While Eric went to Philly to finish up some work at Temple, the kids and I spent some time in the Denver area visiting Eric's brother Adam and some old friends. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures with everyone, but here are some pictures with Shauna's family. Shauna was kind enough to let us crash at her house for three days and it was a blast the whole time. Her little boy, Jaden is 3 months younger than Logan, and her little girl, Bradli, is 1 month younger than Paige. Such cute kids! Thanks Shauna and Doug for great food, great accommodations, and great company!
After coming home to an empty house in Grand Junction, and realizing that Eric was going to be hunting through Labor Day weekend, I was feeling the need to get away again. My super generous brother-in-law Chris came to my rescue by flying me (and my kids) home to San Diego with his frequent flier miles. I was able to visit with my high school friends, Elizabeth and Krissi, who both had babies this spring too. It was so great to see them and their cute babies!
We also spent the majority of our time at the beach, soaking in the last days of summer. The water was warm, the weather was beautiful, and I was in heaven! Mason became quite the boogie boarder this trip, and even got brave enough to wade out up to his waist and dive under waves with his cousin Morgan!
Erika came out from Virginia too because it was my mom's birthday on the 28th. It was the first time my whole family had been together for any birthday since I was in high school!
My Dad took the kids out on his boat for a fishing/dolphin/sea lion watching adventure. We saw sea lions, but no dolphins or fish. The kids had a blast riding in the boat, though, so it was well worth taking the boat out!
The kids wanted to "swim with the sharks" so we all jumped overboard. Isn't that water beautiful?
Paige was not quite the happy girl she usually is because she was cutting her first 2 teeth during these trips, but here's a smile nonetheless. Guess she loves the beach as much as her mom!
The whole crew on our last beach day. We finished up the day with some greasy mexican food and ice cream. A perfect day in my book! We had a great time and miss you all! Thanks Chris and Kirsten for making it happen!
Now we are back in CO and Eric just left for his first day of work - yippee! Mason starts school Wednesday and Logan starts school next week. We've had a blast the last 2 weeks, but now we are ready to get into a routine and settle into life here. Good-bye summer - we'll miss you!
We started off Mason's birthday bash by making these fun swirly cookies (click for recipe) that I saw on my friend Tracy's blog, who stole the idea from our friend Tifani (thanks to you both!) to take to preschool. The kids loved helping with these, but it took twice as long with their help :)
On his birthday we went to a park with some of our new friends and shared some cupcakes. Mason took along his new scooter to practice and had a blast.
Later we went to gymnastics (sorry the pictures is so dark, he is swinging from the high bar), which is his favorite new activity. Then we took him to Bananas (a mini-golf place) to golf, ride bumper boats, play laser tag, and jump on huge inflatables. Unfortunately our camera battery died when I went to take the first picture, but I can assure you we had a great time!
I was worried Mason's birthday was going to be a bust because I had to practice some tough love by not letting him have the hulk birthday party we'd planned after he threw a fit in Target. He was the one who said he didn't want a "stupid party" so I had to hold him to it. He was really sad for a few days before his birthday when he realized I wasn't giving in, but he ended up having a good birthday regardless. Being a mom is so hard sometimes, even after 5 years of practice! We love our Mason - happy birthday buddy!
