A little exercise

Carter's been coming to boot camp with me. Can you tell? I found him outside the other day with the back door mat pulled out doing the "superman" pose. I think he does it better than me. He was also doing some darn good push ups too! Hahaha.....

Fun on the Fourth

Fourth of July was so much fun this year. I started the day out with an awesome barre class at yogaworks (from my spreebird deal pass). Then my friend Beth generously offered to watch my kids so Paul and I could go on a date. We decided, since I was in exercise clothes, to go hiking in Placerita and then finish up at Panera Bread for lunch. 

Later that day we met up with lots of wonderful friends for fireworks. This is our third year at the same location and we always have lots of fun. The kids run around and play together while we parents watch them and chat it up amongst ourselves. Shortly after dark the fireworks start. It's late for all these little tikes, but they were troopers and it was worth it to get to celebrate the Fourth of July together. It's such a great holiday and one of my favorites (although I think I say that about most holidays). But really this one is up at the top of the list. We sang patriotic songs all the way to the park where we watched fireworks. Brandon told us to stop because it was "too boring for him". Haha...oh well. It probably had something to do with my very loud (not so wonderful) singing voice. But whatever. It got us in the mood to celebrate the wonderful country we live in. With all it's imperfections and problems these days, it's still the best country in the world and I'm so grateful to have been born in it.

A quick photo of me and Paul hiking around Placerita. We were only there for about 45 minutes, but it was still lots of fun. I'm excited to go back again. Can't believe it's literally the next exit off the freeway down from our house. I love where we live.

Okay, now on to pictures of that evening.

These cute little guys just had a blast playing together.

Tina, Lauren and me

Becky, Tina, Brooke, Lauren and me 

Some of my most favorite girls!

A rare family photo. Too bad Brandon wasn't in the mood to cooperate.

He was being a stinker here too.

But then he decided it would be fun to have his picture taken. As long as he got to make a funny face. 

Some friends hanging out eating dinner.

 Tyler, Audrey and Leah

Tyler and Ashlyn. It's Leah that is only be three days apart in age, but it's Ashlyn that is best buds with him. 

Once again Brandon decided to not cooperate.

But my little Ashlyn is always ready for a photo op with her mommy. 

I happened upon this photo op and snagged one on my camera too.

Adam and Beth with baby Cole. Our new neighbors!

My honey and my baby!

It was a pretty cold evening. We were all bundling up and trying to snuggle in every blanket we had. Next year we will definitely bring more. Of course, then it will probably be way hot!

Audrey and Leah

I find myself taking a lot of pictures myself. It's pretty much the only way I get in photos most of the time. And I must document that I am actually everywhere my children are. Plus even though I don't usually like the photos I'm in, I think someday I'll look back and think I actually looked good. 

Dewy, Tyler and Ashlyn. All first borns and all best buds. 

Leah watching fireworks and almost falling asleep. Poor girl was beat!

The only shot of the fireworks that even half way turned out. But it's a good place to end on. Happy Birthday America! We sure love you!

Baking cookies

Whenever I make any yummy treat, I always have a bunch of helpers. It gets quite difficult in my not so big kitchen, so I've decided to have the kids take turns. Today was Brandon's turn. He's quite good. He said Grandma K (his preschool teacher) taught him to crack an egg. He did a pretty good job. The second one ended up in my hand though somehow. Not sure how that happened, but it dumped into the  bowl just fine (Don't worry. My hands were clean.)

Anyway, here's Brandon licking up the beater.

And this is what the cookies were for. A friend invited us over to make these cute wind socks for the Fourth of July. So fun to have crafty friends. 

We also went bowling this morning. Wow...I have some lucky kids. I signed them up for "kids bowl free" so they get two free games a day all summer. You just have to pay for shoe rentals. Brandon got bored after five frames and took his shoes off, but the girls thought it was super fun. We'll be trying to go quite often. Especially as it gets warmer out. 

Fin's Glo Zone

The kids have been asking to go back to Fin's Glo Zone since the last time we went, which was over a year ago. So yesterday seemed like a good enough day to finally go. The place was empty. I'm not really sure how it even stays open. Maybe it's a teenage hangout at night. It does stay open till midnight. It's a pretty fun little place though. I don't feel like it's very well advertised. But it's basically an indoor glow in the dark miniature golf course. Plus it has arcades and bumper cars. I think you can even order pizza there too if you want. Or at least you use to be able to. Anyway, it's a pretty short course. 18 holes, but each one is not too hard or long. The kids went through them pretty fast, but they still loved it. I kept telling them to slow down, but with no one ahead or behind them, it was kind of hard to. But they did do a few holes multiple times (which I think is good cuz I'm quite sure Brandon skipped a few). Carter walked around with his club and ball and pointed at things. 

None of my pictures turned out too fabulous, probably because of the black lights, but oh well. At least I took a few. Afterwards, we went to get ice cream, cuz it's summer time and it always seems to be a good thing to do. Can't help myself. It's cheap and yummy!

Hurricane Harbor with Daddy

Some friends were going to Hurricane Harbor this past Saturday, so even though we waited to meet up with them until after Carter had taken a nap, we still had a really fun time. And the best part was that Paul got to come too. I couldn't believe it, but this was the first time he had ever been to Hurricane Harbor. I guess I've gone by myself a lot! It sure was nice to have some help with the kids. 

Paul was in the background pushing the kids on the tire swing. Carter was sitting there so nicely that I got up to take his picture (he just LOVES the water). As I got up, Leah saw him and started to come over to him. I was so glad to capture this adorable little progression of photos. Sometimes it's just so sweet to see your kids loving each other and taking care of each other. Leah really is so sweet with him. I think it's been so good for her to have a baby brother. It's definitely brought out a softer side to her. (Especially when she spends plenty of time fighting with her other brother).

Lil' Kickers

A friend of mine told me about this soccer class that she had her boys in. I've been wanting to get Brandon into some fun little activity, and when I found out it was non competitive and more for learning basic skills and having fun, I was all over it. I told Brandon about it, and he was actually really excited and said he would do it. 

The day of he was a bit nervous, but after a few minutes he was totally into it and having a blast! We just did the trial class this past week, but I'll definitely be signing him up for weekly classes. It was TOO cute.

These pictures are all courtesy of Leah.

LA Zoo

So I got it in my head that I HAD to go to the LA zoo before it got too hot. June is usually not too bad here weather wise. What with June gloom and all. I mean, we were at Magic Mountain on Monday and the weather was gorgeous. Well, by Thursday much had changed because by the time we got to the zoo it was sweltering. Like miserably hot. Either that, or we are clearly spoiled here in LA and can't even handle a little bit of heat. So maybe it was a little of both, but it was pretty warm. You can see it in my kids poor red faces. 

But we had made the drive down and were determined to at least enjoy it for a couple of hours, which is about all we lasted. But we got to see the new Reptile Lair, which the boys were very excited about. Carter was actually pretty darn cute. He LOVED seeing all the critters crawling around. Got so excited when he could actually spot them and/or see them moving around. 

Afterward, we stopped at a snow cone shop to try and cool off. I was with three other friends and their kids. So in all, there were 16 kids. It was a bit of a crazy stop and the ladies behind the counter were clearly flustered (and moving at the speed of a snail might I add), but the snow cones were good and we all went home happy. Next zoo trip will be out to Santa Barbara Zoo this summer, where is will definitely be cooler. We won't be hitting LA zoo again until Fall that's for sure.

Look at that poor little red face. Don't let it deceive you though, he was having so much fun!

He didn't care that it was hot.

Cute little friends. Carter and Lily.

Brandon showing off his map.

Leah with the turtles.

These lizards were clearly loving the heat. They were running all over the place.

A very pointed nosed crocodile.

My attempt at a picture with all the kids in it. Brandon wouldn't cooperate.

But then he changed his mind. Unfortunately, Leah was in some weird little mood and wouldn't sit still. Uh....I guess that's nothing new actually. 

Carter climbed back into the bushes and then said, "STUCK". Haha...I had to snap a photo before I got him out. He's such a good sport. Even gave me a good "cheese" for the camera.

Here Leah is begging to pick just ONE flower off the tree. But I told her if every kid picked a flower off, there would be no flowers to enjoy. (I know...I'm mean.)

Look at this mischievous little girl reaching her hand out for a flower. She's definitely testing her limits. A moment later she came running up with a flower in her hand....claiming she found it on the ground. Hm....I'm not so sure, but whatever!

Brandon with his little bud Noah.