i heart faces -- "got to wear shades"

this little guy LOVES his shades!

and

he looks pretty styling in them too.

Bear Lake 2010

cousins

Sophie and Collin LOVE their cousins. On Logan's side of the family they have a lot ... and they are all around their same ages. It makes for lots of fun ... and play ... and laughter ... and sometimes some craziness too! On my side though, the cousins are all a lot older than our kids ... which makes it a little different. But usually it is always just as much fun. They have a small group of girl cousins who just love to dote on them ... and Sophie and Collin eat it up! I am sure Ruby will in time too.

Last week they got to spend some time with some cousins that they don't get to see too often. And they loved it. They loved the attention that these sweet girls gave to them. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity for some pics.

rainbow

the rainbow outside my house tonight

Took the kids for a walk tonight. It was so nice ... cool and breezy ... then the rain started. After the rain stopped the kids ran outside to play and found this beautiful rainbow. It was a complete arch ... right over my neighbors house.

I am loving the cooler weather we are having in the evening the past couple of nights.

I can't believe that it is August already. I am so NOT ready for the Summer to end. I have been doing some back to school shopping with the kids. It makes me sad. But I think that they are excited to go back. I just can't stand the thought of Sophie being gone all day. Yuck!

Sophie's birthday is coming up. It is all she can talk about. Or think about. I can't believe my first baby will be turning six. Sigh! I have been working on her invitations today ... every time she sees them she tells me they are beautiful.

The kids are in bed. Logan's at work. The house is quiet. I think I might just go have some ice cream!

Bear Lake

We spent the weekend in Bear Lake ... another mini vacation you could call it. We had a lot of fun and definitely created some memories.

Highlights of Bear Lake:

• swimming ... Oh my! The pool was was soOOoo warm. I LOVED it!
• driving to the Minnetonka Cave only to have the wait be too long ... Sophie was so bummed. She wanted to see the fairy rooms. Maybe next time!
• lunch with Grandma and Grandpa at a pizza place ... the kids LOVED the rides. I would bet we spent over $10 on them.
• sailing with Grandma and Grandpa
• the nap Ruby took after sailing!
• more swimming
• a walk to the KOA for popsicles ... yummy!

and

• the beach ... followed by some deliciously yummy mini donuts and a cute puppy!

What a great weekend!

sophie traveling ' in style'

sailing

One of the major reasons we went to Bear Lake was to visit Grandma and Grandpa on their sail boat. The kids were so excited to sail. Although I can't say that they were all too impressed. Sophie lasted about 10 minutes and then retreated to the cabin to watch some movies. Ruby wanted to walk freely on the top of the boat without a life jacket. Frustrated by the fact that we wouldn't let her {and also by the fact that she was tired}, she screamed through most of our sail. Collin, however, did seem to enjoy himself. He sat up top the whole time with his sunglasses and some 'grade' {gatorade}! He even got to steer the boat ... with a little help from Grandpa.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for sharing your boat with us!

beach

Hands down our most favorite day of our mini vacation was beach day! The kids had a ball. And so did we!

Ruby wasn't quite sure of the sand or water at first, but soon grew to love them. We didn't even put her in her swim suite because I thought there was no way she would get in ... boy was I wrong. By the end, she was soaked.

The kids splashed, buried themselves, swam, and ran around while Logan and I played a little frisbee. Good times!

Family Pics

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we had some family pics taken. And Ruby screamed the. entire. time. So basically it was my worst nightmare. But I handled it well. In fact, it didn't really bother me at all. My pics are REAL. Real life. Captured. They are perfect.

We went a little early and I took the individual shots of my kids and then we met a good friend and neighbor and she took our family ones. I can't thank her enough.

the family:

{see the crying ... }




little miss ruby:

{okay ... she didn't cry through the individual shots. but she did through all the family shots!}

collin {i am so photogenic} curtis:

and the beautiful sophie j:





Now to decide which ones to print {sigh}!