Summer fun 2012

This silly pic is to show you that Lily chipped her front tooth. She missed the curb and broke 2 pieces off her right front tooth. It looked worse after it happened but we took her in and had it ground down so it was smoother. Poor kid. This happened the day before we got family pics taken. She didn't want to smile for the photographer anyway.

Lily was "helping" me make pizza dough

Flour, yum?

I found Ethan in our fire pit while playing hide & seek. Silly kid, I see you!

Playing hide & seek behind our old pool, I see you too

Making a mess at grandmas

Playing dress-up with Aunt Steph

Lily meeting her cousin Olivia who was visiting from TX, "Hi baby livia"

Cookies & cream milkshake, yum

Messy faces are embarrassing when you know you've got one! "No mom don't take my picture!"

"Ok, Cheese!"

Ethan fishing with his new pole

Eddie trying to be patient!

Lily throwing pebbles, waiting for the boys to be done fishing

We haven't had any luck fishing in ID, yet.

Eddie playing t-ball, he loves it!

Ethan playing machine pitch, he has been on the same team for the last 2 years. They have come a long way since last year!

Eddie turned 5 in June, he wanted a scooter again this year. The one he received last was taken to school by his big brother, forgotten & then stolen. He also wanted doughnuts instead of cake. It was a lot easier & less stress for me!

Opening his gift from Jane, Max, Charlie and Aunt Sharon. Thanks for celebrating with us!

Silly Lily

Ethan caught his first fish in WA when we went to spend the week with my family. He actually didn't know he had this Big ol' fish on the line. But of course we kept it. Ethan had to check on it in the fridge several times that day. He was so proud!

Ethan also caught a lot of frogs on our trip, but we did NOT keep any of those.

Each day of the 4 days we spent with my mom/step-dad & Grandparents we tried had planned a fun activity. The first day my mom had a scavenger hunt that ended with a pinata! We also had Jelly bean fun day where they got a jelly bean for every activity they preformed. Another day we played sports. We Camped with my mom for 4 days at Williams Lake near Spokane. We picked this spot because it is close to the place my grandparents park their motor-home every summer at Chapman Lake, and it is not far from where my dad lives. (Less overall driving, when the ride is long enough just getting there!)

Ethan winding up for a big hit

They all got a pair of sun glasses from the pinata, what a cute group!

Making ice cream with Great-Grandma Kauer

Eddie & dad caught fish the next day at Chapman Lake

Several times a day the boys asked if we could rent a paddle boat. We finally did and it was a lot of fun

Shyla & Lil' playing on the beach

Having a snack in the best seat at camp

Eddie with Grandpa Eddie

My 3 happy fishermen after a good day of catching fish!

We caught about 15 fish that day with Great Grandma Kauer. She's the best fisherman I know, besides grandpa. She's a great teacher too. It was an awesome day!

The next day we headed to Spokane for my step-sister Sunny's wedding and reception. Brad & I were able to sneak away between the events, with the help of Jeni watching our kids (thank you!) and had a Cinnabon!!! I haven't had one of those in about 7 yrs! It was amazing! The next day we went to Silverwood with my dad. We played all day and had lots of fun!

Lily & Issac (my nephew who is a yr younger but similar in size to Lily) had to take a nap 1/2 way through the day, everyone commented on what cute blond twins Jeni had as she sat and watched them while I went with the other kids, thanks Jeni!

My dad & Eddie on the train roller coaster, whee!

Lil' & Dad ready to ride the bumper boats, she loved it!

Ethan loved them too!

Shyla and Eddie riding the helicopters! We had such a fun day!

On our last day at Grandpas house my niece bopped Lily over the head with a broom and we had a make a trip to urgent care. It bled a lot! It was borderline stitches and we decided if they thought it would be ok without them we would go that route. She is a tough little kid.

I gave Lily her first real hair cut, (other than her bangs). This pic looks like I missed a few strands but really I was happy it turned out as well as it did. Her bang cut was SO much better than last time too thank goodness! I hope we are just as lucky every time! I owe it to cartoons, thank you Caillou!

We went to the zoo with Grandma Diane and Diane's brother Brent and his two kids.

My 3 little chickens in the nest at the zoo

At the 4th of July parade with Aunt Candace & Uncle Matthew. After the parade we had a BBQ at Greg & Diane's and the kids played in the pool.

After the BBQ we let the kids take turns picking what fireworks we should light

Watching dad light the snakes

Daine made Lil's dress and the boys shorts for the 4th, they looked so cute. Thanks Grandma!

Below are some pics of the kids & their sparklers

We got this bike from my dad the weekend we visited him. In the couple of weeks since then Lily has learned to pedal it on her own! It took my boys forever to figure this out, I was surprised she learned so quickly, and all by her self.

Waiting for the fireworks to start. Eddie saw the first firework and slept through the rest, but Lily & Ethan saw them all.

We had a fun 4th of July, the kids were all asleep by the time we drove home.

L.A.

In April Brad had a planning conference in LA, and we thought it would be fun to go together since April is my b-day and our anniversary month. Brad's mom watched the kids for us, thank you again Diane! We flew in on different flights because the city paid for his ticket. My flight was really rough! it was raining and windy and there was a huge flash of lightning right out side of my window! As we landed, (thank goodness) the palm trees were blowing like crazy and the rain was coming down in sheets and I thought, Brad and I are not going to get to watch the Dodgers tonight, but we did. The rain stopped but it was still really cold. I thought CA was suppose to be warm so I only brought a sweater. I bought gloves and a scarf at our hotel and put on several layers and away we went!

The Dodgers won! This was my first pro game so I was glad they won.

We bought some Dodger dogs and hot chocolate and went to the gift shop. The rest of the time we just tried not to freeze. After the game there were fireworks on the field. We watched for a bit but our toes and fingers were numb so we decided we were ready to go sit in the bus.

The next 2 days while Brad was at his conference I went on a few tours the conference sets up for family members like me who come along with their planner and don't want to wander LA alone. I met 3 nice ladies, from FL, PA, MA. They took my picture at a few of the places we stopped. I felt a little awkward just standing in photos alone... but that's what I did. Usually I'm always the one behind the camera. This is the Disney Concert Hall, we didn't get to go inside, but Brad got to go to a concert there the day after I left. The conference was a week long but I only stayed 3 of the days.

This is in Hollywood. We are in the building that they do the red carpet. It was a lot different than I thought it would be. The stairs where the red carpet goes is surrounded by run down buildings, you walk in the building, up the stairs to a small theater and the rest of the building is like a mall, with outdoor and indoor shops.  

This is a pic of the Hollywood sign, it is actually what is right behind the pic of me on the couch

We went to the see the hand prints and some of the stars on the sidewalk.

These are the hand prints of Robert Patterson and Kristen Stewart from the Twilight movies, next to it is the cast from Harry Potter and below is Michael Jackson. I took a few more but I couldn't tell who was who when I was uploading them onto this blog.

I took this pics for my kids, I thought they would think it was funny to see mom with Shreck

We also went to Rodeo Drive. I took a lot of pics of cool cars for the boys. This car is worth 1 million dollars. I can't remember the name of the man who owns it. But he owns the store it is parked in front of. You are not allowed in the store without an appointment.

We Went to the Hollyhock House. It was the home of Aline Barnsdall. It was beautiful, originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was interesting to listen to the stories about the millionaire that lived there  in 1919-1921. They are trying to restore the home to exactly way it was. The stain glass windows behind me were so pretty.  

The living room at the Hollyhock House was my favorite

We also went to the Getty. It is a HUGE art museum! We spent too long at the Hollyhock house and only had an hour to run around and see as much as we could. I was kind of sad about that. We could have spent an entire day there and probably still wouldn't have not have been able to seen everything!

In each building was a different kind of art. Paining, sculptures, vases, even furniture. I only had time to make it through some of the paintings

This was a pic of the gardens at the Getty taken from the balcony of one of the buildings. Way out in the background you can see the ocean

This was my favorite painting

One night Brad and I road the bus to the Sana Monica Pier.

Brad walked in the water for a few minutes, I walked in the water for a few seconds...I was so cold! The beach was so beautiful

The Pier from the beach

They had 30 pianos placed outside all over LA. Brad sat down and played, "To make you feel my love." As he started to play a guy asked if I was going to sing and I said, "no way." He said "I don't know all the words but I'll sing." As this was going on a good sized crowd was beginning to gather. The man had a beautiful voice, too bad he only knew the first verse. I think Brad really enjoyed playing on the Pier.

We took a ride on this huge Ferris wheel

A picture at the top! Yikes it was so high! Brad and I had a great trip! Happy 9th Anniversary!