Canoe Trip

Tyler was second in command sitting at the front of the canoe. It was a leisurely ride (for me, lyssa, and Ryan since we didn't have to oar_ at least not until I decided that we had enough after a few hours. I think we were canoeing for over 3 hours which sounds nice but we ran out of water. : (

so cute they are!

It was on this day where Ryan learned the word 'skeeto' meaning mosquitos. We stopped to let the kids play for a bit and no more than a few min of being on land were being eaten alive. It was crazy how many there were!

Lake Day

The lakes there was pretty although not quite as pretty as Crater Lake. We ended up at the Lake at least 3 times that week . We packed snacks and our lunch and literally hung out for hours. It was awesome. Ryan loved shooting people with his water gun. First and ONLY gun he will ever own. In the picture above he was shooting Samantha and she turned around and said something to him and he got embarassed!
All 8 kids had literally a Wal-mart full of toys. Floaties, water squirties, shovels, so fun!
Daddy and Ryan in one of many water fights!

Crater Lake

There were so many pictures like this where Alyssa was making Ryan look at the camera. He just wasn't into today. We hit the road by 5 that morning and rolled into Crater lake around 1 or so. I think it is the most beautiful site I have ever seen. The colors of the lake, the trees, even the whiteness of the clouds were amazing. There is a lodge that I would like to stay in sometime in the next few years. I bet the morning sight is something to behold.


This was a stop about 90 min from our final destination. Our group left the day before but we had to stay because Tyler wasn't coming home from camp until late Friday afternoon. We stopped in Weed to get gas, called one of the parties in our group and wouldn't you know, they were driving right past us! So we quickly got in line and caravanned (is that even a word?) onto Crater lake and then on to our final destination, Sunriver Oregon.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! We are so blessed to have our Daddy, he is the best! Ryan was being bashful in this pic but in others he looked great but one of the other didn't so this one it is!
Not sure what she was thinking when she got all crazy eyed but she wanted this picture out of all of them that I took. This one is THEE ONE mom.
Such a handsome charmer...

Where's Tyler?

Her very last performance of the season

Wow, what a year! It has been a wild ride for her first year in the performing company. Not sure I would have done this if it was up to me but I was able to hang with the girls while back stage while they were waiting to perform on their very last night. It was awesome and eye opening. There was one big room and we had all of the kids 9 and under plus a few moms helping out. We were there for at least 3 hours before they were called to perform. It was nuts! A few moms brought things to do and I for one noted this for next year. It was a fantastic idea. But for those who didn't want to color, sing songs, watch DVD's or play Barbies they actually had a place where they could dance with no teachers. They could freestyle or work on their dance number. It was amazing to see how many of them wanted to just dance. I was a little nervous because I did not know what to expect but all of those girls were totally fine. They were having such a blast with no pressures of what was about to come. Dancing on the stage in front of at least 1000 people. Freaks me out just thinking about it.This was them before they went on stage. Posing one last time...
Love having Alyssa front row!
There were actually 2 girls missing when I took the shot.
so cute! Going to frame this one and put it in a shadow box with her trophy and medals for this year. What a blast and learning experience for us all. While I love the idea of a break for a few months I actually am looking forward to seeing her next year. Seeing all of the girls actually. Alyssa loves this one dance of a gal and guy around the age of 15 and I told her that might be her one day. She was over the moon with excitement. but then she asked me what color of dress she would wear and if the guy would match her dress. Um, sure honey. whatever you want!

Cousins!

Alyssa wanted to have Sarah sleepover and so she did. I was a little leary because last time she threw up all over Alyssa's bed and carpet....yuck...Can you believe they are 3 days a part?? There is over 6 inches between them! Sarah is almost at her brother's height as well and she is 20 months younger!

The girls before they go to sleep. Since Ryan is sleeping in the room and we knew they would chat and chat for hours before bed we put them in the living room on the air mattress. It worked perfectly!
Pretending to sleep...

yep, she is even posing in her sleep. She cracks us up...most of the time...

It was the best sleepover ever! They only stayed up and chatted for about 20 min and then fell asleep until almost 7:30, not bad! I had bought cereal since it is a vary rare treat in our house and while Alyssa was excited Sarah was not. So I made choc chip pancakes and finally Sarah was excited. Ironically Sarah said she eats cereal for breakfast all the time where as Alyssa eats pancakes often so she really thought the cereal was the best. Thankfully choc chips made them all excited, actually the rest of us were happy with choc chips for breakfast too. :D

Weekend with the Cox kids

Here are our fav 6 kids.... Just after we had smores in their backyard. An awesome way to end the weekend!

Jackie giving Ryan a ride on the 4 wheeler...

Alyssa sitting on the sprinkler...they all took turns and finally she got up the nerve to do it. Ha...That is HOT!


Trampoline time was Rob's and my favorite..It equaled tired kids!

Alyssa's wedding

We are at the Cox house this weekend with their kids, Sophie (10), Jackie (7) and Cole (5). I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and I saw Alyssa run down the stairs headed toward the door all dressed up. I followed her and asked her where she is going. She yelled, while still running, "Mommy I am getting married!" Say what? yep, apparently Alyssa and Cole married this afternoon complete with marriage license. I am actually afraid to ask if they kissed. eegads...

Cole dipped my little girl! I had a little issue with it at first, not sure why. What was crazy is that HE went along with what my daughter wanted. Not Cole-like at all.

Actually very cute pic of them. ;D

Marriage License-signed by Jackie.

Sophie told Cole he needed to give his wife a gift and so he gave her Kiki and she acted surprised. What goofs.

Happy hollow

This is our friend Carmen and her 5 year old son Diego at Happy Hallow today. I cant stand the greedy SOB"s they call 'goats' because they will eat your fingers off. Okay, maybe not that mean but they know what they want and they will go after it! I sent Carmen in with the kids to feed them so I could 'take some pics' ha ha...totally fooled her. ; )

After a few times of losing the food to the white goat since he knew how to open the lid and eat the food right out of the dispenser she had to use her knee. I tried taking a pic but I was laughing too hard. The more muscle she used the more he would use. He almost won.
I have no idea where she gets the posing from but sometimes it works to her advantage. Sometimes I think she should have been born to a pageant mom because she would have had a lot of fun!




This is a big deal because I won't let her go on the swings at Great America even though she is tall enough. These ones are little so if she fell she would only fall 2 feet.

Napping and then on to scooting!

okay, so i forgot that I need to upload first to last so my pics are out of sequence . ; 0 so read from bottom up. :D

No scooter ride is complete without a supportive hug from his big sister. Actually truth be told she was probably just jealous and wanted some attention from the camera but whatever works. He seemed thrilled.

those at those baby blues! Gorgeous!
Ryan's way of scooting is to walk beside the scooter. He does this all the time. Then yesterday I heard 'momma watch me" and I looked back at him and he was actually scooting! Wow! What balance, so cool. My friend is giving him radio flyer's first scooter this weekend as a belated birthday present and I was really excited but now I wonder if I should trade it in for one like Lyssa minus the Barbie stickers. ha...
Ryan napping in his racecar bed with his new loves...trains. Seriously over night he woke up and has carried around since. He even has a train bag because he keeps dropping them. Although when we go outside he does leave them inside so he can scoot.

the most relaxing beach day ever

Rob and I took the kids to Santa Cruz and it was unbelievably the most relaxing day that we have had in a long time. The kids did really well and we were able to sit back and relax and watch them play. It was amazing. Also amazing is that Tyler and Alyssa can go on all the rides and Rob and I don't have to! ha ha. No more picking straws over who 'gets' to take her! Thanks Bud!