Dylan's Birthday

Dylan rounds out the end of our hot weather birthdays in September.  We partied at the Kiwanis wave pool this year with some buds.  

It was a day filled with not enough pizza, too much lemonade, smears of blue and green frosting...

nearly constant photo bombing...

and lots of silliness.

Dylan's actual birthday was on Labor Day this year, so he had the day off of school.  His buddy Quinn came in from San Fran for the weekend and so he had a sleep over and came with us for an all-afternoon boating extravaganza that Monday.  

(We took no pictures as Evan and I were too busy making sure all the little people stayed afloat and fed.)

Happy, happy 9th birthday, Big D.  XOXO

Summer Phone Pics

I think this is the last of the summer photos that I am now posting in October.  We'll get to Halloween, eventually.

We spent a week in Carlsbad hitting the beach and Legoland.  We are really starting to fall in love with that city.  So much is within walking distance of where we stay.  And our Lego-crazy kids love the proximity of their current favorite amusement park.

The littlest kid always gets to ride on Evan's shoulders at some point at the beach.  

Here's Liam's turn.

Dylan is by far the bravest child when it comes to time in the ocean. The wet suit definitely helps him stay in longer and he comes home with some serious tan lines every year.

Here is a rare occasion when he's out of the ocean.

Legoland!  The kids have wanted to ride this ridiculous thing for years, but the wait is always way too long.  Amelia and Simon were determined to ride this year, so they waited for 45 minutes.  Then it broke down and they waited a bit more.  

FINALLY, they pedaled around the track and admitted thereafter that they were completely underwhelmed.

Simon getting cozy with a sleeping Lego man.

We actually spent some time building stuff this year.  We were tired of the sun, so we spent a good hour inside while the kids fashioned race cars and ran them down the tracks. 

Liam was ecstatic to be able to scoot around on the floor.

Setting up the cars on the race tracks and having a physics lesson about weight and velocity and friction from Dad the Engineer.

 Amelia hates roller coasters, apparently, so she stayed with Liam and whatever adult (often me) was taking care of him.  She seems to have no trouble amusing herself with whatever silliness surrounds us at Legoland and so she attempted to make a rolling bench while Liam played with soft giant Legos.  It didn't work particularly well, but we couldn't stop laughing, so it served a purpose.

Baby at the beach = sand in every crevice. 

Actually, Liam was surprisingly clean after an afternoon in the sand and sun.  He tried to eat the sand once and decided it was not to his liking.  He didn't actually throw it in the air or rub his eyes with sandy little fists, so I'd say that's actually quite remarkable.  He's probably saving the antics for next time.

Simon earned his wet suit by not being afraid of boogie boarding.

The conversation went something like this:

Evan:  "Simon, I'll get you your very own wet suit if you try boogie boarding."

Simon: "No! No way!  I hate that!" 

Evan: "Ok, Ok.  Never mind."

Simon: "Fine!  I'll go booger boarding." 

He stomped over to the "booger" board, strapped it to his wrist and stomped out to the ocean, dragging the board behind him, and proceeded to catch a few waves.  He smiled instantly and kept that smile plastered to his face the rest of the day.

In fact, he loved it so much he didn't want to get out of the ocean when it was time to leave.

Summer catch up

Yeah, not summer...these are Easter egg hunt pictures that I took and never posted.  

Squinty baby eyes...

The evidence of our first ever efforts to color eggs.

This actually happened in the summer.  

Evan had a school board retreat in Flagstaff.  We stayed at Little America while he went to meetings.  I didn't take many pictures, but this made me laugh so hard I was crying, so I thought I'd share.

Outside the truck stop diner there is this dinosaur that someone engineered so well, it is nearly impossible for kids to climb on it, as kids would generally do.  Amelia and Dylan went at it from every angle but they couldn't seem to get on top.  

Simon hovered at the tail.  I think he figured that if the older two were having so much trouble, he probably would too.

Finally, I stopped laugh-crying and gave them a boost.  

Liam's expression indicates what he thought of the whole thing.

Catch up...once again

I am so far behind, so I'll just start where I am.  Simon had his 5th birthday party on a rainy Friday last May.  We had to move it indoors last minute. It was chaotic to make the change, but I think the parents were grateful for the contained, dry play space.

This kid is such an awesome little guy!  He's as spunky and sensitive at 5 as ever, and he can't get enough Legos, dinosaurs, Hot Wheels tracks, etc.

One of Simon's favorite gifts was this Darth Vader voice changer.

His indoor party was a blast, apparently. (That's what all the kids said, anyway.) 

It was certainly better than the soggy mess that our outdoor plans would have become.

Birthday morning presents!

Crazy-eyed happiness spurred by the Roboraptor.

Here's Liam with Evan...He is growing like a little weed, is by fair our blondest child, and is such a little doll.  He refuses a pacifier and so resorts to happy screeches, screams, and squeals when it's time to be quiet.

I'm not actually sure what prompted this bed head and pajamas photo session, but there was not one picture in the several that I took where all the kids were looking at the camera.  

So, I chose one where no one was looking at the camera.

Amelia turned 12 in June.  She had a day-on-the-boat birthday bash.  The girls came back tired, waterlogged, a little sunburned, and full of crazy-fun stories of near drowning/spraining/starving experiences. Well, that was mostly Amelia. No shortage of drama here.

Her actual birthday was not quite as exciting, but still happy.

In August school started: 7th grade for Amelia, 3rd for Dylan, and Kindergarten for Simon.

A week later, Liam turned one.

His birthday was a quiet affair with grandparents and cupcakes.  He didn't quite know what to do with his birthday treat.  I think he may have touched the frosting and then tasted his finger. 

 That was about it.

He had a lot of help opening his presents and he especially loved the bath toys Amelia chose for him.  Here he is soapy, elated and double-chinned.

This darling dude gives us a run for our money.  We sleep less, mop more, and constantly re-shelve, re-stack, re-pack, and put away.*  But we love him all the same!

*In fact, this is typical...

I think he was trying to put a magnet into the Wii, after he had pulled out a row of DVDs. At least he was practicing standing...

Or there's always a Sharpie to find...