First Day of School

Back to school! Yey! On Sept. 8th the boys started back to school. Jack is in 2nd grade and Beau is in 1st. Here they are in their uniforms getting ready to do the walk to school!

The first walk to school of the new year! Beau is standing in his line where he'll be every morning before school. He is so excited!

Jack is standing on his line waiting for the bell but he is too cool to smile for a picture.

Ok, Maizie dear started 2 day/wk preschool on Sept. 2nd. This is the happy picture that Dad took on his phone before we were all the way ready for school. See how happy!!

Then, I asked her to get her jacket because it was foggy and colder that day. See what happened? (Hopefully they can fix that in Pre-K) :) Her lovely pink outfit, shoes included were sent to her by my Mom and Maizie is in love with it.

Now she's in her class and she loves it!! She sat with these two girls right away and started doing puzzles. Last year we tried to do preschool and she just cried. But this year she goes in without any hesitation! Yey!!

This year is going to be great for them. Beau & Maizie have great teachers that we are stoked about. Jack's teacher is a "wait and see if she's ok" but I'm sure Jack will show her that he's awesome. So excited!

Labor Day at the Greekfest!

YES, I should have taken more pictures!! Yesterday we went to the Greek Festival here in Long Beach. It was a festival that the Greek Orthodox Church puts on every year here to celebrate Greek culture. We got to go inside the very ornate church and listen to some cool Greek chanting that made the kids laugh. It was a nice little outing on a great afternoon!

Travis let the kids pick a carnival ride to go on and this is what everyone picked. The big swing thing... I think that's what it's called.

It's building up to go pretty high! Beau has this nonchalant look on his face for EVERY ride he has ever ridden in his life. Even at Disney when he rode on a big roller coaster this casual expression is the one on the picture that snaps during the crazy part. But don't let it fool you because when he's done he is so excited and says it's the best experience of his short existence.

Here's Maizie & Jack's shoes! They loved this ride!

After the kids went on a ride we got some greek food to enjoy. We shared a lamb gyro which Maizie & Beau thought was "nasty". Whatev!! We also had some Greek french fries which are regular french fries with lemon juice and oregano on them. Super YUM! After that we enjoyed some sort of custardy, pastry, honey-y, yummy dessert that Trav picked out. We don't know the name of it but it was delish!!

Here is Maizie having attitude because the dessert was gone. All good things must come to an end, sister.

Jack making some sort of face about something.

All my men!

Travis & Tough Guy

We had a great time together and are going to look for more fun festivals like this to go to together!

Beau's 6 Year Celebration!!

Well, I guess our baby Beau is a baby no longer! Beau was our only baby that wasn't allowed to come home with us from the hospital. He had to stay for a week in the NICU so that he could breathe on his own. At the time it felt unbearable but now it seems like a speck of time!

On July 23rd our Beau turned 6! He is really a bubbly, loud, crazy, bundle of energy and we adore that about him. He has little to no inhibitions at all which is good and bad. The bummer is that he gets a ton of spankings, but the good side is that he is the most affectionate of the kids and is not afraid to show it. He has great comedic timing and often provides the comic relief to tense situations. We love his heart for God and others, he's a real blessing to us. On the morning of his birthday he got to open his present from Grammy & Grandpa - a cool Iron Man guy!! He also opened his present from us which was his very own Bible! Once the kids actually learn how to read we always get them their own nice Bible. He really liked it and enjoys being able to have his own Bible to take to church.

Then of course it was pool time! Travis took the kids to the next door neighbor's pool while I got ready for the party. I think they had fun.

Jack is wearing a life vest? Why? Good question. No idea.

This is the first time Maizie would let go of someone's hand in the water. Now she swims in the life jacket on her own! Woohoo!

An example of Beau's insanity. He's doing a front flip off the side of the pool (with Dad's supervision of course).

Party Time! This is the line for the pinata. This thing would not break! It went through the entire line almost 3 times. Awesome!!

Beau did no damage.

Finally, an hour later - CANDY!!

Cupcakes! We had a jumper in the back too but for some reason I didn't take a picture of it! Bummer! But all the kids had a super fun time. It was our first "school friends" party and it was a really good time for everyone.

The present mob.

Ahhhh.... now rest time.

Pink Eye and other fun...

Poor Maizie girl has pink eye. We took her to the doctor yesterday and it has been confirmed. Luckily after one day of treatment she's already looking a little better, but her little cute little eyes are still a bit red and swollen.

Uncle Lucas brought this shirt for Beau from Germany. It's a little bit big (wink) but he insists on wearing it anyway! I try to get him to maybe tuck it in a bit so it's not so dress-like but sometimes you just gotta let them be. And who knew an old toddler Weebles toy would still be a favorite. These guys still play with this toy all the time. I think Jack got it when he was 2.

and pics of my surprise 30th birthday party are coming soon...

July 4th Hoopla

Our July 4th was a really great one this year! We had a super fun time doing a bunch of different stuff. We started out the day at our annual neighborhood parade. Everyone in the neighborhood gets on their bikes and gets out their way old nice cars and drives them down the street. It is a very fun time. We didn't decorate our bikes this year like we had planned but the kids didn't seem to mind. This year Travis & I actually had bikes to ride! WOOHOO!! Our friends Dan & Stacey Dyar brought them in their truck to us from Colorado where they were stored at Travis' dad's house. We are so glad to have them!

Jack & Beau liked being in the parade. Beau wanted to ride as fast as he could which isn't advised in a huge group of people but he found a way to make it happen.

Maizie loooooves riding in the child seat. We were going to put her in her trike but she's such a slow poke at it! Travis & I really wanted to ride our bikes too and we wouldn't be able to manage her pokiness if we were on our bikes, so the seat on the bike was the perfect solution!

There are a lot of nice old cars in our hood! They are always cruising around on a Saturday morning. It's pretty awesome!

Look at this cool one!

Is this a DeLorean ???????

The fire and police station right by our house provided hotdogs, watermelon and lemonade for everyone after the parade. The neighborhood association had a bunch of games for all the kids and a couple for the grownups!

All 3 kids participated in the potato sack race which was cool! Usually Jack is a little tentative about these kinds of games but he got right in and competed with all of the children!

They all got popsicles for their prize! In fact I think they all had 3 or 4 that day ;)

See, Travis was there the whole time but he was usually the one behind the camera! Poor guy - never gets any face time. He is wearing his hideous July 4th shirt so luckily I cut off the ugly part in this photo. Whew! Spared you all.

Jack also participated in the water balloon toss but was out after the next throw. He loved it!

After the fun in the park, we took the kids home to nap for a while. Of course!!! In the afternoon we went over to our friends Wes & Michelle's house with their 5 kiddos and a bunch of their friends and their friends' kiddos. It was a great time of food & fun. I didn't take any pictures there darnit!! Travis & I lost in a volleyball match with a few other people so next year we must redeem ourselves.

We walked over to the Virginia Country Club Golf Course and sat on the grass to watch the FABULOUS fireworks. We had a great view - no crowds - no traffic. Awesome really.

After the works, Wes read a speech given by Abraham Lincoln, I think? Some kind of patriotic something. All the kids were listening very intently.

We hope all of you had a great 4th with your friends & families!!