Yes, we've had a busy summer so far :) And loved ever minutes of it, even despite this darn Texas heat.
Oh, the birthdays.
Our kids couldn't have had birthdays closer together if we had planned it. And actually that's a question we get asked a lot. When asked if our anniversary falls in October (since all our kids were due the same week in July, though they weren't all born on their due dates, like any baby is anyway), our usual reply is "No. But don't you understand how cold it gets in the intermountain west in October?"
And wouldn't you know, the extra children we've brought into our home also has his birthday in June too.
We don't always do birthday parties, but this year I let the kids have that option to have a party or a small day trip--yes, I do overcompensate when dad is gone. Jere-Miah's birthday is on the 17th and the twins' is on the 19th of June which fell on a Sunday and Tuesday this year. They all wanted a swimming party at the neighborhood pool, so we decided to have a triple party for all of them on the 18th, the day between their b-days. We ended up with about 20 kids and 10 adults and I was so glad we had it at the pool. After swimming for about 2 hrs we headed back to our house for pizza and cake and ice cream. Of course we couldn't just have one cake, the boys all wanted their own, so we had three cakes and three types of ice cream too.
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| Jere-Miah's Warrior's River Clan Cake |
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| Mac's Halo Battle Cake |
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| Daeglan's Pirate ship cake |
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| Me and my boys and my... uh, their cakes! |
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| Jere-Miah also got a private dinner for two (with me!) for to celebrate turing 14 and being ordained a teacher. He picked Red Lobster and was out-of-this-world happy when I said yes, he could actually order a lobster. |
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| Mac's xbox 360! (got it cheap on ebay) |
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| Daeglan got a DS and was stoked. |
Next in the birthday line up is mine and I had the. best. birthday. ever! For my birthday, I got to fly out to Washington D.C. and spend 5 whole days with my love, Geoffrey.
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| Totally enjoyed just being in the same room |
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| Had fun exploring the Metro, much easier to navigate than the Tube in London |
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| Tried our hardest to take our own pictures with monumental backdrops. #fail |
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| Funniest thing ever: The pedicab. Our ride to dinner. |
I have to give a shout out to my amazing bestie, Mel Howard, who has always had my back and particularly this time as she came to stay with my kids while I went galavanting around D.C. with my boyfriend! Thanks, Mel :)
Brody decided he didn't want a party this year. He chose a day trip to Glen Rose, TX... aka the dinosaur captial of Texas. Anyone that knows Brody, knows that is right up his alley. He was super excited when he got his new fishing pole as Dinosaur State Park is in Glen Rose. The river runs through it and there are fossilized dinosaur tracks all up and down the river bed. He was looking forward to fishing where dinosaurs had once hunted for their dinner too.
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The new fishing pole/kit.
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Unfortunately, fishing didn't happen that day. We went to Dinosaur World first and darn the Texas heat, it was 105 by the time we got out of there and the kids were exhausted from the heat. Dinosaur World is all outside. It's a walk through time down a path filled with life-sized dino statues. There is also a dino playground and a fossil dig. I think Brody was actually a little disappointed, it wasn't quite as awesome as he had hoped and the heat didn't help matters, but he handled himself like a champ and hasn't complained a word about it. I promised I'd take him fishing in Dinosaur State Park in the fall when the weather is more accommodating. Until then, he is content to fish in the creek in our neighborhood.
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| The clan with the triceratops. This picture we took especially for Geoff as this is one of his favorite dinosaurs. |
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| Digging for fossils. My kids totally rock bandanas. My dad would've been proud. |
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Brody with his most favorite bday present, Cruncher, a robot-like dino and his donut tower cake.
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Baby girl's birthday was the last in our summer line up and she was adamant about having an all girl party. The boys were a little put off that they weren't invited. Daeglan, in particular, kept complaining and nearly crying that he was being banished to my bedroom to watch a movie while the girls were here. I relented and invited him to the party. I said, "Daeglan, you know what, you're right, Emeryss was invited to your party, so you can come to hers. We'll be painting our nails and putting on makeup so start thinking about what colors you would like, ok?" Yeah, needless to say, he didn't join the party after he realized what an all-girl party entailed. Emeryss, on the other hand, was in heaven! It was probably the most girl time she's had. Ever. Except for the week she and I spent in Germany with our good friends the Moran's and their 5 daughters. After her party we spent the afternoon swimming down at the pool and we had her favorite dinner, bbq chicken and rolls with mashed potatoes.
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| My lovely 7 year old Princess :) |
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| Having so much fun doing nails and makeup. |
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| She L.O.V.E.D. open all those girly gifts. |
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| We ended her birthday with a sleepover (with the boys) in the living room. |
Actually Geoff and my anniversary kicks off the summer fun, but for the purpose of the post, I'm putting it last. On June 9th Geoff and I celebrated 12 years of marriage, of course, from a few thousand miles apart. I was depressed the whole week leading up to our anniversary, knowing there was no hope that Geoff could be home with me and at that time, also not knowing I was going to get to spend my birthday with him. I was really not looking forward to all the summer days to celebrate without him. Then, on the morning of our anniversary, I found a small package in the mail addressed to me. It was the best. anniversary. present. ever! Ever. Seriously, I don't know how he will ever top it. He was very much with me that day as I read his version of the story of us. And yes, of course, I cried.
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