Happy 60th Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to the best mom in the world! Thank you for always taking care of us and giving me the foundation to be the mom that I am my kids. Thank you for being such an incredible Grandma! Wish I could be there to celebrate with you today! We all love you!

Poetry Night

Tony Tobin had its first annual Poetry Night and Zoe decided that she wanted to try it out. So after adjusting our schedule a bit and racing over after dance, we made it just in time! She wrote a poem with her good friend Maddyn, and they presented it together.
They have been working on different kind of poems in class and this "Because" poem is all about consequences and coming full circle. This is the poem:

Because by: Zoe and Maddyn

You may not believe it, but here's how it happened.
One cold rainy morning, we were writing a color poem.
Because we were writing a color poem, we dropped our pencils.
Because we dropped our pencils, everyone stared at us.
Because everyone stared at us, we cried.
Because we cried, the teacher came over.
Because the teacher came over, she asked what happened.
Because she asked what happened, we had to tell her.
Because we had to tell her, she got upset.
Because she got upset, everyone who laughed at us lost their recess.
That's how it happened, So you should learn, Never write a color poem!

Great job Zoe and Maddyn!!

Family and Old Friends Reunion

Today we got to spend the afternoon with some of our old family friends that I grew up with. Our families were so close, I think I spent every day with one or more of them from the time I was 6 years old until I left for college! We played together, spent summers at the beach together, went on vacations together, and even moved next door to each other.
Liz decided it had been way too long since we had all been together, so she planned a BBQ at her beautiful house in San Clemente. The weather was perfect, and the company was even better. We all had a great time catching up, meeting each other's kids that some of us hadn't even met, and eating lots of food.

Mary planned a friendly competition of games and organized us into teams.

(Waiting for the wheelbarrow races to begin!)

(Joe and I competing at horseshoes!)

(Girls against boys...building block towers competition)

We finished off the game competition with a water balloon toss. After it was all over, I somehow became the target and ended up getting soaked!

The kids were finally ready to eat...
We also had to throw in a small celebration for my Mom's upcoming 6oth birthday. She refused (and demanded!) that we not throw a party for her, so we just did a small un-birthday party with a little cake.
Tom closed out the evening with a great speech!
It was such a nice afternoon together, and we're hoping to make it an annual event from now on. So until next year...

Baby Shower for Boy Bramsway!

Tonight was Teri's Baby Shower and it was a great night filled with friends, food, fun, and fabulous gifts. Cheryl hosted at her house, and a few of us pitched in to help with decorations, favors, games, and munchies.

(Chessa, Jenny, Teri, me)

(Chessa did a great job with decorations and gifts all in one!)

(Brook made a delicious cake with cupcakes)

(I spent as much time as I could holding Cheryl's 3 week old little boy, Finnan)

(Teri opening up gifts...I think she got everything she needs!)

We also played a few games and had a lot of fun trying to measure Teri's belly with string and doing a baby word scramble game. Boy can these ladies get competitive (you know who you are!). Thanks for taking pictures Jenny! Can't wait for this little guy to get here! :)

Tooth Fairy Time...

Both of our kids lost the same tooth within 2 days of each other. Zoe's came out at school and Cooper's came out in his mouthguard before his game started. We'd been trying to get Cooper's out all week since the permanent tooth was starting to come in behind it. Boy that kid has issues with his teeth!

Surf's Up!

Have I said how much we love the beach? :) It's always the perfect place to be! Well, this morning Grandpa and I took the kids to Newport Pier for some surfing. Cooper had actually gone last weekend, but since I wasn't there, there were no pictures. This is the perfect place for the kids to learn how to surf because the waves are fairly small and break pretty far out so they can have a long ride in. Plus, the view is just great!

(Heading out!)

Jax had gotten the surfboard for his birthday, but he was really good about sharing. So after his turn, Zoe got out there. I think Zoe could be a natural born surfer because she has such great balance. After a little instruction from Grandpa, she was ready to catch her first wave.


She made it up on her first try! It was fun to watch her ride in, jump (or sometimes fall) off and get right back out there to catch the next wave. Unfortunately, Zoe gets really cold in the ocean, so she doesn't always last too long out there. She had a great time though and can't wait to go back!

Next it was Cooper's turn. He'd gotten up on the board last weekend, but had a little more trouble staying on and riding all the way in. But he didn't give up and kept trying until he figured it out.

While it was Jax's turn, Cooper was trying to help Zoe get warm by having running races to the pier and back...
So, it was a great way to spend part of our 3 day weekend. Even though this marks the unofficial end of summer, I hope we have a few more beach days left! Really, what could be better...

Water fun...

Today we spent the day at Wild Rivers Waterpark to celebrate Jax's 8th birthday. His birthday isn't until the 11th, but since we wouldn't all be together next weekend we decided to celebrate today. Zoe, Cooper, Jax, and their friend Nolan all had a lot of fun playing in the water, going on the little and big slides, hanging out in the lazy river, eating some good treats, and having a great day staying cool. It was nice to finally feel some relief to our horrible heat wave!
After a long day, we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a great dinner and lots of birthday cupcakes. Happy Birthday Jax!!

Game #2

I wasn't really going to put in another football post so soon, but I couldn't resist after today's game. We played against Menifee today and I must say, we crushed them! After last weeks game, I wasn't sure how strong we would be, but after a hard week of practice, the boys were ready. Cooper had a fantastic game. The coach moved him around quite a bit and he played a ton of offense.
On their way to weigh in (I always worry he won't make weight)...
Cooper's usual position has been offensive line (right or left)...
After playing right end, left end, tail back, and even defensive line, he finally got one play in his dream position...QUARTERBACK! He ended up running the ball and gained a couple yards...
It was another VERY hot day in the 100's, but the kids had several mandatory water breaks and didn't seem to mind much. This is one sweaty but happy kid...
Go Attacking Bears!