Happy BIrthday Nannie - 6/27

My mom's bday was on Sunday, 6/27... we had a quick lunch celebration with her before she left for Hawaii and we left for Sun River. The kids were excited to give her her presents.
checking out what's under the wrapping
I think she likes it :)
The kids and I also got little gifts for my mom and sister for their trip to Hawaii :) book, magazine, sun screen, after sun lotion, travel toothpaste, gum, new tanks tops. stuff they could easily pack into their carry ons!
Mr Cool sporting pink sunglasses

Butterflies!

Ava going down for a quick slide before we released our 2nd round of butterflies.
On her belly...
Wheeee... So much fun!!
My Ava
Cristian got 5 new caterpillars as a gift after his Goin' Buggy play back in May...
so before we left for Sun River we released the butterflies into our backyard.
It's been fun to see so many butterflies in our yard :)
Cristian waiting...
and watching...
here comes one!
A very friendly butterfly
Ava's turn to pet it
Painted Lady

Ava Gets her hair cut

Ava's hair was getting pretty long (and I was LOVING playing around with so many different hair styles), but per her request, she got a major hair cut...
And the after shot, she got 4-5 inches cut off. courtesy of Eden, aka Cousin Larissa, who is currently working at the Gene Juarez training academy and going to their beauty school. Thanks Rissy, it is absolutely adorable!

Water Slide

After my Aunt and cousins left (and while Carter was napping), Cristian and Ava begged me to set up their water slide. This was no easy task because this thing weighs a ton when it's deflated and folded up. But I got it out of our storage room and carried it across our yard and got it all set up. I was actually pretty proud of myself, LOL. You can tell by their smiles how excited they were. Oh, it's so nice to be on Summer Vacation now!
Look at the air she gets!!
Cristian looking a little tan after 2 straight days in the sun
Last minute I called my friend Erika and invited Bailey to come over and play too. The kids played for about 2 hours while we sat out in the sun and chatted!
Having so much fun :)
Carter finally woke up after taking almost a 3 hour nap... being sick will take it out of you, I guess.

Cousins!!

My Aunt Beth and 2 of my cousins, Scott and Samantha came down from Mercer Island and had lunch with us and played for awhile. Since it was our 2nd consecutive day over 80 degrees (and it had been so long since the warm sun had been shining!) we decided to get take out and eat it in our back yard. Here are the cousins playing after lunch.
Miss Ava looking oh so 1960's-ish. I had put this headband on her with a cute side pony tail, but this is how she "readjusted" it. Looked pretty cute!
Carter's new favorite person is his cousin Scott! He did not leave his side the entire day.
Such a great big cousin!
Beautiful Samantha with Ava... can't believe she's going to be in Middle School Next year!
Cute cousins!

Summer has Arrived!

After the kids came home from the bday party, they were not done playing in the water! Cristian got this slip and slide for his bday and he has been WAITING for an opportunity to use it!
So Fun!!
Here they go!
Carter playing too
Popsicles and hose water were a good way to help lower that 103.5 degree temperature!
All three of them playing so nicely.

Bday Party

The first day of summer break we went to Ava's friend Camryn's birthday pool party. Finally the sun came out and it was a beautiful, hot day!
Cristian wrestled, and defeated the alligator
Ava taking a swing at the pinata
Cristian's turn
After the party we picked up a SICK baby Carter at my mom's house, and came home and ate homemade 'Simply Lemonade' Popsicles. I ended up having to take Carter to the doctor later that day to get a breathing treatment and steroid shot for croup. Poor sick baby! Thankfully, he recovered quickly after that.

Candy Thief

One evening, Kyle and I and the kids were watching a movie for family fun night, so I got down a little treat for everyone. Well, I guess I should have put it back on top of the fridge, because I found someone helping himself :)

Last Day of School

Here's Cristian on his last day of 1st Grade. Although I'm excited to have him home every day this summer, it was sad to say goodbye to such a fabulous teacher, and bittersweet to know I now have a 2nd grader. He just keeps growing up on me! We're so proud of how hard he worked and how much he learned this year! and he brought home yet another wonderful report card. Way to go Cristian.
On the last day, they played a couple of games and had a root beer float party.
Ava got to join us too. She is going to know this school and the teachers so well by the time she starts Kindergarten.
Bye bye First Grade... Hello 2nd Graders!!!

Since school got out at 11:30, my friends Erika and Lana and I thought it'd be fun to organize a little celebration and take some kids out to McDonalds for lunch and then to see Toy Story 3.

The girls... Bailey, Ava, Maggie, and Jaynie
The boys... Peyton, Cristian, and Hayden
Toy Story 3 was such a great movie!! LOVED IT.