Pictures of the Kids

We had a great time at our Family Reunion in Roseburg, OR. (more pictures to come soon!!) The main festivities were held on Saturday at one of the most picturesque barn/farm houses I've ever seen. (the theme of the reunion was "Country Cousins") I had fun taking some pictures of Ava and the boys (although they are not as willing as her to be photographed for any length of time :) AVA 1, black and white
Ava 2
Ava 3
Ava 4
Cristian 1
I much prefer pictures of Cristian that are not "staged" and truly just capture his joy for life!
Carter 1
Best I could get of him against the red barn, Carter 2

**Like I said, more reunion pictures to follow :)

Princess Room

Our big project for the summer was re-doing the kids' bedrooms. Gone is the nursery now, and we've moved Ava into her own room once again and the boys are now sharing. Over the weekend, we gave Ava's room a mini-make over. My dad made this beautiful castle headboard for her bed, which is by far the highlight of the room for Ava. She just loves it and her new Princess room. Here is a 360 degree view of her room...
We moved her doll house and princess vanity into her room, and hung up new wall decor. My mom found that cute wall hanging with her name on it, and the colors matched so perfectly.
A close up of the head board
New bedding, with matching sheets and lamp shade
Her nightstand with the canvas artwork she made at preschool last year
Window seat with some of her favorite "friends" on it... stuffed toys from Disneyland, her webkinz, a couple of dolls, and Nippers the Husky dog :)
Her little rocking chair with some more Minnie Mouses on it, and her spoon collection hung on the wall.
Her book case, organized with all her fancy nancy books and a fancy nancy doll.
My mom found that cute A plaque to hang on her door, and the clock too.
The Princess and her frog
She was pretty pleased with how her new room turned out :)
A special room for our special princess
Most of you already know... we redid the boys room too. We finally got the red stripe painted towards the top of the wall, next up will be the navy blue stripe on top of that. Once it's completely finished, I'll do a 360 picture post of their room too :)

Dinner with Cousins

Friday night we went to my cousin Kyle's house for a BBQ. Ava and Clair enjoyed playing in the sprinkler together.
Cami and Carter enjoyed playing with each other... they both really enjoy climbing!
Cami helping Ava guard the goal during the cousin's soccer game
Joel and Kyle were on a team and played against Marcus, Clair, Cristian, and Ava.
Cami after eating her dessert :)
Upside down Cami... this girl is fearless... she'll probably make a good gymnast like her mommy!

A & C

One afternoon, I was watering my flower pots and baskets while Carter was napping. When I came in I could hear Ava and Carter laughing... and this is why. Ava climbed right into the pack-n-play with him :)

Walk & Breakfast with Great Nana

On Friday, my Grandma came over to our house and picked up Cristian so he could go on a walk with her, her dog Malie, and all her walking friends. They walked to a local favorite breakfast place, and Cristian enjoyed French Toast and bacon.
Off they go on their walk :) Cristian really enjoyed his time with Great Nana!

Swim Lessons

My friend Alison and I have been doing semi-private swim lessons for our kids this summer at their house. These girls are on the local swim team and also teach lessons, and the kids just love them. We're doing 2 lessons a week until the end of Aug, so the kids are getting a lot of swim time in!
One girl takes Ava and Trenton for 30 minutes in the shallower end. They've been working their front and back torpedos, and were just introduced to crawl stroke. Ava has made great strides in the water this year... last year she didn't like to put her face in the water, and this year she's swimming on her own for about 7 yards, and will dive under after toys.
Showing them torpedo arms
Doing her front torpedo
Kaylee and Cristian work with another girl in the deeper end since they are both pretty good swimmers already. They have really been focusing on technique and breathing.
Cristian working his back stroke
Learning how to dive into the water and swim to the other side, just like they would do at a swim meet.
In he goes...
Warming up in Alison's hot tub after lessons
Kaylee and Trenton are hamster sitting for some friends of theirs. The kids thought it was so cute!
Carter petting the little guy too

Ava's Soccer Game

The cheering section, Kaylee and Cristian routing on their little brother/sister!
Carter being entertained by Nannie, Grampie, and Auntie

(Kyle was the referee for the game) here's Ava down by the goal
Ava keeping it away from the yellow team
getting ready to kick the ball in
Carter running around in the field... Cristian and Grampie following
bringing him back :)
Ava scored another goal at her game, she is really improving every week and most importantly, she is having so much fun.
The team after the game (Ava's #2)
Ava with Nannie and Grampie