub scouts. Drive kids to school, help with homework, and go out of their way to just be there. All you have to do to see that is scroll.

We are lucky to have the unconditional love of these four amazing dads. Hope they know we celebrate them all year long.

Dodgers!

Kicked off an early Father's Day with the kids first Dodgers game. We've been wanting to take them and finally made it happen. Tyler obviously a big baseball fan after two little league seasons, and Audrey's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Williams, was so obsessed with the Dodgers Audrey was an instant fan - the whole class was. She kept wondering if Mrs. Williams was at the game today. Great game - Dodgers vs. Giants, seats in the shade (wahoo!), Dodger dogs, cotton candy, popcorn. This nice lady next to us gave the kids a big bag of peanuts. It was a great time, and something to knock off the bucket list. Hopefully the first game of many.

Had to get the foam fingers.

Dodgers lost, but we had a blast!

It was movie night and right after the game they played The Lego Movie. We stayed for a while, let the traffic die down. It was so nice watching a movie we love outside in the big open stadium. Very relaxing with our little family.

Grateful for a fun afternoon and evening. Good way to start celebrating our #1 dad!

Beach!

Finally made it to the beach. First time this year. Beat the heat of the valley and beach weather was perfect. I'd love to explore new beaches around California, but we sure love Zuma.

This girl loves the water. Need to buy her a boogie board, too.

Lots of fun time with dad. It's been nice having him off this long weekend.

Tyler was super into his sand island, and big hole we inherited after the family who dug it left:

Little guy chasing seagulls:

 Wave jumpers.

 Gymnast-in-training on the sand:

 Had to end the day at The Habit with burgers and ice-cream. Why does it taste so good after a long day at the beach!?

Such a nice beach day - hopefully first of many this summer.