Labor Day Hike

To get out of the heat we decided to head to the mountains for a Labor Day hike. It was a 1.2 mile trail and pretty challenging because I had to carry Luke most of the way. But the reward at the end was worth it. Even in the late months of summer, the waterfall still had water. And it was COLD. I was scared to death that Mia was going to slip on the rocks.

Cole acted pretty miserable after he got wet. Our friend Joe was the one to get the kids down.

Luke was too busy enjoying his bread with jam to look at the camera.

Back down at the bottom of the trail, we had to get a photo of all the cute and tough kids.

Celebrate a New School Year

Mia's school has a fun annual tradition. To kick off the school year they each get to release a balloon into the sky. It helps them remember to "soar to new heights". And it's all biodegradable. Can't beat that. The countdown....

It was amazing seeing 1200 balloons fly away. The three yellow ones (held by the principal) symbolized a yellow ribbon, to honor our service members.

Cole is 5

Happy 5th Birthday Cole. We love you so much.

Future Super Hero

For Coles 5th Birthday party, we decided to have a Super Hero Party. Not just any super hero party, but one that trains little boys to become future super heroes. Here is the group of warriors just before we started their training. Mia made the awesome banner with crayons. She was my assistant during the whole party. And little Luke was babysat by Geneva (thanks, friend).

Before we began, the boys had to pick their super hero name. Cole decided on Wii Man. We had other names such as T-Rex, Lightning boy, Toot man, Captain Underpants, and Jake the Super Snake, to name a few.

Their first challenge was to practice their aiming and shooting skills. They had to use a balloon pump to blow up a balloon, let it go, and hope that it lands in the target - which was masking tape on the carpet. The Red team won.

Next up was the obstacle course. The kids first had to fill a cup with water (a cup with tiny holes poked in the sides), hold it over their heads and run down the sidewalk to dump the water in another bucket. A perfect day for a water game. It was 110 degrees outside.

Next they had to balance a ball on a spoon.

Then they had to jump through a hopscotch course and jump over a few objects. The last part was the challenge of riding a superhero mobile around orange cones.

And finally race to the finish line. They all earned their capes.

Time for presents. Cole loved the gifts his friends gave him.

We love Costco cakes, and since they don't make a superhero one, we decided to go with the soccer cake. Cole loves soccer as well, and the cake was wonderful.

Happy Birthday Wii Man.

Friends

We have Awesome Friends. Aren't these adorable? I love the sugar sparkle stars. How creative, Geneva!

We Love Daddy!

BACK TO SCHOOL

It's back to school time. The kids were so excited for the first day. Here's Mia and her friend Lauren getting ready to go to class. Cole didn't start school until after lunch. He was thrilled to be in the same school as his big sister.

Daddy walked him to the bus.

And of course Mom had to trail behind to get some photos.

Mia and Cole rode back home together. They were both exhausted after their long first day.

As a tradition I try to make a special after school snack after the first day of school. Here are my cheese "pencils". Not so cute, but the kids loved them. I got the idea from Family Fun magazine.

Broken Teeth

On Saturday I finally got Luke a hair cut. He was looking a little shaggy. Well, the lady that cut his hair didn't do the best job, mostly because Luke was a stinker and wouldn't hold still, but also because for some reason she thought it would be a good idea to cut his bangs straight across. Well, I just decided it was good enough and left it alone.

But later that night Luke and Cole were wrestling and Luke hit his face on the tile, breaking not one, but TWO teeth. Here's the photo. So in one day, in my failed attempt to make my Lukie even cutier, I managed to turn my shaggy little boy into a Jim Carrey "Dumb and Dumber" look-a-like. He's still cute though. And luckily we're getting his teeth fixed this week.

Last Week of Summer Vacation

Our last week of Summer Vacation was a blast. Instead of going to California like we planned, we headed north to see our family and enjoy a few more sights. Here's Historic Cove Fort. The kids loved the cool button/string trick.

We saw a bunch of family but didn't get any good photos. Too much fun, and no time for picture taking, I guess. The kids got to go to Lagoon and Cherry Hill with their cousins. We love our cousins.

We also got a visit from cousin Austin. They had a lot of fun for the two days he was here.

Can't wait for next summer!

Pajama Party Anyone?

For Mia's 7th birthday we decided to have a friend party (because she didn't get one last year due to the fact that we just moved and didn't know anyone). We tossed around several different ideas, but considering we had to have the party in the evening - to fit various schedules, we decided to have a Pajama Party! It was so much fun.

Here's the awesome cake. Mia helped me make the fruit roll up pajamas. It was a fun activity to do together. It's a three layer (two cake mixes) chocolate cake with vanilla icing.
After the girls ate their pizza, they each made one of these cute necklaces out of a metal washer and scrapbook paper. They turned out adorable.

Here's the take home party favor. I just asked a lady at Pei Wei if I could buy some of their mini take out boxes, and they just gave me a dozen. Nice! I filled them with candy.

The girls loved just chatting and eating. A true girl party.

While their necklaces were drying and before the sun went down, they used fabric markers to decorate a pillow case.

Mia drew a picture of a horse, then had all the girls sign the back of it, to remember who came to her party. She loves it.

Unfortunately I was a one man show. That being said it's almost impossible to play hostess and photographer, so I didn't get all the pictures I wished for. But we had a blast playing games and doing crafts. I love having a little girl. Time for presents!

Of course we had to play the traditional "Heavy heavy hang over thy poor head" game. Mia's head was sore from all the bonks.

Happy birthday my princess. We love you so much!

What I don't have pictures of....

1. Playing "don't let the balloon hit the floor" in complete darkness except for glow bracelets.

2. 11 little girls jumping on my trampoline at the same time (all but one got on. The hold out is very obedient to her Mom's wishes)

3. The girls playing "down by the banks" hand slap game on the grass

4. The girls pealing extra glue from their hands like it's skin. (Everyone loves that, right?)

5. Mia's head getting covered with bows and confetti from all the presents.

Thanks to all of Mia's friends for making her 7th birthday so memorable.

Lucky Number 7

Happy 7th Birthday, Mia!