Camping!

We went camping with 2 other families in September. One of my favorite memories growing up was camping with my family. However, back then I didn't have to do all the prep work, pack, endure dirty kids running through dirt and tracking it everywhere, and then clean everything up when we were finished! :)

As lame as it is, our Mike and I have never been camping together, so this was a first for our family! My parents gave him a tent and some camping gear for his birthday in April and then summer was so hot, that this was our first chance to get out and use it. We had such a GREAT time!

We spotted some deer on our way into the campground

The kids cooking marshmallows, and getting ready to make some awesome smores!

Kids playing hide and seek

All the cute kiddos, except one. Between the three families we had every age from 6 to 1 represented. They all played so well together!

Saturday morning we went swimming and fishing in the lake. I caught three fish!

This was my biggest catch :) The rest of them were puney

As soon as I caught the fish (I think I was surprised when I actually caught something!), I was like, "ok, now what?" All the Dads were off swimming, and there was no way I was touching that fish! Thank goodness for Sadie! :) She had no problem reaching in its mouth to get the hook out! And I made her do it for all three of them, while I stood there and watched...I mean, cheered her on! :)

Elaina fishing

She caught one! I love her face; like mother, like daughter! :)

California!

Here are some more pictures from our fun time in California. As you can tell, the girls spent most of the time in the pool:

Erin with Uncle Tim

The girls with Grandpa

Our new nephew, Andrew

Too tired!

Cute new swimsuits from Aunt Ashley and Uncle Steve

Poor kitties. The girls chased them all over the place. It's a good thing that the girls don't realized that they are the ones the cats are hiding from!

Elaina meets her cousin, Andrew

Elaina and Aunt Staci making bracelets

My cute husband

Me and my adorable sister in law, Ashley

Staci and the girls

Lounging in the tube

It was so fun that all of us could be there at the same time. The only person missing is Daniel, who is on his mission

Coincidentally my sister and her family were on vacation with her in laws in San Diego at that same time that we were visiting Mike's family in LA. So we had to meet up! Especially since none of us had met baby Gavin yet.

Me, Jen, and our kids

Cousins! I'm so happy the girls have cousins now! :)

We met up at Huntington Beach (halfway) and played at a park, grabbed some lunch, walked along the beach, and out on the pier. It was fun to watch all the surfers below

Me and Jen

Jared, Jen, and the girls

I'm an Aunt! This is me and my newest nephew, Gavin

Birthdays Galore!

Erin Turns 3!
We had a fun birthday party/family bbq for Erin's birthday in July (yes, of course I'm behind!). We also used the occasion to celebrate our newly landscape yard that we are so excited about!

Erin and her friends with the butterfly birthday cake

We played musical present, where the kids had to pass the present around, but when the music stopped, the child with the present could unwrap until the music started up again. Inside was a gift bag for each of the kids.

Butterfly birthday cake. I let the kids go crazy adding the skittles polka dots :)

We played "pin the tail on the camel." That's what you get when your grandparents live in the Middle East :)

I'm not sure who was more excited for Erin's birthday - Erin herself, or Elaina, who kept talking about it for weeks in advance and kept hyping it up on the actual day. Elaina is always such a great helper in a time of need! :)

Elaina turns 5!
Elaina had the princess birthday party that she's been planning for a year...oh wait, she's been talking about it for a year, and I got left with all the planning! :)

Standing with her princess door banner and the magic wand we made at the party, and her first zhu zhu pet!

I think it was a success. I made a Cinderella cake (and I am no cake decorator, so I'm glad it was simple!), and made my first pinata!! I was nervous for the pinata, but it worked out great, and each of the kids got 2 turns to smack it! We also played "musical magic carpets" to princess songs, we decorated magic wands (and shields for the boys), we did a princess/knight dress-up relay race.

the party goers

The rule in our house is that you can't chew gum until you're 5. I was pleased that our $1 birthday present to her was such a hit! An even bigger hit than the Barbie we also gave her...I will keep that in mind with future 5th birthdays :)

Erin was excited for the Littlest Pet Shop Pet that she picked out for her sister

California Party
Just a few days after Elaina's birthday we went to California to visit Mike's family. They were so great and planned a surprise birthday party for the girls...another princess party!

Aunt Kelli made this awesome cake. Let me tell you how cool it is to be in a family with a sister and a brother in law that went to culinary school. We ate pretty well that week :)

Grandpa helping Elaina with the pinata

Erin, attacking pinata #2

Erin and Uncle Tim

Showing off her pinata treasures

Woohoo! Grandma got her a bracelet-making kit

Mom turned 29
I took no pictures because I don't really want to talk about it. I cried. A couple of times. I'm a little depressed about it. And I don't care what anyone says...30 does not feel like the new 20. The weird lines appearing on my neck, the weird spots appearing on my skin and on my face, the weird aches that my body gets for no reason....these things did not happen when I was approaching 20. Oh well, we just won't think about it anymore. 30 just isn't going to happen for me.

However, I do want to share this really sweet video that my Mom created for me. This added to my tears too, and not just because I wish I looked as great as she did at 29! :) Mostly because I am lucky to have such a great Mom.
http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4d5467344e7a4d314d7a42384d6a51334e5441774d773d3d0d0a&sb=1&playAgain=true
*In this video are my Mom and my Nana at 29, with their babies

Galveston Beach

Here I am playing catch-up again! We had a fun and busy summer, so I want to get pictures up of the fun things we did!

When my parents came we met them in Houston and drove down to Galveston for the day. We've never taken the kids to the beacn since we've lived here (lame, yes). It was so much fun. Galveston wasn't as bad as many people made it out to be. Definitely not white sand beaches and crystal blue water, but the water was warm and the kids got to build a sand castle. It was perfect for our little outing.

Discovering the ocean

Jumping over the waves

Lounging on the beach

Building sand castles

Mike and my Dad somehow convinced her to let them cover her in sand.

Erin took upon herself the task of keeping the mote on their sand castle filled with water. She'd go down to the water, fill up her bucket...

fill up the other bucket...

and pout it into the mote. The water was immediately soaked into the sand, so she'd head back for more water and continue this process over and over again. She didn't even seem bothered that the water kept disappearing; she took this job very seriously.

Another sand castle

The girls and my parents

Love those sunglasses. Love her!

We also got to tour an off shore drilling rig that is now a museum. My Dad is a petroleum geologist and so it was cool to have him with us, and have him explain things to us. He actually worked on one of these in the Canadian Maritimes before I was born. The one he was on actually sank a few months after he was on it.