July 2012 Part 1

A big month!  Here it is:

We started the month with a big happy birthday to Evan.  He turned 6 on July 1, 2012.  On his actual birthday, we had dinner and cake at Nate's parents'.  The Friday before his birthday, we had a friend party for him.  I guess I forgot to take pictures or they ended up somewhere else, because these are the only pics from his party that I have- the labels for the food.  Evan loves Star Wars and had a themed party.  We made lightsabers out of pool noodles, learned how to use the force by throwing a frisbee through a hoop, learned a fighting sequence that will always defeat the dark side, fought Darth Vadar (thanks, Nate- so sorry I don't have pictures of this), and smashed the Death Star to pieces (a homemade pinata- it turned out pretty well- and I know I took pictures of this and the cake so I'll have to find them).  Evan invited some school friends- Harry and James, as well as our neighbor, Alex.  Some church friends- Ava and Seth- and a girl who just moved into our ward- Bailey (actually Nate invited her- he helped the family move in and Evan is still a little upset that a girl he didn't know came to his party).  It was fun but very energetic!

4th of July at Disneyland- kind of.  We swam earlier in the day at Nate's parents' and then went to the parking structure of Disneyland to watch the fireworks with Ben and Kir.  We weren't the only people with this idea and our plan to park in Downtown Disney fell through as there were no more spots.  We were able to park in the structure for free!  It worked out great and the fireworks were awesome- I just wish we could have heard the music :)

 

July 5:

We stayed for a long weekend with Nate's parents.  On the 5th, Nate climbed up really high in a tree and cut down the branches that hung over the fence.  Anne was so happy about it!  And it was nice to help out a little.  The kids had fun playing in the "jungle" backyard and swimming.

 

7/7

 At the Santa Ana Zoo with Ben and Kir.

Rosy Boa and a red tongue.

Do I look tired? sick? all of the above?  I told Kir today that I thought I was pregnant- as I was 4 days late at this point.  About 2 weeks before this, I gagged on my toothbrush and thought that that was weird.  We've been at Nate's parents' so I didn't take a test until we got home- absolutely pregnant! (and absolutely surprised by that news!)

More food!

I think Eli has this same expression in all the pictures I took today.

Ian, Jacob, Kate, Evan, Lucy, Morgan, Eli

 

Sam, the Ham

The kids and I went to Jaime's for a few days- here we are at Oceanside.

Sam and the crab- he has no fear (I won't pick up a crab!)

Morgan and Shea

Ella and Evan throwing a fit

Chase, Shea, and Morgan building a huge wall of wet sand.

Done with his fit- Jaime is amazed at how sandy my kids get at the beach.  And I'm amazed at how clean her kids stay!

 Aidan, Evan, Ella, Morgan, Shea, and Chase

Ella and Sam

Sam, Aidan, Eli

Heading back to the car- everyone wanted to pull Sam.

 

Back at Jaime's with all their animals.

Shea holding India- their pet rat

Ella and Hermione- their guinea pig- they've had her since Washington

Shea, Morgan, Chase, (India), Ella (Hermione)

 

We had a great time at Jaime's.  We went to the beach one day and just played at their house for the rest of the time.  The kids swam and explored in the backyard and watched Aidan play his video games.

 

7/14- La Brea Tar Pits

They look a little like the Von Trapp Family- all in order of height!

Sitting under the big rock that some artist spent 12 million dollars to put in front of the LA Art Museum.  It was pretty cool, but that's a lot of money!

Super strong!

This rock is heavy!

 Morgan and Sam under the rock.

Climbing in all the trees around the tar pits- not sure if that's allowed.

In the tar pits museum- very cool that something like this still exists in busy LA.

 

Well, that's the first half of the month- now onto Vegas and Utah for family reunions!