High School Reunion

Paula, Rae, Kendra, Audrey, Jayla, Kristy, Emily, and Landon.  Courtney and Katee were MIA and Jen and Miss Kate had to go home to nap!
Aren't we great lookin English teachers?  Those are some lucky kids! :-) (We like to think they are!)

OK, before all of my blogging buddies panic, no, you didn't miss and Ocean View Reunion! A bunch of the girls I teach with came over with their kids for a swim day.  It was good to see them, since we spend so much time together during the year.  And it was even better that we got to hang out and not have to go grade papers, or be told by a bell when our socializing was up.  Thanks Jen, Rae, Paula, and Kristy for making the drive.  Can't wait to see you next week for round 2!

Crack kills!

Uhhh.....nice tan, buddy.

Frolicking!

Me and Jess, the newlywed!

But, it doesn't keep us away from the beach.  Em, Landon, and I went to the beach and met my college roommate Jessica for a couple of hours of sun.  The kids had a great time and I spent the whole  day trying to keep Landon's pants up.  I NEVER had that problem as a kid, and I certainly don't have it now.  But, it was a great day.  Hope to do it again soon, Jess.

A Day at the Beach in Dana Point???

Our picnic at the park.
"Please be my friends."  Asher shared his bike with Em and Landon and then reclaimed it quickly!
Sidewalk chalk.  Fun to play with and, if you're Asher, it's fun to eat!
Em took this picture of us on my phone.  We do both have heads, with hair, but Emily had chalky hands when she took this, so it's the best I've got!

Last week I called my friend Dawnielle and we planned a beach day for our kids.  Emily and Landon and I drove from 95 degree heat towards south county, and were greeted not-so-warmly- with rain.  It was depressing on one hand, but also a nice break from the severe heat at our house.  So, we made adjustments and had our lunches at the park. My kids had a great time playing with Asher, Dawnielle's 18 month old son, and D and I had a great time catching up.  It was a great day and as I left, I had one of those moments where you thank God for friends, the friends who will always be your friends, no matter what circumstances life throws at you.  I feel I have reconnected with several of those types of friends this summer.  And I am so thankful. It was a great day.  Thanks Dawnielle- we're off to Frank and Nanc's next!

4th of July Fun!

Fun with glo-sticks....kinda creepy!  Thanks Dad!

Fire pup!  The picture below is on our way home.  The dogs were EXHAUSTED from all of the exercise and fresh air.

We took another trip to Arrowhead this year on the 4th of July.  We had a great time with Duane's family (minus Steve :-(  ), and my parents.  Here are a few pictures of the fun.

San Diego Trip with the Girls!

The girls- Susan, Birthday girl, me and Dana. We sing a mean version of "Livin on a Prayer."  Move over Bon Jovi!
Me and Diane
Dana and Susan
Diane and the waiter at the piano bar.  Apparently she was the first ever to order a box of animal crackers, which were on the menu.  Go figure.
The white blob in the middle is Diane, who was being, um...serenaded, no, embarassed by the guy at the piano.  Happy Birthday!

My sister is....well, she's a year older.  For her birthday, we went with a couple of friends to San Diego, without the kids or husbands.  We laid out, swam, karaoked (totally not a verb), ate, slept in, ate, shopped, went to a dueling piano bar and embarrased Diane, got a tattoo- well, one of us did, ate some more, and laughed a lot.  We had a great time, one I will remember for a long time.  We really need to do this more often, girls.  Love you.

Em's Birthday Bash

The Wall-e crew.  We added Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Di, and Noah too!
It's a horrible picture, but here are the kids in the spa, watching the movie.

Those are some tired girls.

Emily turned 8 this year.  We'd already had a birthday party for her, so we took a couple of her friends to see Wall-e and then back for a "midnight swim," which happened at about 9:30pm.  During the swim, Duane set up a projector and the kids watched a movie from in the spa.  After that, they tried to stay up super late, but pretty much crashed.  It was a fun night....except for the fact that my baby girl is 8!  Depressing!!!!

Mom's first trip to Build A Bear

Most of you probably know that right at the end of school, my grandma died.  After her 3 1/2 year battle with Alzheimer's, she finally went home to Jesus.  It was really tough, although the peace of knowing she is in Heaven and that I will see her again makes it so much better. The week after Grandma died, my mom, Diane, Hannah, Noah, Emily, Landon and I went to Build-A-Bear to...well, to build bears.  We had a great time as Mom and her 4 grandkids made new friends to love. And each kid put a heart into my mom's bear... cheesy if you have never been, but after losing her own mom, my mom thought it was pretty special. It was a great time of family and togetherness, capped off with a trip to Sees in honor of Grandma.  We wouldn't have eaten it, really....but it was her favorite :-) So, we all had some chocolate in her honor.  The things we do for love! Thanks for the great day guys...I hope we can do it again sometime soon. Love you!

Aerial Tram

The view on the way up.  Not my favorite part~
So, the new Coach purse probably shouldn't have come on the outdoor hike.  It was a pain. Below is Duane being a dork....we love taking stupid pictures like this. :-)

One of the things Duane and I did on our trip was take the Aerial Tram up the top of the San Jacinto (San Hachinto :-)) mountains.  Here are some of the views:

11 years!

WOW! Duane and I have been married for 11 years.  It's hard to believe that we are into our 2nd decade of marriage.  We had a great mini- get-a -way to La Quinta (Jess- we were right by your house!), where we stayed at a bed and breakfast and then went shopping and took the Aerial Tram to the top of the mountain.  We ate at some NEW restaurants that the kids would've hated and had a lot of fun being together.  Here's to another 11 more.... I love you babe!

More family camp

I am Liam....sandboy.
Emily and Miss Molly- snuggling
Auntie Bean and Hannah
Grandma and Hannah Banana

Family Camp Fun!

Tyler, Emily, Madison, and Landon....filthy, sandy kiddos.
You can't tell, but these boys were COVERED in sand.
Not sure what is up with the porn star pose!
Fun in the sun.

Duane and I love camping- especially with friends and family.  It's been too long since we've been able to do it.  We've now had four "last trips" in the trailer, but we finally decided to trade in our LONG trailer for a smaller one and go ahead and rent it our to friends and family (let us know if you'd like to take a trip) and be able to enjoy it more ourselves.  Here was our official LAST TRIP in the Cougar...our church Family Camp at Campland in San Diego...more trips in our new Kodiak to come...

Preschool Graduation

Landon with proud mommy and daddy.
Mama and her baby boy!

Nana, Papa and LJ.
There's my boy....and his sister.  They love their cookies.

My baby is officially graduated. He was so proud and looked so cute singing his songs in his cap. My parents and the Gibbs were already at family camp, so Duane's family helped us celebrate. After graduation, we took off for family camp with our church.  It was a great start to a great weekend.

As seen through the eye of a squid.

These picts cracked me up. Apparently, this is how a squid views the world.  I just want to know, did they ask the squid?  I mean, who's to say this isn't just made up?  Has anyone ever BEEN a squid?  Here are the picts anyway...

Yep- Sea World...AGAIN!

Emily and Landon with Cookie Monster
And Elmo
And Zoe.
Watch out world...I'm almost 8!!!
And I'm just a goof!

I'm not sure how many Sea World blogs I've done....but we always have a great time there.  We went to see the new Sesame Street Bay of Play.  Here are some picts that I thought were super cute.

Last Day of School!

OK- so I am really behind, but a lot has happened in the last month.  So, here are the kids on their last day of school.