Happy Birthday Ellie

Happy 3rd Birthday Ellie!! We celebrated Ellie's Birthday at Ultimate Gymnastics and she loved her party. She requested a Tinker Bell cake which Rachel delivered on and was in heaven tumbling and doing gymnastics with her friends.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the top of her list this year was a doll. She was so excited to get a crib and high chair for her babies from Opa and Lita.

Ellie is playful, loving and full of life. She is the first to comfort someone when they are hurt and is incredibly patient while Mom attends to her brother and sister. We love you Ellie!!

4th of July

We woke early on the 4th to go to the Arcadia Neighborhood Parade. What a blast!! Was very reminiscent of a Midwest 4th of July Celebration.
 

 

That evening our neighborhood hosted our 1st ever 4th of July party. There was live entertainment, music and great food. The kids saw an inkling of fireworks on our walk home which was a nice way to end the evening.

The Summer of Forts

July started out full of forts, family reading time and lots of floor time with Audrey. Forts were all the rage and were left standing for days and days on end.
 

 

 

 

Misc June

We love swimming!! Willem is over his fear of Paw Paw's slide and loves using it to enter the pool.

 

Ellie is such a great sister and Audrey loves to cuddle!

 

 

We started back in swim lessons with Sydney. It's fun taking lessons with friends and the kids are learning so quickly. Willem is working on his back and breast stroke. Ellie is starting to swim across the pool to Sydney and is learning to side breathe.

We weren't able to celebrate Fathers Day on fathers day so we had our own celebration a week later. The kids made gifts and we had a special dinner in Jason's honor.

Alex and Keary's Wedding

Alex and Keary got married!!! We drove over to LA for the wedding and I drove back solo. The road trips with the 3 kids are getting easier as we are getting our new routine down.
We had SO much fun at the wedding!!!

The Stams/Weiss'

The wedding was very modern. Note that Erik is the wonderful officiant and Jason ended up playing DJ. It was a beautiful day and a great venue for a wedding.

 

 

 

 

Willem was in heaven and thought he too was married that day. He wanted to be right with Alex and Keary at all times. Eventually he started dancing with people his own age but would jump back in with the wedding party when he could.

 

 

 

 

(Hat and purse were compliments of Lita) Love this picture though our models weren't quite into posing at the time.

Jason flew out the next morning to get back to work but the kids and I were able to spend a few more days visiting. What a great trip!!.

Visiting the Barnes'

We had a great trip to Ohio to visit the Barnes'. Cannot believe Katie graduated from high school!! Seems like yesterday she was starting kindergarten.

We also were able to watch Emma perform in her year end recital. The kids were fascinated by the dance routines.

Audrey was a great napping partner for Katie and Emma:) Willem and Ellie were simply in heaven being able to play outside all day. They've been pretty homebound in Arizona with the heat. Another highlight was Aunt Julie's big tub, they loved taking their baths each evening. The Ohio Zoo was really neat as well. The kids enjoyed the pony rides and getting to see the kangaroos. We couldn't believe the kangaroos were just loose in the area and could be hopping alongside us.