Sunday, July 24, 2011

summer Vacation



Summer vacations for me growing up meant either long car trips to see family out west or boating at fair field bay Arkansas. My children get to have two for one. We take long car trips to see family and go boating.
We started out Friday morning early and after seeing how stressful the drive was on Andrew we decided to get as many miles behind us while they were sleeping and ended up driving straight through. Shortly after we got there Nana & Grandaddy were taking off to the lake and they took Adam and Zachary with them. After some sleep and food we joined the rest of the crew at the lake. It was so great to see everyone. We went to the rope swing and swam. Andrew took his first swim. I was supper worried about him getting too hot and getting sunburned. He took the crazy boat ride like a champ. He is such a good baby. Zachary being exhausted from our long drive and waking up at 4:30am crashed. Everyone was amazed at how deep he could sleep. When he did wake up he played in the water with his cousins and with a family friend Brian Holmen. Something that I really like about Zach is that he gets along with everybody: boy, girl, old, young…it doesn’t matter he just goes with it. Adam mustered up the courage to jump off one of the cliffs which was a first for him. He also followed daddy around to the rope swing Adam saw a girl having trouble going off of the rope swing and announced his observation “Girls aren’t very good at this, are they dad.” That got a chuckle out of everybody. It was Josh’s favorite moment.
While we ate at the dock I laid Andrew down in a little baby thing and Harper and Chase were right there to love on their little cousin. I’ve never seen another little girl love babies like Harper loves Andrew. At every opportunity she was right by his side. She wanted to hold him, help him, love on him. It was the sweetest thing. Chase also wanted to help and love on Andrew but every time he got near Harper turned on him and hit him, and pushed him away. There were a couple of times that she even bit him but Chase never fought back. He told me several times that he loved her. Chase is quite the fearless handful but he is not a fighter.
My favorite moment was getting to see Kevin. One of the evenings I pulled him away from a movie and made him show me his mission pictures and tell me stories of his mission. Listening to his stories brought back a lot of good memories from my own mission to Japan. It was really fun getting to speak Japanese with him. It reminded me how much I used to know and how bad my Japanese has gotten. We stayed up till 3am talking and sharing stories. I loved it.
Hadley, Ben & Zachary quickly became inseparable and had a blast together. Most of the time when you hang out with someone for days on end you get a little agitated with them. I remember Kathryn and cousin Kristin at grandmother and granddad’s house, it wasn't long until they were bickering about something. But not our little ones they were pleasant to each other the whole time.

Friday, July 8, 2011

4th + Friends + Food = Fun











We had are friends the Barlows over for an after noon of bar BQ and fun. When I told Zachary that Weimea was coming over he said "oh, she is so pretty and beautiful." Those two were like two peas in a pod. they really enjoyed playing with toys in Zach's room and playing outside. Adam was in video game heaven because he had Spencer to play with. They took turns being batman and playing outside with their star wars gear.


It was so nice to have friends to spend the holiday with. We grased all afternoon on watermelon, salads, and burgers. We lit sparkelers and lit some fire crackers and then went to a fireworks show. Andrew LOVED the bright lights of the fireworks. He was a happy baby until the fireworks were over and he was ready to go to sleep as were the rest of the boys. They all fell asleep on our way back home.

born on the 3rd of July

Happy Birthday Zachary. It has been 4 very happy years. We love you for being happy, calm, easy going, and a fantastic brother and son.



This is Zachary opening his tiger zord he was super excited.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Zachary's Birthday Party







This is the first time that we have been in town for Zachary's birthday so I had the oppertunity to throw him a birthday party. We had his party at a spray park. Poor little guy got sunblock in his eyes at the very beginning of his party. After a good cry we dicided to go t the dry park and play and he hit his head and cried some more. By this time we got out the cupcakes and this saved the party for Zachary. He got his own special lil chocolate cake and sat there with several of his girlfriends and enjoyed his cake.


Backyard Fun



Andrew has been getting in on the back yard fun too. He layed out in the shade and played on a blanket. He is so cute I just had to take a few pictures.






We have been loving the pool this summer. The boys have been having a great time playing in it. There are some days that i can't keep them out of it. This day we were out side from 10am to 6pm. I have so many good memories of summer being a time where you play till you drop. I think that is what my boys did this day.

Summer Hike













Our Saturday adventure we explored a trail at a near by park. We stopped along the way and looked at wild strawberries, and different plants. Adam and Zachary picked up rocks for their collection and threw a couple in the stream. Andrew loved it and had a nice time in the front pack, which is his most favorite way to travel. I believe Andrew really likes being a part of the action.