Summer Fun and Back to the Grind

We had a super fun-filled summer with lots of trips.  Our first stop was to Boston.  My dad is from there and a lot of our family is still there.  We went and visited my Auntie Jan and Uncle Wayne.  A trip out East is not complete without a trip to Kimball's.  Kimball's used to be just a dairy that sold delicious ice cream.  When we went this year (I hadn't been there for about 9 years) it was a total destination.  Bumper boats, arcade games, mini-golf, petting zoo, etc., etc.  The boys loved it and I loved the ice cream.

Here we are at Kimball's mid ice-cream:

Another must do is the Swan Boats.  I didn't know if the boys would really be that into it but they were.  We saw swans, turtles, and baby ducks.

After a few days in the city we headed up to Maine to my Aunt and Uncle's lake house.  It was so fun.  We jet skied, and boated, and paddle boarded, and kayaked.  We also made s'mores and just had lots of fun on their beach.

Ready to roast those marshmellows:

Rob and Elliot relax on a boat ride:

We headed from the East coast back out West with trips to Colorado and Utah.  We had lots of fun in CO in the mountains and swimming and just hanging out.  And it Utah we did more boating and had lots of fun with cousins and fireworks.  It was fun...but...I have no pictures to prove it...sorry.

Once we got back to LA it was time to get serious.  Easton started Kindergarten this year!  They started early..August 14th!  We also had our awesome friends, the Roberts, staying with us so it was a fun week!

Here is Easton on the doorstep before we left to walk to school:

 And here he is in line with his class:

He is doing pretty well.  Not loving having to be somewhere everyday and not loving the homework but he is making friends and his teacher, Mrs. Jung, has told me that he is really polite and nice so I'll take it:)

Lately...

We have been enjoying life in SoCal.  Here are some happenings.
We loved having Lizzy and the Doug here from Austin.  We went to Sea World and to the La Brea Tar Pits.  I am horrible at taking pictures so here is all we got:


Bryce, Owen, and Easton on a giant mammoth at the tar pits.

We celebrated my birthday this month and it was super.  My girlfriends all pitched in and watched the boys for the day so that I could do whatever I wanted.  It may or may not have included the 99 cent store.  I am kind of lame.  Then we had cake and ice cream at home.



Rob got this ginormous cake just so that I could eat all of the frosting off of it.  Don't hate...it was delicious.
We also took the boys up to Underwood Family Farms in the Simi Valley to pick our own produce.  We got lots of strawberries, carrots, avocados, oranges, and lettuce.  Elliot was a strawberry eating machine.  He sat in the back of the wagon and ate one after another.  

We are getting so close to summer and are looking forward to some family trips and lots of backyard pool parties.  And starting real school this fall...who said we could have a kindergartner?!

A Visit From Amy and Stephen

We all loved having my sister Amy, and her husband Stephen here a few weeks ago.  Here are a few pics from their short visit.  You will recognize that there aren't so many pics of Amy and Stephen as there are pics of our boys that Stephen has taken for us:)
We spent some time down on the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica.  Amy and Stephen bought the boys balloon swords.

We also spent a good afternoon playing outside, blowing bubbles, and wrestling.  I like to imagine that if he could talk Elliot would be saying "Come on people, I don't have all day" in this photo.

It's a circus around here.

 We also had some good beach time.

We mostly ate but we also went to a Clippers game.  And we ate there as well:)  Thanks for visiting guys.

Elliot Turns 1!

Elliot turned 1 on March 30th and we had a very small celebration at home. We had cake and ice cream and opened a few fun presents.

Elliot was kind of fascinated with the frosting and kept touching it and looking at his hand. He finally dug in and got messy though.

Easton and Owen helped him open his presents and helped to play with them too.

We all love Elliot so much. He is happy and laid back which is really priceless as boy #3. He is starting to walk and can go about 5 steps until he falls. He loves to clap and "bark" with his brothers.

Happy Birthday Elliot! We love you!

Little League

We have an official little league-er these days. Easton started 5 pitch baseball a few weeks ago and had his first game this weekend. It has been tricky for him to get the rules of the game...baseball is actually pretty skill oriented...who knew?! Probably didn't help that he has lived most of his life where baseball is never played. He had a really good time during his game and was sure their team won even though they don't keep score:)

After his game we headed to the beach with some friends. Elliot didn't eat too much sand.

And all the kids just cracked me up sitting in this circle digging into the chips with their sandy hands...Doritos anyone?

And, I guess I never mentioned that we moved back to L.A. We're back!

Our Little Zoo

This is what Valentine's Day looks like in a house full of boys. No pink, no flowers, just animal hats and some wrestling.

Halloween 2011

Just for now we are gonna forget that this blog has been totally neglected for the last 7 months. We'll just continue on...cause really...there would be way to much to back track. So...Halloween. I think I mentioned it last year at this time...Australians don't celebrate Halloween much but our neighborhood is a little pocket of Halloween cheer and trick-or-treaters abound. Hooray! This year Easton was Spiderman and Owen was Peter Pan (but was consistantly mistaken for Robin Hood). Elliot had a turtle costume but he was in bed before the festivities began...better luck next year.

Here are the boys pre-trick-or-treat. They were ready to go the second that Rob walked in the door from work.

And here we are upon returning home. Easton looking much happier:)

Here are the boys with their loot. You can tell that even in our festive neighborhood it is NOTHING like the U.S. This was all the candy they got after a good amount of time and ground covered. At least they know nothing different...whenever we spend a Halloween in the States their socks are gonna knock right off.

They were quite happy with their little piles and I am happy that they don't have candy to last them through middle school.