A Vacation to Remember.....

What a blast our family had up in the Great Lakes of Iowa.
We celebrated my Mom & Dad's 45th Anniversary by vacationing together as a family.
We all had the opportunity to be there together some time or another.
We did a lot of fishing, boating, tubing, swimming, games, amusement parks, goofy- golfing, eating, reminiscing, and laughing.
Hope you enjoy the slide show....it's manual...just press on the highlighted area, then press slide show up in the left upper corner and enjoy our vacation as much as we did!

Jam Session

We got a new KidzBop CD last night and got a sneak peak of the music.

We had to dance and rock out with our guitars.

C-man is showing his new dance move!

(Don't do this at home folks)

Jammin' on the guitars

C-man does it rock style.

Miss-O does is Phoebe style (from Friends).

Checkin' themselves out in the mirror.

How cool are they?

High Seas Expedition

You'll have to excuse us. The kids and I have been on a High Seas Expedition. We've been sailing in a big ship this week and learning about God's Word, God's Comfort, and his surprises. We are loving VBS. Miss-O has a hard time transitioning to the nursery, but then when we pick her up at the end of the morning, she doesn't want to leave. C-man and I have been meeting new friends and learning some really cool Bible lessons about Peter & Paul. We love to play games, have snacks, act out the Bible story, watch a movie, and make a craft. Then our favorite is meeting up at the end, singing and dancing. Maybe we'll have to take pictures of our fun Expedition!

Our Froglet is changing before our eyes.......

Meet Buddy

Buddy is now a froglet. He is the only surviving tadpole.

Unfortunately, the other tadpoles did not survive their stinky water.

Fortunately, the tadpoles are in heaven along with Miss-O's helium balloon.

Buddy was at school and came home the last day of school.

Buddy now like both air and water.

He likes to hop on the rock and hang out.

We are amazed by how his tail is shrinking everyday.

Soon, he'll have no tail at all.........and........

turn into a FROG!

The Carousel Park

Friday

We went to the Carousel Park/Rocket Playground Park.

We ate a picnic with our friends;

Mr. E, A-man, Miss-L, and Mr.M.

Then we played on the Rocket Playground

and explored another planet.

Finally, we rode the carousel!

That was our favorite......

When asked if she likes the tiger or the bear.....Miss-O says she likes them all.
C & O
Boy, it was a hot one out there.

Tanja with her kiddos; Lilly and McKai

Emory loved the carousel, he rode it 6 times!

We plan to park-hop with our friends this summer!

Which park to choose next???

Welcome Home!

Thursday

Baby Evan comes home and we finally get to see him and hold him!

C-man, "Mom, Evan tooted on my hand while I was holding him." giggling.

Mom, "He's just showing how cool is his and making sure you know he's your buddy."
Miss-O, "I LOVE baby Evan...he is soooo cute."

New Chef in Town!

Ohana's is a favorite place of our family's.

We love eating the veggies, steak, rice, mushrooms, & noodles.

So it didn't surprise me when we asked C-man to pick

his restaurant to go to for his birthday.

Paul and I were trying to vote for Taki; we just wanted

our fix of shushi.

C said, "when it's your birthday, you can choose that place."
The chef was awesome and did a good job of keeping the kids entertained.

LegoRama!

Come Help Us Build A Birthday Party

Calling all Lego-masters!

C-man had his first party with friends over.

Seven of his friends were able to make the party.

It was a fun and crazy party!

I've never seen so much competition in one setting.

The noise level itself rose about 70 decibels!

Creating at the Lego Factory
Miss-O watches on with skepticism.
Lego Spoon Races.....Balance that Lego!

Lots of concentration was needed for the Lego drop.

Group Picture!

Rock Style Group Photo!

Kung-Fu Group Photo

The Lego Cake

Finished off with Lego building.

Phew! Never laughed and simultaneously

said, "we keep our hands to ourselves...." so much in my life!

Party on!

Let the Partyin' begin!

Sunday

G&G Roberts, Aunt Angie, Uncle Chris and Marin came over for

C-man's favorite all-time dinner: Upside-down Pizza,

to celebrate his birthday.

If in doubt, Legos is the way to go!

Legos will always make this little man smile!
Oh dear, I'm having a flash-forward of the girls in 13 more years!
Here they are driving their car, having a blast of a time!

C's favorite dessert with candles: Strawberry Shortcake...

Make a Wish!

A little help from your friends.....

The three amigos!

The three stooges!

The three musketeers!

Baby Love!

I had the honor of visiting Baby Evan at the Hospital on Sunday.

He's grown so much in just 1 week and 1 day!

Grandma and I watched his Mommy feed him and then I got to love on him......

AHHHHH......the smell of baby! OHHHH.....and his precious little feet! MMMMM.....even his breath smelled so sweet! It was so nice to get my baby fix!

Thanks little Evan!

I'm seeing some cousin C-man in baby Evan.

C-man was impressed with his faux hawk.

The coolest thing is he doesn't even need hair product.

Grandma got to love on Baby Evan too!

Keep up the good work little man!

Woman of the Hour

Saturday

Alex's Graduation Party

I can't believe that a little over 18 years ago, my niece Alex was born and NOW....she's graduating from High School! Time flies so fast.

Alex has been a little fighter since she was born.

She has overcome so many incredible things as a baby

(ie. Open Heart Surgery at the age of 4 months)

and now here she is with the world in front of her.

I'm so very proud of you Alex!

Congratulations!

A preview of our vacation this summer with all the cousins together............
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Here Comes Trouble x 2!

Miss-O showing off her new pumping skills!

Yay! What a big girl you are!

Cousins minus 2. (Not pictured; Jeremey and Jackie)
Top: Jacob, C-man, & Austin

Bottom: Miss-O, Emma, Alex, & Jaydin

DQ Trip

Mrs. A & C-man

We are going to miss Mrs. A.

She was an awesome 1st grade teacher!
A lover of math & science, just like C-man.

The three musketeers....these guys are stuck to the hips....making each other laugh.
Mr. T & C-man slurping on an Arctic Rush!
The kids had extra party money, so we used it for a DQ trip.
We also had extra money for J-Hawk recycle bags,
which comes in handy to take their school things home.
Finally, a little extra left to pay towards a pizza party on Monday.
Finally, the last day of school is approaching!!!
Watch out Summer, Here We COME!

Wrapping up the School Year....

We're at the end of the school year.

C-man and his class-mates invited their parents to

a Writer's Workshop Cafe'. Here the kids read

their stories and their journals.

It was fascinating to see how C has improved

his writing and spelling since day 1.

He has quite an imagination, his stories were fun to listen to.

FIELD DAY PICNIC

The parents were then invited to eat lunch with the kids

out in the front of the school. What a gorgeous day it was!

They had recess at Lion's Park.

Then a fun afternoon of field day games.

Unfortunately, I missed the games due to work.

C-man brought his camera, but his battery died before

the games began.

Impromptu with a banana!
Smiles, frowns, & monkeys oh my!

A Nice Day to Catch some Fun

C-man played catcher last night, he's got the pose down!
Two dedicated fans of C's.
G&G Roberts

You are the wind beneath my wings.......

Family photo with the awesome Cubs player.

"Go Connoh, Come on Buddy, you can do it!"

Miss-O cheers while C is up to bat.

A Beautiful Weekend!

I have a confession.

I've been dealing with April "hangover." And I've been trying to keep up

with the the "blur" of May. I think I'm finally caught up and ready to embrace June!

Such a phenomenon a slow, dragged out winter, a speedy spring and probably a sprinting summer!

Well, I'm now going to focus on the beautiful holiday weekend we had.

Saturday, a fun day of waiting for the news of Evan's birth and swimming at G&G's pool. Sunday, we went to church, C-man had a pool party to go to, we visited Aunt Angie and baby Evan in the hospital, and then some more swimming at G&G's pool!

Monday, hanging out at G&G's and swimming in the pool!

I see you caught the theme.....swimming in the pool! The crazy thing is I worked all weekend and Paul worked the holiday, but we still managed to get some nice outside time in...........

MONDAY

Happy Memorial Day!

I'm so grateful for the soldiers who have served our country. For the soldiers who sacrificed their lives. For the soldiers who continue to fight for our country. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have all the great freedoms that I have today. What a great country we live in!

Compliments to C-man and his photography; a great sky pic. This is pretty much what the sky looked like all weekend. With the exception of some much needed rain on Sunday night.
Yesterday, C-man helped get Marin ready for her nap. Her read her some books and she was a great listener. Such a great cousin is he!

C-man took this pic of O, her eyes just pop out here, I love it!

Marin was full of smiles for cousin C.

Saturday

Plenty of Pool time!

Water fight!

Girls vs. Boys.

Two guys caught having fun in the sun!

A Cool Pool Girl.

"Look where the water hits me this year, Mom!"

Uncle Paul giving Marin a ride on the raft.

Okay June, You are here and I am finally here.

I welcome you today.

Please don't leave so soon!