Part 5 - KANSAS CITY!! :-)

Here are pictures from Kansas City!!  We had a lot of fun with our family and friends, and we can't wait for Christmas break!!  Looking forward to more fun!!

Getting ready to board the airplane.  This was my first time flying with all 3 by myself.  We all did GREAT!!

Pretty much, as soon as we got to KC, we met up with Heidi and her kids at Monkey Bizness!!

Jacob and his buddy, Jonathan!  These boys are so awesome together, they get along so well!!

Lauren and her future boyfriend, Maverick!!

Ashlyn, Halsey and Ashlyn's future boyfriend, Griffin!!

Griffin, Jacob, Jonathan and Ashlyn all holding hands as they went down!!

After Monkey Bizness, we all went back to Gma's house and had tacos.  These two were trying to escape up the stairs!!

The kids LOVED playing with the water at Gma's house!!  Cousin Megan came over to play too!!  :-)

 Uncle Pat and Jacob had several water gun fights!!

Since it was sooooooo HOT, we met Heidi at the mall.  The kids were pretty crazy!!

Jacob played a lot of Basketball with his uncles.

I got Lauren this ride on (from Craigslist)!!  Can you tell, she liked it a lot?!?!

We met Katy and her kids for shopping and lunch.  Here's Lauren and Nick.  J and A were with Uncle Sean - swimming!!

Lauren at Deanna Rose.

She LOVES animals (like her big sister).

Jacob doesn't like the goats jumping all over him, so he fed them from the other side of the fence.

Deanna Rose is one of my favorite places to take the kids.  I remember going there when I was little - a little different now!!

My little flowers!!

I always take a picture in front of this little waterfall.

I scheduled a big playgroup to the zoo!!  We all had a blast with our friends!!

Some of the boys!!

Ashlyn and her friend Payton.

Another friend picture!!

And another!!

Lauren and he sweet friend, Sawyer!!

And yet, another friend picture!!

We met some friends at our favorite public pool!!  Ashlyn and Halsey!!

I thought this was a cute picture of Katy and her boys - Will and Nick!

Heidi and her wonderful Aunt - and Maverick and Halsey.

Lauren couldn't resist playing in the cat food...I guess she thought it was a sand box - or a snack tray at her level.  YUCK!!

She liked to get into everything...she loved tearing things out of Gma's pantry!!

Foster City (or somewhere near here), really needs a Chick-Fil-A!!

I LOVE this picture of Ashlyn and Gma!  I saw this when I got up one morning!!  LOVE!!

Look at these two love birds!!  ;-)

Another fun thing we like to do in the summer...play in the fountains at Crown Center!!

Went to Deanna Rose multiple times...this time was with Gma.  They are doing a craft in the school house.

2 of my 3 cuties!!

Uncle Pat request finger paint so he can paint with the kids...so I got some and they had fun!!

Ashlyn with Truman at Zonkers...Lauren is in the train car behind them.

The kids totally LOVE their Uncle Pat!!

I took Jacob to his old karate class!!  Oh, how I miss this!!  (sniff sniff)

Hunter and Hallie came over for the morning to play.  Ashlyn is teaching Hallie how to play War.

My car was full (and noisy) on the way to the splash park.  I don't know how "L" slept through it all!!

Ash and Hallie at the splash park.

I'm so glad she started walking right before this...she had soooo much fun!!

Ash and her buddy, Will at Powell Gardens (Jacob had to miss it since he wasn't feeling too good).

Ashlyn LOVED the butterfly exhibit!!

"L" didn't know what to think about the butterfly on her head.

I thought this picture shows her innocence.

Part 4 - 1st Family Camping Trip

The weekend between Grandma's visit and flying back to Kansas City, our family went on our FIRST family camping trip!!  I was pretty excited about this, because this is something I've wanted to do with the kids for a little while.  I don't think Mike was quite as excited, but he seemed to enjoy himself, too.  In fact, we plan to take another family camping trip soon!!  This trip, we went with some friends and new friends.  There were 4 families there and 10 kids.  We went to a campground about an hour away.  There was a few things to do there - hiking trails, playground, swimming pool, mini golf, shuffle board...  We did almost all. 

You can't camp without roasting marshmallows and making s'mores!!

Since I didn't get a picture of our tent, here is Jacob standing in front of our friend's tent (that looks like ours).

Ashlyn eating (and making a mess) with strawberries!!

Lauren had a great time camping, too!!

Jacob and a couple of the boys climbing trees.

Most of the kids!

Playing at the playground.

Playing soccer.

Swimming!!

Bubble time!!

They all loved playing in the creek!

On our hike.

Mr. Handsome.

Playing Shuffleboard.

Saturday night they had a little hayride, marshmallow roasting, and music/dancing.

 

 

Part 3 - Gma's Visit to California

More photo updates...If you haven't read, go down a few posts and you can read about our crazy, busy summer.  After Las Vegas, Grandma came back and spent 2 weeks with us.  The kids had a BLAST showing her all the stuff they like to do, and some new things we haven't done before.

One of our first things we did was Gilroy Gardens.  It's a really cute family theme park about an hour south of us.  The only down side...it was very hot!!  When I checked the weather on my phone, it said 102!!  I guess we should have picked a different day.  But we all had fun.  Other places we went - Foster City 4th of July Festival, Happy Hollow, Exploratorium, Bay Area Discovery Museum, and Santa Cruz.  The kids got to do a lot with Grandma that was on their list...now they are beginning their list for NEXT summer!!  :-)

Grandma and the big kids riding the Strawberry ride.  Lauren and I rode, too - next to them.

Jacob really wanted to ride these boats with Grandma. 

Mike and Ashlyn rode the boats, too.  They got done early, so they rode the Artichoke ride.

The double stroller turned into a triple!!

We had run finding our way through the maze.

Lauren was almost walking at this time.  She loved walking around holding your hand!!

Grandma "helping" Lauren walk some more!

For the 4th of July, we walked to the little Foster City festival.  The kids (kinda) enjoyed listening to the music.

Daddy was trying to cheer her up.  This was right after I noticed her 1st loose tooth was really loose!

See, they really do love each other!!  And they did this on their own!!

The kids acting goofy with our neighbor and friend!  We watched the fireworks display with them.  Fun night!!

Goofy kids at Happy Hollow in San Jose - another HOT day!!

Happy Hollow!!

Love this picture!!

I gotta say, she is such a beautiful and sweet baby girl!!  I LOVE her eyes and smile in this picture!!

We took the kids to the Exploratorium for the first time.  They really enjoyed it.  I think we'll go back this Fall.

More pictures from the Exploratorium!!

 

I nominate Grandma for the BEST Grandma award.  She is so awesome with the kids!  So much LOVE!!

Love this picture!!  Just thought it looked neat.

Right outside is the Palace of Fine Arts.  VERY PRETTY place.  Makes nice pictures, like this one of my mom and I.

And Grandma with her grand babies.

This was at Bay Area Discovery Museum.  Cute and fun little children's place.  Jacob enjoyed it, although I feel he will be outgrowing it soon.  So I'm glad we went when he still found it fun!!

This is another favorite picture from our summer trips!!  I love my kids!!

Artwork!

Stopped by Natural Bridges on our way to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Lauren enjoyed riding rides with her sister (and brother)!!

The kids REALLY enjoyed the roller coaster at Beach Boardwalk!!  Jacob is so brave now...after this summer, he is riding so many more rides (roller coasters included) then before!!  He loves the wooden roller coasters (like the Timberwolf at WOF).