Savoring Summer

We have had the best Summer.  Russell usually works construction or custodial work during the summers, but this year he got to work Summer School for the month of June and there was no construction work for him, so he got to stay home for 4 weeks in July.  We rode bikes everyday, went to the beach, went swimming, went on family bike rides, and went on jogs together. Oh and I went shopping and did errands in the middle of the day... kidless! It was wonderful; however, all good things must come to an end.  Friday the 27th was his last weekday off.  We decided to make the most of it and went to San Diego one day earlier than we needed to for a wedding and went to the beach.  Oceanside Harbor is my favorite beach, probably because that is where I grew up going.  It was perfect weather at the beach... not too hot and the water was cool, but easy to get used to.  My mom kept Lydia for us so we just took the older kids and enjoyed the sun and water with them.

Morgan and Madylin were proud to say that they went in the ocean all by themselves this time.  

STOP growing up!

We didn't take many pictures, but I LOVE this one.

My little beach babies just appreciating the beauty and sound of the ocean while munching on licorice.  Our Summer with Daddy is over...boo.

Kindergarten starts in 2 weeks!

Victoria Gardens Splash Pad

On July 26th we went to the splash pad at Victoria Gardens.  I needed to return something there and we had never done the splash pad so we made it a family outing.  I was watching Luke again that day and it was his birthday, so his mom decided to skip a bit of work and come with us.  We got there around 9:45am before the shops were open which was actually perfect because we pretty much had the pad to ourselves for a while.

I think it is safe to say the kids LOVED it!

The Boy Turns 3!

This little cutie turned 3 on July 23rd. 

 We had a pretty normal day.  It was great because Russell was still home and I was watching Luke that day, Nathan's cousin and "best buddy," in his words.  The kids rode bikes and went to story time and had a fun morning.  After naps we took Nathan and the gang to Kohl's to pick out some presents.  He chose a nerf gun, a Lightning McQueen car, and 2 shirts.

He also chose his cake from a bunch of pictures online.  

He chose a baseball glove with a baseball

 We sure are grateful for this spoiled little monster in our family!

Movies in the Park 2012

Twice a Summer, our community puts on a movie night called "Movies in the Park."  On July 21st they showed the movie "Puss in Boots" on a big inflatable screen.  The movie didn't start until sunset, but before then they had free face painting and a jump house for the kids.  The twins' favorite part is the face painting.  Madylin got a butterfly and Morgan, a fairy.

I love this picture of them...

Nathan chose to get a baseball on his arm

 Nathan getting in the jump house

We sat with cousins that live in the same area.  Here is Lisa, me and Lydia, and Jessica feeding Max waiting for the movie to start.

The screen they showed the movie on.

 Here are all the kids with their body art.  

From l-r: Madylin, Riley, Nathan, Luke, Braden, Morgan

Sibling Love

Lydia is full on crawling now.  She is 6 months old.  She loves to play with the older kids and I am amazed every day at how good they are with her.  Nathan has never once been rough with her and she just smiles and smiles when he talks to her.  Morgan and Madylin always want to hold her and are happy to play with her, get her a toy or pacifier, or watch her whenever I ask.  I am beyond grateful for this.

Lydia climbing on Nathan.

 Cheeeeeeeeese!

Lydia scooted over to the table where the girls were playing with dolls and was trying to see what they were doing.  I put her in Morgan's lap and she watched them play for a while.

 I thought it was really cute to see my 3 girls sitting and playing with girlie toys together.

We are a Biker Family

Okay not really... we are a bicycling family, but the other way sounded cooler.

We have been having the greatest Summer with Russell home for the whole month of July.  This month he taught the girls to ride their bikes without training wheels.  He also finally got Nathan on his bike he got for Christmas and practicing so he can now pedal and ride all by himself without being pushed!

Madylin was riding, starting and stopping by herself within the first 2 days of practicing a bit with Russell.  She did awesome!

Morgan, as always, was a little more timid. On a side note, when they were little and playing on playgrounds, Morgan used to stop 2 feet before the top of the slide and sit down and then slowly scoot to the top of the slide to go down. Madylin, on the other hand, would practically run down the slide and finally sit after a foot or so.  Morgan took a couple more days of practice, but she was pushed by the sight of Madylin riding around by herself.

 Nathan never wanted to practice riding his bike because it was too hard, but he was feeling left out so he finally gave it another try.  He used a bigger bike that was easier to pedal to learn and has since gone back to his smaller new bike.

We took our first family bike ride a few days later because the kids wanted to go somewhere and have a destination, not just ride in circles.  We rode the 1/2 mile to Ben and Lisa's house (cousins) to say hello. That's me in front with Lydia in the bike trailer, then Madylin, Morgan, Nathan and Russell is taking the picture at the rear.

The kids did amazing with only one small crash.  It was so fun and we've done it twice now.

My kids are getting so much older this Summer.  Learning to swim, and ride bikes, and starting school.... crazy!

Beach Trip to Corona Del Mar

On July 11th we took our first trip of the Summer to the beach.  We went to Corona Del Mar, a beach to which I had never been.  It was a nice family beach with bathrooms and a snack bar and showers close by.  We got there around 11am and the place was packed.  We had to set up camp behind everyone else, kind of far from the water, but later when people left we brought a blanket close to the water to play in the sand.  Morgan and Madylin loved the water this time.  The waves were not very strong and there were a lot of lulls where there were no waves so they could just walk around.  We brought a play tent for Lydia to play in and stay out of the sun and Russell and I took turns going in the water with the older 3.  Nathan was pretty nervous about the water, but Russell convinced him to go in after a while and he liked it, of course.  

Lydia in her tent.

The kids really enjoyed playing in the sand the most.  What is it about kids and sand??

Morgan digging

 Madylin liked to fill and refill buckets with water

 Nathan wanted "castles" to knock over

Remember these velcro toys??  The kids love these because it's the only way they can catch!  Nathan and Madylin played for a while and did great.

Morgan took a turn playing with Nathan, too.  They were a little too far apart.  See Morgan's face... notice her eyes are closed?  And do you see the ball behind her head! haha

Russell and I enjoyed the entertainment and sun

Lydia snoozed on Daddy for a while

 And then we enjoyed the 2 hour ride home in traffic. NOT!

These crazy all day beach trips are hard on a San Diego girl who grew up 20 minutes from the beach.  I just want to go and play for a while and then come home and do something else, not drive over an hour there and then fight traffic for hours on the way back.  Someday I will get used to the fact that I no longer live close to the beach and it is now an ALL day event!

Happy Fourth 2012!

We had a really fun 4th of July this year, as usual.  It's beginning to be one of my favorite holidays. Russell and I started off the day by making a ton of apricot jam with apricots we got from a friend's tree. In the afternoon we went swimming and had a barbecue at Aunt Vickie's house and then headed to Aunt Lynne and Uncle Max's house for a parade, homemade ice cream, sparklers and, of course, fireworks!

The kids got together and had a very small parade (mostly just them running/riding around in circles with flags and streamers) but it was really cute.  This is a shot of most of the kids, but not all.

From left to right: Hailey Fisher, Braden Fisher, Morgan, Madylin, Tristan Barlow, Riley Fisher, Gavin Barlow, Luke Fisher, Cody Bogh, Nathan

The kids had fun playing with sparklers while waiting for the show

 Madylin

Morgan was a little nervous

Lydia was very interested

My little patriotic family...

Lydia Tummy Time

You'd think that Lydia would be a chunk with her starting out as 10 pounds, but she's actually quite petite now.  She is only about 15 pounds at almost 6 months.  This girl has been the strongest and of my kids though.  She was holding her head up pretty early and was getting on hands and knees and rocking around 4.5 months.  At her last 2 checkups her doctor just laughs at how strong she is when she checks her progress.  These pictures were taken when she was 5 months.  She usually does great with tummy time and she was particularly happy at this time...

 She got her first 2 teeth around 4.5 months as well and has been sucking in her bottom lip ever since

Yes a lot of her hair fell out on the sides so she just has one really long patch down the middle that lays on one side... but that's really IN right now ;)

Rihanna

She is SOOO close to crawling.  She rocks and rocks and still gets everywhere she wants to.