Water Park

Last time my sister came into town (2 years ago) we went to the water park and that is the one place her kids remembered and wanted to go to.  So we made it happen the last day they were in town.  First off in the morning Nathan wanted to take the kids black berry picking.  We packed up the older four kids and headed to a local farm.  Unfortunately the farm was closed so we weren't able to pick any berries but we didn't come home empty handed.  We stopped in at a local fruit stand and picked up a bunch of fruit and veggies.  On the car ride there I put some kid songs on and all the kids got into it.

Video of the kids singing:

I made sure Ashlyn had her seat belt on correctly after I filmed this...

Blair giving Daddy kisses.

Water Park:

Easton Swinging on the ropes.

Heading to the squirt guns and slide.

Aunt Jacqui (which Blair referred to as Princess) helping Blair squirt the guns.  Blair was attached to Jac's hip almost the whole time.  Hopefully Jac didn't mind.

Dyer and I and of course Aunt Jac with Blair.

Gma with Adisyn and Blair.

Blair, Adisyn, Gma and Dyer

Dyer in his typical stance.  He loves to just squat!

Dyer loves chairs!  

When Adisyn's car seat became available he didn't waste anytime climbing in.

After swimming the girls got dressed up in their matching outfits.

Blair, Adisyn and Ashlyn

 Typical nighttime routine for Blair...

Sneaking out of bed.  If she can't see you...You can't see her!

Peak a boo!

 Not entirely sure what these next pictures are all about but Jac had my camera and apparently had some fun with it.  In case you were wondering this is my mom who is a supermodel...

Nice!

Lovely!

Cute!

Sexy!

I've got like 50 pictures of my mom jumping (multiple pictures rapidly taken one after another-it's like a video  taken in pictures).  

Of course there had to be a few pictures of my mom doing the famous "bend and snap"!

Bend...

 ...and snap!

I sure love you Mommy!  

Thanks again you two for coming to visit.  It was a lot of fun!  We definitely need to do this again sometime!

While Nate and I were gone...

My mom, sister (Jac), and Valerie took good care of our kids while Nate and I were on our anniversary get away.  My sister took a bunch of pictures so I got to see what they were all up to while we were away.  Thanks a million guys!

Thursday 8/9:  Bowling

The superstar!  She ended up beating everyone!  Good work Blair Bear!

Easton came in 2nd!

The trouble maker!  I'm sure Dyer was trying to escape and get into everything!

Final score!

After bowling they came back and played outside.

The boys riding bikes while the girls played in the sprinklers.

 Blair

Chatting away!

Haha Dyer!  Nice plumbers crack!  

Gma with her grand babies!

Friday 8/10: Playing at the Park

Gma and Dyer

Ashlyn and Blair

Blair holding Dyer.  I like how scared Dyer looks!

More excited to be going down himself.

Doing a little climbing.

Finally Dyer and Adisyn asleep.

Lunch Time!

Easton chilling out with Gma.

Hugs!

Not sure what Blair's wearing?!? but it's a cute picture anyways!

Kids playing a dance game.

Nate and I made it home!

Anniversary Trip

Nathan and I had an early anniversary trip planned before my mom and sister decided they were coming to visit.  Valerie was going to watch our kids but since my mom and sister were going to be in town they watched our kids instead.  Nathan and I took off Thursday morning for Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.  We wanted to be there on Thursday so that we could watch the Emperor's Imperial Circus.  We got to go on most of the rides, play a laser maze game (which I beat Nathan), bowling (Nathan won), and some arcade games.  Later that night we went out to eat at an Italian restaurant but since the wait was really long we spoiled our dinner by eating some really good ice cream.  We also went and saw the movie total recall.  We stayed in a bed and breakfast that was only a block from the boardwalk.  It was so nice and convenient to be that close and we had an ocean view.  

These pictures are hard to see because we only had my phone to take pictures with since my camera and Nathan's phone were being charged.  

Lion Dancers

If you look closely you can see someone wearing pink.  The lady is doing a handstand on (I think it was) eight chairs (some of which were only balancing on two legs).  

The next day we walked along the pier and saw some crazy sea lions.  We also window shopped a little and ended up buying some chocolates (one of which was chocolate covered bacon).  It was a little strange but as long as you didn't think too much about what you were eating it was pretty good.  We also walked a beach trail and then took the scenic highway back home.  It was a great mini vacation!  A little time for the two of us to have fun and relax a little and get a break from the kids.  I missed the kids and couldn't wait to get back to them but overall it was the perfect amount of time.

At the bed and breakfast

 boardwalk

sea lions

Video of the scary sea lion:

Right when we walked up to the fence this big guy sat up very quickly and basically yelled at us.  It definitely made me jump and I was a little afraid that he might attempt to break through the fence.  He definitely made himself very clear that we were invading his territory.

Nathan enjoying his chocolate covered bacon with maple glaze.

View from our hike.

8 years!

Happy Anniversary Handsome!  Thank you for the last 8 years!  They have been amazing!  I love you and I'm glad that we have eternity together!

Happy 29th Birthday Gma!

It's a little strange that both my mom and sister will be the same age this year...In a few years my mom will have turned 29 again for the 29th time.  It's kind of crazy how that works out!

The morning started off with the kids having a singing/dance off.  I think Ashlyn won best overall.  Dyer probably won best dance move and Easton most likely won most creative dance moves.  Blair was just along for the ride.

 Dance off

Video of Easton dancing:

Video of all the kids dancing:

Notice Dyer dancing (his arm movement is now known as "The Dyer".  If anyone says, "Do The Dyer" everyone starts doing that move.)

Thank goodness my mom had a birthday while she was here because it gave me a nice excuse to buy the huge chocolate cake from Costco!

Sexy Birthday Princess for the day!

Everyone getting ready for the celebration.

 Singing Happy Birthday!


Video of us singing Happy Birthday:

Waiting for cake and ice cream!

Happy Birthday Mommy!  Hope you had a wonderful day (minus the shopping-I think we were crazy to bring 6 kids shopping with us).  Hopefully the cake made up for it!  Love you!