Summertime continues...

Riding bikes and unexpectedly getting rained on!

Fun at the state fair… Connor milked a cow! 

Mal and I got creative at PaintNite and had a blast pretending to be artists.

Another summer movie date with the kiddos. This time, we saw Kung Fu Panda 2.

Playing board games and escaping the Sacramento heat.

Celebrating CJ's 3rd birthday at Freedom Park.

Maddie's recent play activity… packing up and pretending to move out with her babies.

Being creative and making Mal good-bye cards.

And of course, more time at the pool. The kids both started another session of swim lessons to finish off the summer!

The Jungle Book

Connor and I went to see Brooke star in The Jungle Book performed by The Harris Center for the Arts. It was a fabulous play and Brooke did an amazing job as King Louie! Connor loves going to live theater! In fact, shortly after this play, he went to The YES Company's performance of Peter Pan at the Gallo Center with Poppy and Mimi and loved it! They had front row seats and he got sprinkled with fairy dust!

Summer Trip to Oregon

We had an amazing trip to Oregon to visit my parents' beach condo! It was such a relaxing, fun trip! The kids were amazing in the car and Michael drove the entire 10 hours there and back! Poppy and Mimi showed us a great time and it was just wonderful to get to spend a whole week enjoying their slice of heaven! It would be a very long blog post if I mentioned all the fun adventures we had, but here are a few of the top memories we made:

• Building sandcastles, flying kites, playing football, jumping waves, and relaxing by the beach.
• Swimming in the pool and relaxing in the hot tub.
• Crabbing! This was a first for all of us! It was an adventure and so fun! We only caught one that was big enough to take home, but we had a blast doing it!
• Exploring the tide pools at the bottom of Cape Perpetua and the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. We saw sea urchins and starfish.
• Hiking and picnicking at Cape Perpetua. It was the most beautiful view of the coast!
• Having fun at the local county fair… it was pretty "red-neck," but the kids had a blast and the motocross show was amazing!
• Exploring the Newport Aquarium again. It's such a nice place with an amazing shark tunnel!
• Resting in the condo… reading books, playing games, going on bunny hunts, riding bikes, etc.
• Golfing… the boys went golfing twice, once taking Connor for a round of 9 holes. He was so excited to get to golf with Daddy and Poppy!
• Playing at the park, sliding down the ginormous mountain slide, and then enjoying Tillamook ice cream!
• Picking fresh blueberries from the blueberry farm.
• Shopping at the outlets (while the boys golfed).
• Enjoying a bonfire at the beach and roasting delicious marshmallows. 

Other summer activities….

Connor has been great about doing some academic prep work during the summer. He usually does a few pages during Maddie's nap. He is really amazing in math and he's learning to read as well. I'm excited for him to begin kindergarten! He is absolutely ecstatic about starting school!

The kids have been spending lots of time outdoors! I think this picture captures the fun we've been having this summer. What's better than enjoying an ice cream outdoors?

We've also been blessed to enjoy Danielle and Brian's new pool. 

It's absolutely gorgeous and so refreshing!

Maddie and I took a trip to Fairytale one day while Connor was at Zoo Camp. It's so fun to see her personality when she gets to be the leader! Kirsten and Mallory joined us too and we had a lovely day!