OC Fair 2012

July in Costa Mesa = The Orange County Fair 

We went twice - once on donate book day and once on donate clothes day.  We always have books and clothes to donate around our house.

We love seeing all the adorable animals

And then there are the rides.  We get free tickets with our donation and then the kids write 2 book reports (great summer activity) in exchange for 3 free rides.  And finally, until Jill is old enough, I buy her 3 rides.  So there we go, lots of ways to ride the rides at the fair.

And what rides do we ride?  Jill will ride just about any of them.

Isn't she the cutest pirate?  It's so exciting that she is now tall enough to ride the kiddie rides all by herself!

And then there's Jason riding the big kid rides...He's actually taller than the "you must be this tall" sign, wow!

Stephen came with us on our second visit and took Jason on a bunch of them.

And then there's the food!!!

Trip 1: Cotton Candy

Trip 2: Funnel Cake

...and I have to add one more experience.  Jason used his own money to ride the hamster ball.  It was hot in there and it was hard to manuever but he laughed and enjoyed himself :)

So until next summer, OC Fair, we'll be waiting collecting used books and clothes and dreaming about cotton candy and ferris wheels!



Beach with the Longs

While the Longs were here, we spent lots of time in the California sun!

 Fun for little ones...

 and fun for big ones...

 And when the beach was too cold, we headed to the lagoon

Gotta love a California summer...especially with cousins!

4th of July 2012

Our first holiday in our new home

We started our day with a neighborhood parade!  The kids loved parading around the blocks of our three street community.

We then headed to the Maurers for yummy food and cupcake decorating.

 I got to hang out with my girls all afternoon...

and then we went to hang out with more of my girls that evening :)

Hanging at the Montgomery's with the Longs turned my kid's hair red, white and blue!

We then finished our busy holiday watching the firework's show at Newport Dunes.

Happy Independence Day!!!

 

 

Beth's 8th Birthday Tea Party

My girl Beth has wanted a girl's only tea party for years!  We took her to a tea house for her 6th birthday with two of her cousins, and it was a great birthday...but not what she wanted.  She wanted a party at home with her tea cups.  I told her this would be the year...and then we bought a house, remodeled, and moved in mid-remodeling.  Her birthday was a week after move-in...but I had said we would do it so we did. 

It would not have happened without the help of our wonderful visitors from North Carolina.  The Longs are here staying with us.  They cleaned up the yard, mowed the lawn, hung decorations, moved furniture, and just made it that much more of a special day! 

 I also had the gift of Roberta Keenan making all the food for us. 

 Beth put in her special requests and Roberta delievered. 

The girls ate lunch and then had multiple desserts!

and we sang to the birthday girl.

 

Oh, and did I mention...they drank tea.  Ok, it wasn't tea, it was various juices and lemonade, but they drank from tea cups.  My Aunt Janis gave us her beautiful collection of tea cups years ago, and it was so fun to set them all out and give the girls such fun choices.

This is Beth's favorite because it says June.  You see, my Aunt Janis and Beth share a birthday in June :)

And finally, we must take a look at her nails.  Stephanie took this princess out to get her nails, toes, and hair done while we set-up the party.



Happy Birthday, Beautiful Beth! 

Happy Beach Birthday to Me!

To celebrate me, we headed to the beach. 

I wanted a bonfire and s'mores and since it was my birthday, I got what I wanted :)

The kids enjoyed swimming. 

 Jason and Stephen spent most of the time boogie boarding.

There was also lots of sand play

and hot dogs for dinner!

I am thankful for family and friends to celebrate with...

and for such a beautiful place to celebrate.

 

 

 

 

Where have we been?

We bought a house...and getting it ready took just about every moment of our lives for 2 months.

 We cleaned

 We painted

 We removed walls and built new ones

  And we had the help of good friends to get it all done

...well not all of it done but it's a place we can live in, and now that we are officially moved in, we will continue to make it ours day by day.

Birthday Numbers

On Adam's birthday we were at the park while Jason had football practice and the kids started creating...

 and then everyone wanted their picture taken...

 Parents, too!

 Can't believe I'm sharing my age on the internet...probably some sort of security no-no

 We even got Jason after practice to quickly make a 9 and join the family :)