7 years old! Can you believe it! It is so crazy to me that it has been seven years since Abby was born, but at the same time, she seems like she is a 10 year old sometimes.

She had a great birthday and was so excited when she unexpectedly got her DS.

She is so funny, she wanted us to take pictures of her posing with some of her presents. She just makes me laugh.

She wanted to go bowling for her birthday and we all had a blast. They had a section all decorated for her, and she felt like the star of the show.


Oh, she wanted me to add this picture, because she has never had curlers in her hair, and we put some in last week and she thought it was the coolest thing ever. She asks to do it everyday. If id have known she would be so excited, she might have got curlers over the DS.


On the same day as Abby's party, Carson's good friend also had a birthday party and they had someone bring in live snakes and lizards. He was so excited all week for it, and it definitely lived up to his expectations. He loves all things animals.

Well, soccer season has come and gone. Aren't these the cutest little soccer players EVER.

Abby had a great time this season, especially playing with her girl friends.




She was also so excited because her cousin Kyli was able to play with her this year. I didn't know how things would go with all of these girls on the team, and playing with the boys, but I have to say that they were very impressive. They were just as tough as all the boys and so fun to watch.

Carson did much better this year (meaning he was an active participant) he scored three goals, two in one game, and he was thrilled. He is still funny to watch, and he usually gives me at least one "thumbs up" while he is running past. Abby reminds me at least once a day, that Carson's team does not play with goalies and maybe that is why he got three goals. Jealousy is such a good motivator.



Cooper, Cooper, Cooper. . . He has so much individual personality now, its crazy! He has this new thing where he walks around the house all day with a bucket on his head. He gets mad at me when I try to take it off. He definitely makes us laugh.




Some days, it continues on until night time. . .

Carson just started Preschool last week and he was SO excited. He has been so bored since Abby and all of the neighbors started Elementary School a couple of weeks ago, especially since Abby started going all day this year.

The first day was "red day" so we grabbed whatever was in the closet.


Abby also had a good week, because she was chosen to be the Student of the Month. Her teacher wrote a nice message about her, then she got a pin and a bunch of free coupons to go eat at different restaurants, so we took her to dinner to celebrate.
Amy and Justin were in town recently, but more importantly baby Kamryn was here and she just turned one. I just love babies.
Here are some random pictures of the kids playing outside. It was really hot one day, so we let them fill up buckets and just go for it.


I don't know about everyone else, but I am ready for fall. We had a great summer, but it's time for a change. Fall is my favorite season, I love the weather, the colors and the football! I also need to post a WARNING. . . I recently just printed our blog into a book and it turned out great, so I am planning on printing it every year. So, I apologize in advance for any lame life documenting moments that are boring for others to see. I'm going to try to kill two birds with one stone here.

First day of school! First day of school! First day of school! Abby is officially a first grader, which means she is finally going to school ALL DAY! She has been so excited, she could hardly sleep.

One of the funnest things for her is riding the bus with her friends.


I told her that I wanted to have it be a tradition for me to drive her to school on the first day, but she said, "Mom, I always get to be with you, and I never have time for my friends." Then, I told her that if she wouldn't let me drive her, then I would follow her in the car and get out to see her line up and everything on her first day. She then told me, "I guess you just love me SO much that you have to follow me there, huh? " In which case, I replied "Yes, I do." She gave me a little smirk and said, "Well, could you love me a little less?". . . .did she seriously just say that? She thought she was pretty funny. I on the other hand was trying to deal with having a First Grader and that was not exactly what I wanted to hear.
She was so excited when she got to school and saw some of her "older friends."
Abby and her friend Ava. Both extremely excited to start school and try the whole school lunch thing.
It has been really weird having her gone all day. Carson is not quite sure what to do with himself. Put it this way, he has had a friend over every day of the week. I am not quite sure how I feel. I am so excited for her, mostly because I know how excited she is, and what a BIG thing this is in her life. I am tremendously proud of her, it has always been so easy for her to make new transitions. I am also sad to see her grow up so fast. I miss having her home with me, I am losing a huge helper at home with the boys. The other day, she came home from school, did her homework and her reading, had a snack and went off to dancing for 2 hours and when she came home it was time for bed. I felt like I didn't even see her, and I am definitely not used to that, but that won't be everyday, and I am excited for the next chapter in our lives and I look forward to many more hard, but exciting times.

(P.S. Carson will be starting pre-school very soon.)

Wow! what an amazing trip! Chad and I have not been to California since I was pregnant with Abby, and our kids have never been. So, we felt extremely lucky when Chad's parents asked us to go to San Diego. We had a great time and here is a fraction of the millions of pictures that I took.
We started off at Seaport Village. We found this crazy talented guy, who made these cute balloons for the kids. Cooper could have come home at that very moment and would have been completely fulfilled. He thought they were the coolest things ever!

Then on to Sea World of course.
I have not been to Sea World since I was really young, and I think I was more excited than the kids. This whole trip got started because Carson developed a FACSINATION with Orca's. I don't even know how it started. He loves looking at animal books and somehow he just started talking about them all of the time. To be honest with you, I didn't even know what he was talking about. What is an Orca anyway? Then, when I figured it out, I realized he was referring to Shamu (as I call all big whales).

The coolest part about Sea World was when we had dinner with Shamu. Carson definitley got to see an Orca up close! He was also amazed with everything else we saw there including the dolphins, sting rays, star fish, polar bear, penguins, and especially the sharks.


I was taking so many pictures, even Cooper had the "cheese" down packed.



Next, was The San Diego Zoo, which I have NEVER been to. I was so amazed at how beautiful it was. We saw so many amazing animals.

Carson was in little boy heaven. He just kept saying he wanted to live in San Diego, because they have so many fun places to see animals and all we have is one little zoo.

I know. . . .we're just weird.
The kids have never seen the real ocean, so we went and visited two different beaches. Abby was able to find the sea shells she had been wishing for and it was all so beautiful.

Cooper didn't realize the whole "waves thing". He just went walking out to the water, thinking he could just play peacefully, and the waves immediately swallowed him up. . . . lesson learned.



The kids did all the things you would expect at the beach. We buried Carson to his neck in sand, Abby covered her legs like a mermaid, and they ran and chased the waves for hours. After a day of fun, it was miserable cleaning up all of the sand. (yuck!)

Ok, seriously! Chad and his dad have a habit of buying and wearing the same clothes. I'm not quite sure if Chad is out-dated or Stan is just a hip dad. I don't think they even realized they were dressed alike until we were already at the beach. Like father like son.
Go Padres! Chad and I went to a Padres game on our honeymoon, when Mark Mcquire was going for the home run record. (we saw him hit #43) Now they have a new field and new uniforms. It was fun taking the kids to the game. Thanks to Kathy, Cooper stayed in to get some much needed sleep.

The most exciting part for me was when they started the game and they brought out Rickey Henderson! I used to love him! I think my brother had a poster of him with fire coming off his feet. They were honoring him for being inducted into the hall of fame. Tony Gwynn was also there.
The kids had a great time. Carson was so funny with his first bag of peanuts. He couldn't figure out how to open them, so he would just crush them on the seat until he found the nut.

It was so cool, because at the park they had a little field in the back. Chad took Abby and Carson there and they each got a turn to hit the ball and run the bases. They felt like pros.

They played the Mets and I didn't think it would be a very good game, seeing that neither team was having a good season, but it ended up being super exciting. The Padres were down by two the whole game until the bottom of the ninth inning when they hit a walk-off grand slam to win the game. The place went crazy!

We all had fun, but Carson missed the big finish and the fireworks after the game. He made it all the way back to the hotel and didn't wake up until morning. Then he was ready to go again.
And finally, Legoland. Oh the kids had a blast there! It was a little crowded, but still tons of fun. The kids loved all of the rides, and I was just amazed that almost everything in the park was made out of Legos. It was cool.

One of the funnest things was the little driving course. I think Abby did it about four times. It was really cute, with little stop signs and everything. She was trying so hard to do everything correctly. She even got a driver's license with her picture on it.

The funniest was how brave she was trying to be. She is pretty much a chicken when it comes to rides and she really tries not to be. Even at Sea World, Carson went on the big roller coaster ride and Abby wouldn't. So, at Legoland she decided to really try to be brave. She even put her hands up here, even though she was a little terrified. She got more brave as the day went on. (Carson thought it was no big deal, kinda a baby ride in his eyes)
Grandma and Grandpa were great sports, as always, having to deal with Cooper (who needed a good nap at times) while we went on rides off and on.

By the end of the night Cooper couldn't get enough of Grandpa.

We have been spoiled and have had an amazing summer. We had a great trip and we are set and ready for school to start next week.