Fourth of July fun

It's always fun spending the fourth in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. We get to play at Tracy and Arden's lake house in Fond du Lac, and the kids got to partake in the neighborhood bike parade this year. Then there's the "big" parade in Elkhart, where Arjen learned all about candy this year, followed by a brat fry at grandma and grandpas. And of course there's always time at the beach!!!

Getting ready for parade #1

Look close and you'll see the gang: Aden, Adalin, Arjen, Andrew, and Gus 

Flag boy:

Lake fun in FDL at Tracy and Ardy's

Lounging with Gma Cherie 

Their super fun backyard! With a daytime full moon...

Twilight tiki fishing (Andrew, Aden, and Arjen)

Morning after walk to breakfast

Learning how to water the yard with uncle Ardy (thanks for the picture Tracy!) :) 

Waiting for parade #2

Chasing after candy with his special candy bag

Gus just got a candy pocket

Getting/giving a smooch with GGma Darlene 

Gus can't wait until Alex is big enough to play with him next summer!

Camp Baba and Da(v)e summer 2013

Our trip "up north" pretty much went like this the whole way!  These little fellas were awesome travelers, again, on our first driving adventure with just the three of us.  Well, our first that was more than just a couple of hours, and our first of 2013.  I don't know why I'm always surprised at how great they travel.  They were rockstars last summer on our treks to/from WI, and earlier this year going back and forth between nor-cal and so-cal while we moved.  But there was man-to-man defense on those trips.  I really did not expect our drive to go so smoothly.  We only stopped once!  And Arjen didn't put up a fight when I suggested he wear a diaper for the trip, even though he's been so pleased with himself recently, to tell me quite frequently "I'm a big boy! I don't need a diaper anymore!"  Here's to wishing this year's trek to WI goes as smoothly!  

Our drive to Camp Baba and Dae (Arjen hasn't quite figured out how to get the 'v' in there yet), took us about 2 hours less than expected, so we arrived to camp before the directors returned home from their annual Summer-Vacation-has-started trip to Reno.  But no matter. The boys were more than happy to make themselves at home right away:

Within minutes, every box of toys Baba had left out, was inspected, then quickly dumped out

We even had enough daylight and warmth left to have an impromptu pool party with our friend Summer from down the street:

 

The pool partying pretty much never stopped the whole three days we were there.  Saved me on bath time every night!

"fishing" with Baba

rehydrating

                                      

Practicing for water wars (see video below)!

Swimsuit? Who needs a swimsuit when you've got a perfectly good birthday suit?!

Popper break

Our friends James and Kaitlyn came to visit with their mom, my good friend, Anne-Marie.  We also got to take them to the Davis Farmer's Market for dinner!

Every summer, Arjen manages to find some fun new way to incorporate an ice chest into silly, fun, play:

Arjen (in the orange, just incase you didn't recognize the hair), showing off his hops

Summer, in the blue, is always showing Arjen new adventures.  Last year it was learning how to really ride the Strider bike, this year it was holding his own in the bounce house!

Giggles with GGma

If only every bedtime was as chill as this one:

Clearly, these little dudes didn't tire of sitting in their carseats.  Even out of the car they were happy to have a little snack time in their seats!

Shannon and Brian drove up from San Franciso Friday afternoon to play.  We may have forgot to tell them they should bring their swimsuits:

 In addition to water fun, there's always fun to be had harvesting fruit and helping Grandpa:

Apricots and grapefruit.  Yum!!

pruning back the dead flowers, helping open father's day gifts, sweeping the kitchen, and taking out all of the plastic cutlery!  Such helpers they are!

Then there's playtime with Baba, as well as helping start summer off right with a little lounging:

Gus is constantly showing us how he can be one of the big kids these days:

Monkey see, monkey do: I can eat corn just like you!

Sooo big!

I can carry bags to the car too!

The obligatory ride around the yard before we hit the road to go home.  Not sure who enjoys it more!

And this year, a new pre-drive home game was added:

 Thanks Baba and Dave for a great time at camp!  We can't wait to do it again!

Happy Birthday Grandpa and Happy Mother's Day!!! (belated...)

This is what I get for having too many gadgets.  My camera (aka my phone) happened to run out of storage space when I wanted to take pictures, and an old camera (aka phone) was handy, so I used it.  Needless to say, I've managed to forget I had these pics until now.  Writing about Father's Day got me trying to remember what I posted for Mother's Day, when I realized I never did!  I guess you forget to write about yourself, especially since this blog is really mostly about these two little boys:

Happy Mother's Day to me!

But Mother's Day isn't really about me.  With each passing day and motherhood lesson my boys teach me, I am more and more grateful for my own mom.  You make it look too easy Mom.  It's not fair!  And to Cherie, my mom-in-law, you must be on her team, cause you make it look effortless too!  You both give me much to strive for in my personal adventures as a mom.  I, we, love you!

Mother's Day was a wonderful day this year.  We got to share it with my Dad's side of the family, to honor Grandpa John's 87th birthday, and us moms of course.  The Miller's all came down to Irvine from LA for the occasion.  It was a wonderful treat to get to invite everyone to our house for the occasion.  Made it really feel like home to get to host a bbq, and the boys loved having their second cousins to play with! Some pics from our afternoon/evening:

Gus showing off the farm to Macy and Milo

The Birthday Boy

 

A coupla hungry great grandsons...

Thanks Grandma for making the delicious pineapple upside-down birthday cakes!!

Play-doh time!

  

Happy Father's Day!

I'm a lucky lady to have three amazing Dad's in my life.  My own of course, my father-in-law, and this guy, the one my kids call 'Dad.' To Andrew, Dave, and Wayne: thank you for being exemplary role models for the all of the kids in your lives.  We thank you, we love you, and we wouldn't be who we are without you!  

Girlfriend!!

Fun with our friend Sophie. Thank you for coming to see us!!

Holiday weekend fun

Last weekend, Casey came for a SoCal visit.  It was so great having her here, and the boys loved having a playmate! Again, we managed to skimp on pictures, but we did make it to the pool one day, and the phones came out:

Thanks for coming to visit us Casey!  Come back soon!!