Summer of Nephews

This summer my nephew, Wyland, spent about a month with us and right before he left Garrick and Tristen came for almost 2 weeks. Entertaining all the kids has been a big part of our summer so far.

When it was just Wyland here, we went down to Redondo one day to meet up with some family friends from Vegas. The kids love searching for sand crabs. They had a whole pail full of them.

Thankfully, the lighting isn't good enough to see Dedan's tush. His bathing suit was too small and I think I told him about 24 times to pull up his pants.
The kids other favorite beach activity was boogie boarding. Below are Emma, Shelby (our friend) and Dedan. Now I need to find some garage sale boogie boards to use when I take the kids.

After Garrick and Tristen got here and before Mom & John left with Wyland we ALL went to the zoo - using our excellent membership passes. It was a little warm, but not bad. It was a fun thing for all of us to do together...without the chaos and mess of staying home. Right away Tristen and Dedan found this giant (kimodo) dragon. Cool!

We had to drag Nash away from the gorilla habitat.
Wy, the teenager, and Grandma taking a break at the playground while the little kids play.

We spent one afternoon at Marina Park beach in Ventura (where Mom took me, James & Tressa when we were growing up). As soon as we got there the boys ran into the water. Tristen didn't last long, but Dedan and Garrick stayed in the water for hours.

Most of the week Garrick tried to pretend he wasn't having fun. This picture proves otherwise. Maybe he should be covered in sand more often.
Emma and I glad we got to spend some time at the beach. Like my beach hair? ew.

Because of plumbing problems our community pool was closed 3 days before school got out. Every day the kids ask if its fixed. We had 3 false alarm opening dates and very disappointed kids. More than a month later, the pool opened last Wednesday...at 5 pm. Of course, we went straight over. Within an hour mean Uncle Harland had one of my nephews crying as the result of chicken fights. Great.

Saturday night we went to Hart Park for the Stake celebration. See how much fun we had...

Some other things that have kept us busy this week: five million movies, water balloons, more swimming, McDonald's Playplace, aerobics (for me while the kids played), bikes & scooters, In-N-Out burger (neener neener, Tressa), chess, legos, picking up legos, army dudes, picking up army dudes, and even a little help keeping the place clean. Tomorrow Garrick and Tristen leave. It won't be the same around here.

Duct tape vs. Plumber's tape

After we found out replacing my broken side view mirror was $500 (I won't go into details, but I am not the mirror breaker) we had to come up with another solution. Silicone glue sort of worked until the over 100 degree temps here and it melted and sagged.

As a quick fix my step-dad, Papa, used the ultimate white trash fix: duct tape. I must have some white trash in my family (no comments from the peanut gallery) because I seriously loved it...

Har not so much, so he finally came up with this more permanent solution with plumber's tape and screws. He's handy to have around.

Independence Day!

July 3rd the ward had an evening party where the kids could bring their decorated bikes for a parade. Of course, my kids got gussied up for that. I'm not very good at taking pictures of moving things yet, so all mine are a little blurry. Above is Emma in the front and Har pushing Nash in the background to the left.

You can see how excited my dumb family is as we wait in the Whole Foods parking lot for the fireworks to begin. From left to right: Wyland, Har, Emma, Dedan & me, Nash. Grandma JR took the picture. It wasn't a bad spot and the show was good! Here's a sample...

He's a maniac!

I've been going to aerobics at the church every weekday morning. We have great classes, too, including boot camp and yoga. But I sweat...a lot (I suppose that's the point)! Mom was being helpful and found some sweat bands for me. Nash liked the extras and wore them while he tried to convince us to watch TOY STORY - again (twice a day lately). I cannot pull off the sweat band look as well as he does though. Doesn't matter - anything to keep it from dripping in my eyes. Who would've known Yoga with the mellow music and low impact could make me sweat so so much?! I LOVE IT!

The Kirkwoods!

Jessica & James!
My little brother finally did it! He tied the knot. What does every new bride wish for...going to her in-laws, of course.

Their new baby, Riley got lots of attention . Although, this was a rare shot with Dedan and Grandma since Emma kept stealing Riley away for herself.

Me and the very blonde Riley...too bad you can't see her Kirkwood toes in this picture. They're pretty cute.

Lula got to play with her "cousin" Lucy, too. Here the two girls were even begging together while James ate his dinner.

Heat Wave!

It's been like living back in Arizona again with the over 100 degree temperatures this week. Right before we drove out to swim at Uncle Matt's (grilling above) the a/c went out on my car. But dinner and swimming were fantastic.
Then this weekend Emma and some friends brought buckets of water out front to stay entertained and keep cool. Inventive girls! (the shot above is right before Emma unexpectedly got soaked).

Nash and the too small bathing suit. hee hee.

Koral is 18

Rachel, me and Koral at the big 18th birthday celebration (June 14th). The whole weekend was an extravaganza of Koral. She turned 18, graduated from high school, and she's off to CSU Fullerton in no time at all. We were exhausted when we got home on Monday. Partying with an 18 year old for 3 days will do that to you.

Koral and her matching boyfriend, Tex, having a blast at Saturday's party.
Another fun cake by my mama, JR.

Splashin' Nash

Sweet Mandy (in the big hat) from a nearby ward offered to teach swim lessons to toddler/pre-schoolers for FREE. She is an angel. Nash and I spent a bunch of afternoons at the Valencia pool learning and swimming and playing with our friends. He is shaping up to be quite a brave swimmer. (picture by Heather Keil)