Guess Where Else We've Been?

Disneyland!

Wouldn't you know...MeMe was the first person we saw when we got into the park.  Ledger was beyond excited to see MeMe! He couldn't stop staring at him!

Kisses for MeMe!  Ledger kisses anyone, especially when it's MeME!

How cute is Jesse from Toy Story 2?  She hung out with us while we ate dinner.  I think Brody had a little crush on her, can you blame him?

Case loved playing with the water blowing fan at Disneyland!  He kept all of us nice and cool!

Here we are at the water area in It's A Bug's Life.  It seriously felt so good to just hang out in the water shaded area.  The kids all got drenched which they thought was so cool!

Another highlight of our trip to California was Disneyland.  Although is was super HOT, CROWDED and oh yea, I'm 7 plus months pregnant, we had a great time.  We got to the park when it opened at 8:30 and didn't leave until Midnight.  Ledger loved seeing MeMe and the other characters.  Case was still very afraid of most of them but loved going on the rides.  Brody wanted as many scary rides as possible.  The Fantasmic light show which is only on for the summer was awesome!  My favorite part was all the goodies I ate during the day.  Did you know they sell huge dill pickles at Disneyland?  Who knew?  Even though I was too pregnant to go on most of the rides, I had fun watching the boys as they got off each ride and listening in great detail to everything that happened while on the ride.  I will probably never go back to Disneyland in the summer, but it was super fun and I can't wait to go again, in cooler weather and not pregnant!

Guess Where We've Been?

THE BEACH!!

These 3 monkeys didn't want to leave California!

Case had fun playing paddle ball on the beach with Dad and Kunkle!

Jeremy dug a huge hole in the sand for the boys to play in.  Do you see the green wagon in the background?  That's how we got all our beach gear to and from the beach each day!

Brody thought he was so cool boogy boarding in the ocean.  What a difference a year makes.  Last year, he would only go knee deep in the water.  This year he ran full speed ahead toward the water and begged to go farther.  

 Ledger, Brody, Ella, Case, Brooklyn and Presley had so much fun 

playing together! Cousins are the best! 

For the past week, we've been in Huntington Beach with my side of the family.  That's right, 8 adults and 6 kiddos under 6 years old.  We stayed at the Hyatt at Huntington.  I would highly recommend this resort for those of you who want to go on vacation but not do any work.  Seriously, we ate out every meal, played at the resort pool and waterslides, walked across the bridge to the beach, made Smores in the fire pits each night, played in the jacuzzi, and best of all, came back each evening to a clean room!!  It was perfect and I don't feel like I need a vacation from my vacation!!

Happy 4th of July, Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy 4th of July!

Ledger had so much fun swinging at the 4th of July carnival.

Brody, Case and Ledger each won a liter of Black Cherry soda for tossing the ring onto the bottle.  They were so excited!

Here we are leaving the carnival.  We had a fun 4th of July!

I Love the 4th of July!  It's one of my favorite holidays.  I don't know if it's the red, white and blue, the green grass and smell of BBQ's or the neighborhood parades.  It could be the fireworks and carnivals or even the fact that it's my Dad's birthday.  As a child the 4th was always more to me then celebrating our Independence.  It was a day to celebrate my Dad.  I always thought he was so lucky to be born on the 4th of July cause he got to have fireworks and carnivals at every birthday. Forget the big parties, he had the world celebrating with him!  My Dad told us stories from his Mom about the night he was born and how the doctor in Safford, AZ was drunk the night he delivered him. My grandpa, my Dad's Dad, ended up having to deliver him!! Can you mom's out there imagine showing up to the hospital in labor only to be greeted by a drunk doctor on the 4th of July? Oh how I'm happy we don't live in Safford AZ!!  My Dad would have been 61 years old today.  I wish we were celebrating with him today!  

We celebrated the 4th of July up here in the cool mountains.  I love being up here on the 4th cause it reminds me of the small town celebrations.  The people here decorate their porches and lawns along with their golf carts and cars.  We headed up to White Mountain Country Club for the carnival and dinner.  The boys had a ball playing the games and winning the little prizes.  The weather was awesome and it was a fun day for us all!  We're skipping out on the Show Low fireworks tonight as we always do.  The boys would rather play at Sugar's cabin anyhow!  Hope you all had a great time celebrating your Independence and the blessings we share by living in this great Country!

Swim Banquet

Brody was a big winner tonight with his participation and most improved trophies!

We are so proud of Case for participating on the MCC swim team this year!

Coach Matt, Coach Stephanie, Coach Jeff and Coach Brian are the best coaches ever!

Ledger and Jeremy had so much fun playing in the pool tonight!  Ledger is a FISH!

Case had fun having Jeremy throw him all over the pool!  Don't you remember doing that as a kid with your Dad?  I do!

Tonight we finished off the swim season with a banquet and trophy ceremony.  The ceremony was outside by the pool which meant swimming and FUN!  After we ate dinner and swam, Coach Jeff presented the participation trophies.  He then presented most improved, Captain Kirk and Scarbrough trophies.  Guess who received the most improved trophy for the boys 6 and under?  That's right...BRODY!  This is the  kid who cried every practice last year cause the water was too cold.  The kid who cried before each swim meet cause the water was too cold.  The kid who didn't have the confidence to swim all the way across that pool last year!  What a difference a year makes!  We couldn't be more proud of both him and Case!  Way to go boys!  

Are you wondering what I could possibly blog about now that swimming is over?  

Swim Championships Day 2

FINALLY!  A third place medal for Brody!!

Brad Wilson, Jeremy, Kent Nicholas and Seth Darst all swam in the freestyle parent relay tonight!  They rocked in their wigs and bling!

Brody is an awesome butterflyer!

Ledger and Case were so proud of their big medal winning brother!

We are so proud of Brody and Case!  We love these knuckleheads!

Tonight we headed back over to Moon Valley Country Club for the second night of championships.  Last night Brody qualified to swim again for butterfly and guess what...Jeremy signed up for the parent relay (well he didn't really sign up but did participate!).  It was a super fun, HOT night!  Brody swam his little heart out and ended up with a 3rd place MEDAL!  Yep, I said MEDAL!  All summer, all he has wanted was to get a medal.  He came close at some races but never enough to place in the top 5.  Well, tonight at the last meet of the summer, he got his MEDAL!  He is glowing as are Jeremy and I!  At dinner he asked if he was dreaming.  He can't believe it himself!  We are beyond proud of him and how hard he and Case have worked this summer.  They went to every practice and even private lessons.  They wore the goggles, swim caps, and new suits.  They tattooed their bodies to show their team spirit and even cheered for their friends during the races. They put their heart and souls into the season.  And now for a proud Mom moment.  After Brody swam, he headed over to the medal table to see if he was going to get a medal.  He did of course and came walking back to the rest of us with a huge smile on his face.  He immediately walked over to Case to show him his Medal.  Case's eyes lit up as he looked at his proud brother wearing his new medal.  Brody took his medal off, put it around Case's neck and said, "How do you like it?"  Case couldn't speak, only smile as he wore the medal around his own neck.  Brody quickly removed the medal from Case before he decided to keep it and went to show it off to everyone else.  My heart was heavy and I was so proud of both the boys .  Congrats to Brody and Case for a fun and memorable swim season!