FINALLY...

the first day of school has come!!!

The kids have been begging to go back for about a month now. When you have 11 weeks of summer, I guess that is what happens. We went school shopping and the kids were so excited to be getting all their supplies. There was this lady there doing the same thing with a 9th grade daughter who was not at all excited. She gave me great advise, to enjoy these moments, and I do.

They all had a wonderful first day!

They loved their teachers, were so excited to be with their friends and motivated to get smarter.

Josh started Kindergarten and I do not think anyone of the kids has ever been more excited for school than him. He has been seeing the girls leave for school for years now just waiting patiently for his turn.

He did great!!!

Poor Bryce is going to be left with just me at home to play with but only for a few weeks.

I am ready for this Baby Girl to get here!!!

A GIRLS DATE WITH GRANDPA....

at the USC game of course!!!

Oh, how I love College Football.

Last Saturday morning almost feels like Christmas to me because I get so excited.

We always get to the games early because there is so much to do around campus and in Exposition park. We caught the new IMAX movie Under the Sea which was so good although the girls might never swim in the ocean again (there are some creepy things in that water :) .

It was a little warm on but the game was so fun and our new freshman quarterback looked pretty good.

Final Score!!!!

Thanks Dad for a perfect Day of a great game, great company, and great food !!!

UP... UP... AND AWAY...

For a year now I have been wanting to ride on the big orange balloon at the Great Park in Irvine and it did not disappoint. The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever and have been asking me everyday when we can go back. Here is the website if you are interested in visiting http://www.ocgp.org/visit/balloon/

One of the best things was that it is free.

We arrived when it opened and signed up for a time and we did have to wait,

but there are fun things to do like play on modern artwork.

or lounge in funky modern chairs.

They also have a museum to see all that they have planned for the area as well as a big field to run around on where they will let you check out soccer balls or Frisbees.

No fun outing would be complete with out Michelle and Kaleb,

we have been playing with them all summer long.

The view was amazing!!!!

Our next trip will be in the day when I can get some great pics of it.

A PERFECT SUMMER DAY...

Is best friends coming to visit and play.

THE OC FAIR 09...

It feels like yesterday that I did the post about going to the fair in 2008 but it has already been a year & is upon us again. Going to the fair over summer break has been a good memory for me since I was a little girl. The tradition is alive and well because since having me own kids we have never missed a year & they love it.

Now going to the fair 30 weeks pregnant with 4 kids is a crazy idea. Thank goodness this year Michelle and Kaleb joined in on the fun and brought her Mom along who my children especially Josh just adore. I can honestly say that if they were not there I would not have made it. Thank you!!!!!!!

We did all the fun activities we always love, arts and crafts , animals, rides, shopping and of course ate lots of yummy really bad for us food. Here are some highlights.

We are hoping someday the wives of these boys will thank us for trying to instill a love of grocery shopping :)

THE 4TH OF JULY...

has always been a holiday I enjoy. Although I do miss the old days from when I was a kid and you could set off your own fireworks, that was the best.

We had a great day beginning with our little community parade.



There was lots of water squirted and candy thrown out.


This moment was the highlight for the kids.


Now we really did enjoy the parade but Josh was worried that Joe was going to get run over in the street each time he took a picture...his face is classic. I just think it is very interesting that he was never worried in getting run over when he would jump out to get candy.




Then we were off to Kevin and Michelles for a yummy BBQ good company and of course CAKE.


We finished up our day at a fun street fair.




and enjoyed a perfect spot for fireworks. Now I have no photos or cute video but Bryce was so funny during the firework show. He would scream with delight as each one went off and just start giggling hysterically which made all of us start to laugh. He was also hearing some of the kids go Oh my Gosh!!! so periodically he would yell out Oh Josh !!!! it was just so funny.

SUMMER IS...

Blowing by. Well at least the first 2 weeks have, which is better than what I had expected and I hope it will continue until we go back to school in September. What can I say, the faster summer goes the sooner this baby gets here. We have been having so much fun playing and getting together with friends. All of our adventures have been especially crazy but good because Michelle has been watching her sisters 3 kids for the last few weeks so we have this huge group of 8 kids under 9 wherever we go. The beach is always a favorite especially for Bryce or maybe it is just the licorice.



This trip to the beach was like going to Sea World. You can see the crowd of people gathering because we had dolphins swimming by and then a seal came up on shore. The kids loved it but I think the boys were still mostly into their cars.




and even better than the beach we have been hanging out a lot at ....the beach club.


We also took a little trip to go get Taryn who flew into Las Vegas. She of course had a great time with Grandma but we were happy to get her back. We stayed at the Monte Carlo which is the best because they not only havea big pool but also a wave pool and the lazy river. We also enjoy it there because of the fact their food court has a McDonalds so we now have the whole collection of ice age animals to play with.

Joe has often said he feels like he is never in any pictures and I will admit I have a tendancy to just take them of the kids so you will notice I paid special attention to get him in almost every one I took.

Here are some highlights-