Justin Turns 6!

Justin had a pretty exciting 6th birthday. First he broke out of his birthday streamers like a champ.

Then we all headed into Long Beach for a birthday BBQ at Great Grandma Allen's house. He scored with lots of cool presents.

Even a keyboard!

Justin is obsessed with Transformers so I made him a Transformers cake using fondant. For as simple as this cake looks, this was probably the hardest cake I've decorated. Didn't realize fondant was so difficult! But all that matters is that the birthday boy loved it.

Later on we went to the Angel's game. Justin was so happy that they won on his birthday. He called it his "luckiest birthday ever." Glad he had such a great day. He deserves it!

July Randoms

Jason got his scooter fixed. Somebody is a little happy about it. If that is not the look of pure joy, I don't know what is.

We went over to Scott & Lauren's one Sunday to ride their horses. The kids were in heaven, especially Elizabeth. I see horse back riding lessons in her future. She's a natural.

 

Justin and Elizabeth continued swim lessons. Elizabeth finally learned to swim! We're so proud of both of them.

 

We found a new place to cool off at Lake Skinner's splash pad and made some trips with some fun friends. Such an awesome place!

We celebrated the 4th of July in Long Beach as usual. It was a bit chilly but definitely a nice change from the heat in Menifee. Other than Justin not letting go of a firework and almost getting burned, we had a fabulous time. And everyone survived to tell the tale. I will never get used to this whole kids playing with fireworks deal!

One of my favorite days in July was seeing Wicked with Val. I had a permanent smile on my face for days. So so good!

Our favorite show to watch together this summer was Wipeout. The kids even made up their own obstacle course in the backyard!

Man, I LOVE summer!

June Randoms

Other than birthday overload, June saw some other exciting activities. The kids started swim lessons, we went on our first family vacation of the summer and we made weekly trips to the beach.

Hanging out in the backyard. The kids discovered our neighbor's dog. Poor kids who don't have a pet.

Elizabeth learned a new trick!

The Vincent's invited us to their time share in Indio. We had so much fun in the sun, chilling in the lazy river and swimming!

One of our many beach trips. This time was with Morgan and her cute kiddos, Brent, Sophie and Lily.

Won't You Tell Me How To Get To Sesame Street?

Shane loves Sesame Street so it was only fitting that we throw him a Sesame Street 2nd Birthday Party! We rented a huge water jump slide which was a total hit with the kids AND adults. So much fun and perfect for a summer birthday.

These are the cupcakes that Danielle (Chris' girlfriend) and I stayed up until 1am making. All for the kid who can't even have one (he's allergic to eggs). It's the thought that counts, right?

Shane loves popsicles and would actually pick them over any baked good so he was still a happy little guy.

Opening his presents with his stained green mouth.

We sure love that little boy and all his craziness. He loves to wrestle and tease his older brother and sister, hang out with Dad and ask Mom a million times for more food. We wouldn't have him any other way!

Adventures in Candyland

Elizabeth had a life size Candyland game for her birthday party. It was lots of fun to put together (lots of work, but lots of fun) and everyone had a great time!

The kids started off by following the path to The Gingerbread Tree where they picked a goodie bag and decorated the gingerbread man on it with markers and crayons. They filled these bags with goodies and treats all throughout the "game." 

They then followed the colored path outside to The Peppermint Forest where we played a relay race using spoons and peppermint candies. Next was Gumdrop Pass where the kids took turns rolling down the roller coaster.

 

The kids stopped by Gramma Nutt's house to pick up some more goodies for their treat bags,

and played a ring toss game in Lollipop Woods.

Next stop was Snowflake Lake where the most chaotic balloon toss and catch game took place!

Then it was time to slide down into Gloppy's Chocolate Swamp.

And to King Kandy's Castle for the finish! We hit the pinata here for even more candy!

Pretty birthday girl with her decorated goodie bag.

 

Peppermint disc relay race.

 

Justin was the most excited about the roller coaster. Hahaha.

 

The kids grabbing circus peanuts from Gramma Nutt's house. Do people really eat those things?

 

Throwing the ring around the "suckers."

This was the balloon game we played. Everyone was given a "cone" (made from paper) and had to try and catch a balloon on top to make an "ice-cream cone." It was far too windy outside to actually work but still lots of fun, especially to watch!

Charlotte sliding into the chocolate swamp.

Gettin' it done!

 

Elizabeth was spoiled with lots of great things from her friends. She got lots of Disney Princess stuff which she loves. She was especially excited to get the new Disney Princess, Merida!

The Candyland Cake!

Elizabeth's cute friends.

(Mason, Sophie, Brent, Kenzie, Charlotte, Audrey, Elizabeth, Aubrey, Reagan, Luke & Justin)

 

Elizabeth sure felt special celebrating this special day with all her buds. I hope it's a party she'll always remember (especially since I am now worn out from party throwing haha)!

Elizabeth Turns 4!

Elizabeth woke up to a decorated room full of streamers and balloons! She was just a little excited about her birthday! I sure love this happy, joyful girl.

She followed the streamers tied to her bed all the way downstairs and found her big birthday present in the family room. A new princess bike!

She immediately wanted to take it outside and try it out. Lookin' good Elizabeth!

After breakfast, Elizabeth took her birthday money to the store and picked out 2 new Barbies. We also celebrated with some ice-cream at Baskin Robbins.

Later that night we celebrated even more with a pink cake, per the birthday girl's request.

And yes, I'm aware her name is spelled wrong on her birthday crown and no, I didn't make it.

 

Elizabeth is the happiest, funniest, most grateful, silliest, most imaginative girl I know. She has brought so much love and happiness to our family. She gets so excited about everything and is just plain fun to be around. I love having a girl in the family so much. She really is my best friend and I'm loving watching her grow into the beautiful girl she is.

Preschool Graduation

Justin and Elizabeth had their preschool graduation on May 30th. It was a super cute program, as always. It was so fun seeing them perform together.

Elizabeth sang the ABC's: 

And Justin played a duet with Grandma/Miss Sylvia on the piano:

All of the classes performed the cutest version of Sleeping Beauty. Elizabeth was Queen Elizabeth (so fitting!):

And Justin was a knight:

So proud of our graduates! Justin is on to Kindergarten and Elizabeth Pre-K.

My Dad and his wife came down for the graduation. The kids always have a great time with "Mustache Grandpa."

And here is the future preschool graduate who wanted his picture taken too!