Pacific Science Center

My dad and step-mom came for a visit a couple weeks ago. Bryan took off work one day so we could all go to the Pacific Science Center. The boys had never been. It was so fun! What a beautiful day it turned out to be! Gavin was very impressed with this building! So, when the helicopter started to land on top, I had to get a picture for him! Here is my dad putting coins in the parking meter. Parking was quite the (funny) fiasco, so I thought I should document it with a picture! Finally inside, enjoying the exhibits!

P.S. I wanted to mention; and you can tell from the pictures...we were practically the only ones there! Gotta love homeschooling!

Jesus Is My Friend

Jessica introduced this band to me. I just had to post it! Enjoy!

"Captain Rex"

One of Gavin's favorite things to do is dress up. So, it came as no surprise that he wanted to use his birthday money to buy a Clone Trooper mask. (Or is it a Storm Trooper? He has told me the difference a number of times, but I can never seem to remember! Ha!) That wasn't good enough, though. He wanted to dress up as Captain Rex, who, apparently, looks like this: Gavin made this costume. He colored, cut, and taped the blue pieces on the helmet... I helped him cut some old socks for the white arm bands... He colored on an old white tank top with a sharpie to make the breast plate... And so on. Very creative! (Yes, he is wearing his baseball "cup underwear" over his pants!)

Soccer

Soccer season started a few weeks ago. These are pictures from their first games. They both got to play goalie!

Big Brother

Gavin is an amazing big brother and helper! (Trevor has taken to calling himself "the medium brother"!) They all love each other so much! It warms my heart!

Last but not least...

I had grand plans for this post, which is why it has taken me so long to get the last of my vacation pictures posted. Alas, I am getting really behind on my posting, since we have been so busy lately. I don't see it slowing down any time soon, so I thought I'd just get these pictures up and move on. This is just a sampling of what we did inside while we were on vacation! Games, games, and more games! (And, of course, watching football, Hurricane Gustav and GOP Convention coverage!) We also did a lot of fun word searches and crossword puzzles. After doing a couple of Tail Tag* word searches, Gavin decided to make one of his own! Clever! (*A Tail Tag is a word search in which you are given the first word to look for and each subsequent word begins with the last letter of the previous word. You are given the number of letters in the word, but not the actual word.) Yes, the first word is triskadecaphobia: the fear of the number 13. That's my boy.

Help!

I've been meaning to post pictures of our new house ever since we moved, in June, but have never gotten around to it. Well, this is not actually the purpose of this post...just an added bonus. ; ) Actually, I am having a love/hate relationship with my wood floors! I LOVE our new house and the wood floor is beautiful... But I HATE it!!! I feel like I have tried every product known to man to clean this floor, to no avail! I sweep (many times a day), swiffer, mop, and scrub and still end up with a floor that has a residue and footprints and doesn't look any cleaner than when I first began! Does anyone have a tried and true product and method to clean a hard wood floor?

And, of course...Swimming!

Swimming is always a favorite! After Labor Day, we pretty much had the place to ourselves! It was great! Another picture of all three boys!! Avery loved the kiddie pool! It was just like bath water! After a nice warm swim and shower, Avery fell right to sleep in his seat, so we kept swimming!

Recreation

These are just a few of the boys' favorite activities. (You do not want to see the pictures of me playing tennis! Ha!) Grandpa took the boys bike riding nearly every day! Of course, they always made a pit stop at the market for ice cream!

Vacation

John and Linda booked a private chalet at The Running Y Ranch in Klameth Falls, Oregon; one of their time share resorts. This was our third time there, but our first time with Grandma and Grandpa. It was so relaxing and fun! Here we are (minus Avery and me) enjoying our deck and hot tub! A family of deer ate dinner right outside our cabin every evening. Not to mention, hawks, birds, bats, and a even a raccoon!

My Boys

I tried so hard to get a picture of all three of the boys, together, while we were on vacation. These are kind of cheesy, but it's the best I could get.

2 Months Old!

Avery turned two months old while we were on vacation! Stay tuned for lots of vacation pics!