My 10th Birthday!!!!!

I turned 10 on June 11,2013! Yay me, I can’t believe I am already 10! I had an AWESOME Hunger Games themed party (Mommy will post about that). So on my actual birthday we had my favorite for breakfast, crepes with nutella and bananas! It was soooo good. I swear I had like 6 of them! In the afternoon we went swimming while Daddy made his famous (and delicious) BBQ chicken! It was so fun being at the house having fun with my family. I enjoyed my day very much!

Sonoma Train Town

My cousin Jasmine is in town with her baby Elena so we decided to take a trip to Sonoma Train Town.  The kids love going here because of the train ride, feeding the animals and the rides.  Afterwards we usually go to Sonoma Square where we have a picnic lunch and get ice cream!

The first thing we did when we go to Train Town was ride the train

Jassy, Elena, Riley, Ari and Trin

My babies

Me and my boys

This baby boy LOVES train rides =)

Halfway through the train ride the train stops and there is a miniature town and animals that you can feed.  The kids love the little town and all the little buildings.

The three little babies on a miniature bench which was perfect for their size =)

Playing in the school house

And in the firehouse

After the train ride we took some pictures by the signs and train tracks

I always take a picture here when we come so I can see how big the kids are getting =)

My Mom and Jaime sitting with the babies while the bigger kids ride some rides

Riding the carousel

And the ferris wheel

Laci and Nick rode on the airplanes

After the kids rode all the rides we headed to Sonoma square for our picnic and ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s!  Group picture minus my Mom =)

Celebrating Connor’s 1st Birthday

For Connor’s 1st Birthday we decided to take him to the CA Academy of Science in San Francisco.  My Mom, my brother Jaime and my cousin Francis came along too =)

Family picture in front for the museum

One of the first things we saw when we got there was the dinosaur.  The kids call him Rexy like the dinosaur from the movie Night at the Museum.

Next we went to check out the Earthquake exhibit!  Lots of people don’t like earthquakes, but I think they are pretty cool.  The kids loved going in the stimulator so they could feel what a real earthquake would feel like.

The last big earthquake was on my birthday!

Family picture we took before going in the earthquake exhibit.  I love how everyone is acting scared, but Laci actually looks very concerned hahaha

After we walked around and saw a couple of animals.

Here’s the famous albino alligator

Connor found a snake that was actually playing with him, going back and forth across the glass.

Then we headed to the Rainforest dome which was very hot and humid!   There were also lots of butterflies flying around which freaked me out =/

Family picture before heading into the rainforest

Then we headed to the roof to see the “living roofs”

Next up was the aquarium section.  Connor’s favorite part =)

Here he is checking out the jellyfish

He loved watching all the fish swim by

Inside the tunnel are he just sat there and looked at all the fish swimming around him =)

Another family picture before exiting the aquarium area

After we were done at the museum we went to go visit my grandparents at the cemetery before heading home

When we got home everyone came over to sing him Happy Birthday and to have some cake and ice cream.

Happy 1st Birthday my baby boy Connor!!!!!  We love you so much and we’re so happy we have you to complete our family.  You’ve brought so much joy to our lives and we couldn’t imagine our lives without you ❤

Quick Tahoe trip 2012

Dustin found out he had two consecutive days off in a row and since the kids were on summer vacation we decided that we should go somewhere or do something.  The kids ended up choosing Lake Tahoe because we’ve only gone in the winter and have never gone in the summer.  So we checked Dustin’s parents timeshare to see if we could find any rooms and we found one opening!  So Lake Tahoe it was =)

We left early in the morning on July 5th and drove straight to Emerald Bay

From there we hiked down to Vikingsholm castle and Eagle Falls

On the hike down we found a baby waterfall

Once we got to the bottom we walked around Vikingsholm and then found somewhere to sit and have a snack before heading to Eagle Falls

After we rested for a bit and ate some snacks we started our hike to Eagle Falls.  It was already starting to get hot so the kids didn’t want to hike too much farther.  Here they are taking a break before getting to the falls

We only hiked to the bottom half of the waterfalls and decided to head back up to the car.  On the way back up the mountain we saw this pretty view and decided to stop for a picture.

It was starting to get very warm so we headed down to the lake for some swimming before checking into our timeshare.  This was our little set up at the lake.  We got a spot next a picnic table so we could eat our packed lunch there and Connor and I relaxed in the shade of our little tent =)

The water was freezing!  But the kids seemed to enjoy it =)

Finally got a picture of me and my babies =)

Dustin was brave enough to get into the cold water with the kids and they had so much fun with him!!!

Daddy and his girls

Connor didn’t like the cold water so he hung out mostly in the shaded tent or sitting with me on the sand.

Nick keeping Connor company since he didn’t want to get in the water.

I love this picture of Dustin and his biggest baby girl

And another one with Dustin and his littlest baby boy Connor!

Before we left we found someone to take a family picture of us all and it actually turned out pretty good with all the kids looking =)

After swimming for a couple hours we decided it was time to head to the timeshare to check in, get washed up and get dinner ready.  When we got there the kids were so excited about picking the beds they were sleeping in.  We got all the kids showered and cleaned up before eating dinner.  Then we got ready for bed.

Riley and Nick love sleeping in the “wall bed” lol

And Laci and Ari slept in the twin beds room

The next day we planned to go to Taylor Creek Visitor Center and hopefully see some salmon and other fish.  Then we were going to head to the lake again for more swimming before heading back home.  But first we had to have breakfast =)  Here are the girls eating pancakes, eggs and bacon while the boys finished getting ready.

Arriving at Taylor Creek

We found someone to take a family picture of us again on the trail

Taking a picture break before heading into the mini aquarium

Inside the mini aquarium you can see all types of fish that swim in Lake Tahoe

Connor loved seeing the fish and could have stayed standing there all day if we let him.

But before we left we also had the kids do the Smokey the Bear trail so they could become Jr. Rangers

Then it was time to head to the lake again since it was staring to get hot once more.  Connor was exhausted from all the hiking we did so he took a nice long nap in out tent while the kids enjoyed swimming.

The kids had a blast in the water once again, even if the water was freezing cold =/

It was such a fun mini vacation and even though we didn’t stay very long we still had a lot of fun!!!

Backyard 4th of July

So this 4th of July we spent it at home with friends and family.  We BBQ’d and had LOTS of yummy food before doing some fun fireworks in the backyard.  We did the fireworks around the pool so in case there was an accidental fire, there would be plenty of water nearby.  But the downside was that all the ash fell into the pool so the next morning I had a very dirty pool to clean/vacuum.  Let’s just say that that will be the last time we do fireworks in the backyard.  Hahaha!  Other than that it was a lot of fun and the kids loved watching the fireworks.  It’s not as good as the fireworks in Washington though =/

Nick with the stash of fireworks Uncle Irwin brought over

My sister’s and I matched so we had to take a picture of course 😉

The kids having some fun with sparklers before the sun went down

The guys excited to light some fireworks!!!!

And here they are =)

Of course my husband would be the one to try and light another firework while they are already going off

But don’t worry we had people ready to save the day with their water sprayers LOL

The kids watching the fireworks from inside the house

More fireworks

Most of the fireworks the guys set off

The guys aka the big kids!  They had the most fun as usual hahahaha

This was their “big finale” lol

Hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July!  We’re ready for another 4th of July in Washington!!!!