The beloved pets

My kids love animals. They just love them. And the poor things (the kids) have no pets! I know...it's cruel and unusual punishment, but that is life. Thank goodness they can get their pet fix at grandma's every summer! Ella is always a little afraid on the first day, but she soon warms up. This year (trust me, it's different every summer) my mom has a beautiful yellow lab named Milo, a cute little fru-fru dog named Lulu, and a cat named Pepper. But by next summer I'm sure they'll have one of these adorable little kittens that are only a few days old in these pictures. And as I've mentioned before, Ruby is just crazy about dogs. She followed Milo around all day long giving him loves, "helping" him eat his food, and playing in his water dish. Thankfully these pets are very good natured! (By the way, Ruby is sitting on my lap right now squealing and barking ("Woo woo!") at these pictures. She misses them already!)

Ella and Aubrey

Speaking of cousins, these two are inseparable! This is the third summer in a row that Ella and Aubrey (who is just over a year younger than Ella) have spent every second of the day together. This year they did the usual bubble baths in grandma's tub, manicure/pedicure day, trips to the park, zoo, and discovery center, and we also added a couple of sleepovers to the mix. As is evidenced by these pictures (and a few of these really hilarious smiles) they got really tired of me and Stephanie taking their pictures together. Just let them play, already!!

Ruby and Carson

We're back! We just got home from our trip to Idaho, and we had a wonderful time. It was so much fun to be up there, and the kids all had a blast. The highlight for the kids is being spoiled by grandma and playing all day long with their cousins. We were so anxious to see Ruby and her cousin Carson together, since they are so close in age (Ruby is actually three weeks older, if you can believe it). We wondered what they would do. Would they like each other? Play together? Be jealous? Well, it took several days before they warmed up to each other. At first they screamed a lot at each other, and fought over toys, but by the end...well, I'll let the pictures do the talking!

4th of July...and more

We are leaving this afternoon for our yearly trip to Idaho, and so I wanted to post a few pictures before we left town. We had a wonderful 4th of July, with great friends and good food. What could be better? We watched some fireworks on the grass at the church, and the kids had "the best night of their life!" Stayed up until 11:00!! Even for Bryan and I that is late! Ruby found a stray bowl of chocolate ice-cream at one point during the night, and she devoured every last drop of it. Thankfully we found out later that it was Spencer's - not a random stranger's bowl of ice-cream.



I'm also throwing a few additional pictures on here. We have been dog-sitting for Bryan's parents over the last month or so, and nobody is happier to do this than Ruby. She loves that dog!! Here are just a couple of pictures Ruby hanging with her best bud Murphy. Or hanging in his bed.

Next, the boys and I went to see Wicked last weekend. We went out for a nice lunch beforehand, and then headed to the theatre. I was one of the funnest things I've ever done with my kids. These boys know every word to every song from Wicked, and they can even play several of them on the piano. Their eyes never left the stage!! It was so much fun to see them watching it so intently. Bryan and I went to see it together two weeks earlier, and also loved it, so this time I could enjoy watching them as much as the show!

I've also stuck a picture of our garden on here. My tomato plants are insane! They are taller than me! We are eating homemade salsa and fresh tomatoes with every meal. And our monster cantaloupe vines have pretty much taken over the rest of the garden, with the exception of the carrots which are lucky enough to hide out underground.

Alright...I'm off to Idaho for some cooler temperatures and some good, good fun!

Fun in the sun!

This summer has been GREAT so far! We have had a lot of fun - in some record heat - and so we have spent as much time as we could in the water. We've been lucky enough to inherit Bryan's parent's boat, and so we go up to the lake every spare chance we get. Now that is some good quality family fun!



We started the summer off with Tyler finishing off his baseball season, which he loved. He's a good little ball player!




He also lost his two front teeth, a couple weeks apart. The toothless smile is my favorite!


While he was losing his front teeth, Ruby was growing hers! She looks so grown up with those big ol' teeth!


We've worn out Ella (who fell asleep one day while talking on her toy phone), and had fun watching Ruby's personality evolve, with a little bit of feistiness, I might add.


We have also found a great little fishing pond just up the road from us, where we have been spending some early mornings fishing. Now I personally find fishing to be disgusting on all fronts - the worms, the flopping - but you can't deny that the kids love it! And again...some more good family fun. I have to admit...I love the summer! It is going by too fast.