happy 4th

the 4th of july was a great day for us

ben spent the afternoon at bunker beach with his friend, sam



his family invited us over to BBQ
and then
we enjoyed the blaine fireworks from the perfect spot ;)

 

 

laid back day ...
no plans ...
2 for $4 at caribou ...
great weather ...
ended with fireworks ...
a perfect day off.

s*e*v*e*n

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX!

you are
SEVEN
and
i can't even believe you are getting SO old SO quick



you have gotten SO MUCH
bigger
stronger
AND
smarter

 yet ...
so much of you hasn't changed a bit

you still give the best good morning hugs
and
good night kisses
and
you love to snuggle

you still LOVE being with drew and ben
and
when you don't have someone to play with
friends or brothers
your world begins to unravel



you love being outside -
you have become a great swimmer
you love riding your bike
and
you love jumping on the trampoline
especially with the sprinkler underneath

your favorite foods are still
hot dogs
chocolate milk
black beans
chicken nuggets dipped in ranch dressing
and
the breakfast of champions -
cocoa puffs

you love watching phineas and ferb and johnny test
you love playing minecraft on xbox, rockband on wii
and
you love playing games on the kindle
which has made you a great traveler

you love playing baseball
you are learning to love basketball
and
you are SO excited to play REAL football for the first time this year

 

your perfect afternoon
would probably consist of
playing outside
a nerf war
playing spies
playing with cars
playing video games
and
ending falling asleep in front of the tv
while we make dinner

you continue to fall asleep in some of the strangest places -
you can sleep ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE
and i love that about you!

 

there is so much about you to love
and
you have added so much fun to the past 7 years

i can't wait to see the fun we'll have from here

you are my favorite SEVEN year old
and
i LOVE you SO much!!

happy birthday, buddy!

last day at the land

although we spent 24 hours straight at disney
we had one last full day of our trip left
the weather was beautiful



AND
 we figured the parks wouldn't be TOO busy
because so many people had been out the day before
SO
we decided to end our trip at disney the way we had started it

we had a full day of taking it all in

and riding A LOT of rides

we even rode tower of terror twice

i don't love the ride
but when the wait is only 10 minutes ...
WHY NOT?!

 

we rode splash mountain

and i decided to have a little fun and take pictures from the top of the ride

 

we did toy story mania

and yes ...

stacey beat me AGAIN

 we rode california screamin '

a few times

and i decided to attempt pictures on take off

and at the top peak 

a little blurry .. but fun nonetheless 

stacey doesn't appreciate multiple roller coaster rides the way i do ;)
so eventually i left him behind and used the single rider line
to get in one more quick ride

it was a great way to end our trip

 

we had a great week in california
AND
the boys seemed to have a fun week without us
if that is possible

the time went SO fast ...
TOO fast ...
and i'm pretty sure we need to do it again soon.
you in, stac?

beach party

THIS ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

is what it looks like when you get
22 boys together
to help celebrate their friends that are turning 13!

happy birthday tony and tyler!

you know it's been a long day when ...

it's 5pm
we go looking for alex
and this ...



is where we find him

out on the town

last week we met up with some friends
for a morning of fun
and knocking a few things off the summer bucket list

our first stop was isle's

the place has AMAZING cinnamon rolls
but the best part
is that there is a tub of frosting out
and you are free to frost your cinnamon roll yourself

we always get the puppy dog tails
which are smaller rolls
and they are the perfect size

this is how mine started



after the boys taking it to the frosting bin
it looked like this ...

YUM!!

 

 

 

after getting them all sugared up
we went to a fun bookstore
that isn't too far away

 

what makes this book store fun
isn't necessarily the books that they have
but that inside you can find a chicken

 
roaming free
and very tolerant

a hole in the ground where you can observe a rat

some birds

some ferrets
an iguana
a tarantula
2 chinchillas
AND
2 cats

nothing short of WILD
and PERFECT for 3 (or 6) boys!!

thanks for a fun day steels