4th of July 2012!

We have had the same 4th of July traditions since Sam and Lizzie were babies... the morning always starts off with the neighborhood parade and party in the park.

 Followed by some fun outside...sprinklers, water balloons, slip n slide!

BBQ with ribs, salmon, corn, fresh fruits and salads... followed by texas sheet cake and homed ice cream!

 Dividing the fireworks...

 Sam was the MC of the fireworks show... 

 Shmoopie!

 Cousin Power!

 Pyros...

Harper slept through the entire thing - the neighbors had huge/loud fireworks too!  All are in bed and completely wiped out!  Happy 4th!

Cousins!!

The Arnolds flew in from London late Thursday night and the kids are in heaven!  They have been playing non-stop and we are loving the time with all of them.  They don't go back to Singapore until the end of July!

 Lizzie has been entertaining Harper and playing babies, kitchen and dress up.

 We have had nightly talent shows, concerts and dance-offs...

 The youngest insists on being in the middle of the action...

Nightly sleepovers!  Good thing the boys don't have any bedroom furniture at the moment.  :-)

C4C

Brian and I actually dressed up for a night out!  Some friends of ours put on an annual fundraiser to raise money for MS and a local children's hospital.  Happy hour, silent auction, Javier Colon concert, casino set up etc.  Fun to see celebrities like Jerry Rice, Kenny Lofton, Ken Griffey Jr., Jerome Kersey, Grant Fuhr, Ozzie Smith and Sterling Sharpe.  


So much fun and they raised a ton of money for a great cause!  You can check out Caddies for Cure here.

Friends!  

Summer days in June

The sun did come out in June - here are some photos to prove it!  Sam was too cool... I think he was watching sports or listening to music... too cool for the kiddie pool!

Baby girl

She is at such a fun age right now - has a HUGE personality and funny, smart, curious, feisty and sweet all at the same time.  Hard to believe in 2 months she will be 2!!! 

Farmers Market

We finally made it to the farmers market this weekend.  Ben had a great time playing in the fountain and running around.  This photo is him and his Sonic balloon animal.  The guy had no idea who Sonic was, so he looked at Ben's tshirt and did his best - it was perfect. :-) Harper watched the kids running around in the water, played on the playground and discovered Fetzer sausages.  Sam was cranky - and hot, thirsty, tired, hungry and well... an 8 year old with an attitude.  We all ended up having a good afternoon!

Day 2 - Pool time!

Berries!

Thursday was the first day of summer break... My dad and I took the kids to pick strawberries... Harper ate way more than she picked and they all had a great time.  We made our usual stop at Helvetia tavern and then headed home to make pie.  YUM!

Summer!!

Kids are out of school!  So happy to be on summer break... no lunches to pack, buses to catch, preschool drop off or pick up.  Love having an open schedule to do whatever we feel like doing!  And my sister will be here in 2 weeks!