Summer...so far...

Baseball is over. We're sad about it, but I have to admit, it'll be nice to have our evenings free again (until next season).
We were so lucky to have Coach Wayne. Our boys learned so much about baseball from him. Noah will stay on the coach pitch/t-ball team again next year, but Clayton has to move up to machine pitch. I think he's ready!

Posing with their medals for completing the season. Josie had to sneak into a picture too. Since she made it through the season with us, I figured I'd include it!The other day, Justin decided to take the boys to see Cars 2. First, they needed to hit Wal Mart to get a new tire for Clayton's bike (it'd been flat for a few days, causing much sadness). Shortly after they left, they came home. I was confused because I knew the movie wasn't that short. Yeah, instead of the movie, Justin got a new tire for Clayton's bike AND a brand new bike for Noah! They celebrated by going for ice cream and then coming home to ride bikes. I think it ended up being a WAY better idea than going to a movie (the weather was so perfect)!Check out that grin! Justin said that when Noah saw this bike, his eyes became huge and Justin just knew that Noah needed that bike (what a good dad)!Clayton said, "Yay! I'm back on the road!"Justin has been teaching Clayton a few bike tricks. Here he is teaching Clayton to bunny hop. My favorite part is that he teaches Clayton using Clayton's bike.The best part of this picture is Clayton in the background. He's actually a really good bike-rider, but you'd never know it based on this picture!Justin explaining how to bunny hop. Clayton hasn't mastered it yet, but he learned the 'wheelies' so I think bunny hops are coming soon. Cute Pootie.After watching the boys ride for a while, Justin got jealous and got his bike out. The boys LOVED having him ride with them!Of course this little lady needed to ride her 'bike' too!
Shortly after seeing Justin get his bike out, I wanted to ride mine too! So we decided to hit the road for a family ride. Josie loved being in the bike trailer and it was a good time to be out on the road with the boys!Today was gorgeous! Sun was shining, weather was hot, perfect day for the beach! So we headed out with a few of our friends. It was a great time. The kids loved it! Josie was a little weary of getting in the water, but she was having the time of her life digging in the sand!Clayton and Noah were all about the water. After nearly four hours at the beach I had a difficult time pulling them away. (Side note: how handsome is Clayton?? Seriously, I'm loving this picture!)The boys decided to dig a huge hole. I fully support this. Especially because my boys LOVE to dig but digging in our backyard is not an option.They were being quite industrious and this took up a good chunk of their beach time!Clayton showing off their hole. I'm loving the pose!Another cutie Pootie shot!And Josie just kept on digging......and digging!She did take a break to play a little beach baseball with her friend. It was very cute and very short-lived.The beach was a great time. It was the first time we've been since we moved to Indiana, but I know that we have many more beach trips in our immediate future. Especially because the result is three VERY worn out kids (Josie didn't even make it out of the park before she crashed)!

As you can see, our summer is off to a great start! My kids wake up every morning asking what our plans are for the day. It's a little frustrating trying to keep them busy and entertained all day every day, but I think we're doing pretty well so far!

Holiday Weekend

I know that you all are waiting for San Fran: Part 2, and don't worry, it's coming. I just needed to post our 4th of July weekend pics before it got too late! We had a really relaxed 4th this year. We started out our day in search of some fireworks. I think (and I may be wrong - but I doubt it) that fireworks of any kind are illegal in this state. All we could find were "smokeworks". Justin said that next year we need to find the nearest indian reservation so that we could get the good stuff!
We ended up just having a BBQ with a family in our ward and lighting our lame "smokeworks" in the street. The kids were entertained though and that's what really matters. I also wanted the boys to have sparklers this year but - as with all the other good fireworks - I think they are illegal. We couldn't find them. So the kids did poppers instead. I think I actually prefer that though in hindsight. You can't do as much damage with poppers.
Anyway, that was our holiday. We didn't even get to see any good city sponsored fireworks because they did their big fireworks display on the 3rd. (Is that dumb to anyone else?) All in all, it was a good 4th. It was really low stress for me this year, which was really nice. We just got to sit back and enjoy each others company.


On the 5th, we decided to take the kids to the beach. There is the most amazing beach here. It's called the Sandbar and it is perfect for kids! The beach is nice and sandy so it's good for little bare feet, the water is clear, and it is shallow for about 1/4 of a mile. Clayton can walk out quite a ways and only be up to his waist! It was the perfect day for the beach. We packed a picnic and all our beach gear and ended up spending several hours playing and having a great time!
The boys L-O-V-E-D the beach! The second we got there, they both took off like a shot towards the water. They couldn't get enough!



I don't know if these pictures are good enough to illustrate how shallow the water is, but I love it. I am a constant worrier and so the beach gives me a little anxiety, but the clear, shallow water definitely helps to alleviate some of my concerns! Clayton loved to go "deep" he kept going farther and farther (with Justin) and saying to me, "Mom, look how deep I am! Take my picture!"


Justin and Clayton attempted to build a sandcastle. It was going pretty well until Clayton decided he wanted to 'decorate' it with seashells that he was finding. He kept pushing them into the castle pretty hard and that was the end of that.



Noah's favorite beach activity was picking up handfuls of dirt and mud and throwing it into the water. No surprise there. This kid loves a good muddy mess!



We had such a great time. It was nice to be able to spend so much time together as a family this weekend. I think one of the great blessings of moving to Vermont was that it forced us to rely on each other more. It has definitely made us closer as a family. We really enjoy all the time we get to be together. It was a great weekend and I am really sad that it's over!