Andrew's cowboy party

Andrew's cowboy birthday party was a huge success. Being that this was his first ever friend party I went all out. He had been very firm on the cowboy idea. I think this was just so he had a good excuse to wear his cowboy hat. Although it poured rain all day which put an end to all our out door games we had a ton of fun inside.

First all the kids decorated their very own paper bag vest. I know very fancy.

They all tried to hit the pinata. We didn't have a blindfold so they all closed their eyes tight. I was surprised how honest all the kids were.

Next their was a visit from the infamous El Guapo. He tried to steal all the presents so the kids were made sheriffs so they could fight el Guapo in a shootout. Anjuli made the el Guapo poster for me. Didn't she do an awesome job. Zac and I had way too much fun burning the corners.

Andrew blew out his candles.

He ate and enjoyed his cupcake.

Then a boy from church came and did balloon animals for all the kids. He was amazingly good and so patient with the kids and he is only twelve! We were lucky he could make it to the party.

I think by this point Andrew was on a serious chocolate kick. Here he is with his octopus balloon. He has been wanting one forever and was so excited to finally have Christian make him one.

ohiopyle day 1

We have been hearing about Ohiopyle for awhile now. It's a State Park about 2 hours south of Pittsburgh. Hava and Brigg called us up on Monday before the 4th and invited us to go camping with them. It was a quickly planned camping trip but we had a lot of fun. I personally hadn't been camping since I was pregnant with Anne so I was a bit hesitant to go. I am not a huge camping fan, something about sleeping on the ground and all that dirt. Anyway I made a huge leap and said YES to the camping trip. We drove down Friday morning and arrived right before lunch. Because we couldn't set up our camping site until later we took our first hike of the trip. We hiked down to the Cucumber Falls trail but somehow we got turned around and ended up down by the river. We had lunch and watched all the river rafting boats go by. It was perfect.

Cucumber Falls or "Zucchini Falls" as the kids called it.

The credit goes to Brigg for this shot - he was trying to teach me how to use my camera.

Uncle Brigg loves to climb anything. The kids got a hoot out of this one.

Ohiopyle Falls

ohiopyle day 2

Our second day in Ohiopyle we decided to try out a trail on the other side of the river. It was perfect. Not to hard and in the shade. We hiked up above the river then hiked down to the river to cool off...it was hot. The kids had worn their swim suits so they jumped right in. The rest of us just stuck our feet in. Boy was that water cold. That didn't stop Jackson from hurling his body toward the water every chance he got. Jackson would have loved Hawaii.

We are so lucky to have Hava and Brigg with us. Brigg was constantly scouting out new trails for us and Hava taught Anne and Andrew some hiking songs.

Ohiopyle falls from the other side.

I just had to post this one of us all...notice Anne over in the corner. She laid their like a mermaid on the rocks. Very funny.

splash park

Did I mention that this kid loves the water. He just sits there at the splash park happy as a clam.

jackson - 9 months

Another month gone by in a flash. My little man is growing up so fast and learning new things every day. Here are a few of his latest:

* He is now about 20 pounds...we had to take him to the hospital to get him weighed...long story but it involves having a nasty ear infection and hand, foot, mouth. (Yuck)

* He is now standing and trying his hardest to cruise along the furniture.

* He is the fastest crawler this side of Highland Park Ave. The kid sees something he wants and he gets it.

* He loves loves loves the pool. Which is probably how the hand, foot, mouth thing happened.

* He eats everything. He loves to eat whatever we are eating, especially ice cream...not that I gave him any...he he.

* He loves to be held...for about 3 seconds until he finds something he wants more.

* He can climb the stairs...ahhh!

* He now has 5 teeth.

We love Jackson so much. He is such a sweet baby. We are so so happy to have him in our lives.

strawberry picking 2010

We took our annual strawberry picking trip with the Thomas family this year. We had a lot of fun. The kids ate way more then they picked and Jess and I picked with our babies strapped to our chests. As always one of my favorite summer outings.

Can you believe the amount of jam we made this year? I LOVE IT!

spring baseball

Anne and Andrew both decided to try baseball this year. Although it kept them both very busy with one day of practice and another day with a game, they both had a blast. Andrew broke his arm one week into the season but that didn't stop him. He had an amazing one arm hit. Anne on the other hand found her strength out in the field. What a arm she has! They are both hoping to be on the same team next year so they can combine their strengths and win.