Beach Day

Friday we packed up the car and headed down to Corona Del Mar for the day. It was absolutely gorgeous weather. Hot in the sun, but there was a cool breeze. The water felt good too. Not that we went in past our knees or anything, but still. The boys loved digging, but did NOT love the sand that they both managed to get in their eyes. Weston had to go to the showers to rinse his face and when he came back he zonked out on the blanket for about 45 minutes. I covered him all up with a towel so he didn't get fried. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of him sprawled out asleep in the sun. We love the beach!
Talia LOVED the waves! She would kick and giggle and make all kinds of cute noises while we just stood there holding her hands. Talia got a little 20 minute nap in my arms, but other than that she didn't sleep. I was impressed with how happy she was without a good nap.
After a few hours we got in the car and drove up to Long Beach. We stopped in to visit with Grandma Snowball for a little bit and also got to see Aunt Chris and Uncle Dick for a couple minutes.
We ended our beach day down at Pooh's beach for the Olson Family Beach Party. It was a blast! We roasted hot dogs, brats, and sausages, made smores, got to see all the family (including Brad and Mel!), celebrated birthdays, and the kids got to go on a pirate treasure hunt. Ian and I snuck away for a quick walk along the beach too. It was a long day and we were all pretty beat by the end, but we had so much fun. I sure miss living close to the beach.

Travis, Lance, Ian, and I at the Olson Family Beach Party

Uncle Rich and my dad. Such handsome guys. :)

Mel, Grandpa Olson, and Uncle Devar

Pirate Treasure Hunt!

Me and my sweetheart . . . Long Beach August 2011

More Cousins!

Holy cow I haven't posted in forever! Sorry! We have just been busy getting and keeping the house clean and trying to squeeze every last fun drop out of the last few weeks of summer. I can't believe that Weston starts Kindergarten next Monday. We went and met his teacher yesterday and had his assessment. He is more than ready for school, and I think he is going to have a great experience.

I never finished blogging our California trip . . . shame on me! This is from our second cousin day. On Thursday of our trip we drove out to Palmdale to spend some time with Aunt Teri, Uncle Mike, and Ian's cousins Todd and Jenni and their cute kids. They also hadn't met Talia yet, so Aunt Teri needed some good baby snuggles. We had a blast visiting, swimming, and letting the kiddos run around. It's always so fun to see the Williams'!

Weston and Preston were buddies and got along great!

Talia getting to know Brooke a little better. Such pretty little girls!

Cousins!!!

Wednesday was cousin day! Joy and the girls came over for a fun day and a sleepover. We had a pirate and princess tea party at lunch. It was great. The kids loved picking out their tea cup and eating fun foods. Weston planned a Music Show after the tea party, so when we had eaten our fill of chocolate sandwiches, Cheetos, and cupcakes, we headed into the music room. Lizzie and Mimi played the piano for us. Weston played a song on the instrument he built. Davin danced while Rachel played a song on an instrument she built, and the adults even got in on the action. Mom, Joy, Jules, and I sang "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast and did a kick line. I'm pretty sure the kids thought we were crazy. They just stared at us when we finished. :)
Later that afternoon we slicked everyone up and went down to South Coast Plaza for a grandparents and grandkids photo shoot. It turned out cute, but I might be biased.
By the time we finished up with the pictures we were all ready for dinner. We thought we would drive down and have dinner at the Newport Beach Spaghetti Factory, but when we got there and couldn't find a place to park we found out there was an hour wait, so we turned around and drove back to Fullerton. Needless to say it was a late dinner. I kind of thought it would be a disaster going to a sit down restaurant with six kids when they are all usually in bed, but they were great. It was low key and fun to all be together. Plus the food tasted amazing.
We were all ready for bed by the time we got home, so we set up sleepover central for the kids in the music room and got everyone settled. They were surprisingly good about going to sleep and not waking up at the crack of dawn. Although I think Rachel's middle of the night snit with Mimi will be immortalized. Around 2am Rachel woke up and realized that Mimi had stolen her blanket, so she ran down the hall screaming at the top of her lungs "Mimi's bugging me!!!" Luckily Auntie Jules, Grandma B, and Joy all descended on her quickly and took care of the situation. :)
In the morning the cousins all played together until we finally decided we had better get ready for the day. The Henshaw's headed home and we packed up the car and drove out to Palmdale to visit some more cousins. We sure love cousin time.

Cute Kids, Summer Fun

Talia is 8 months old tomorrow! She cut her first tooth last week while we were in California, so the Bowles tradition of first teeth at seven months is holding up. She is also the sweetest, cutest thing. She melts our hearts on a regular basis and is just such a pleasant baby. This morning I got a couple cute pics of all the kids playing together on my bed. Of course, they all have crazy hair, but I guess that's what they look like the majority of the time. :)
We picnicked and played at Liberty Park today. It's Davin's favorite park and he asks to go there all the time. The boys wore bathing suits and enjoyed the splash zone and playing restaurant in one of the play structures.
Talia was chilling with me, so I took her 8 month picture. I sure love my beautiful girl.

Karate!

About a month ago I had a conversation with Weston about what activity he wanted to do. Maybe tee ball again? Meh. Maybe soccer? Meh. So I asked if he would want to learn karate. He replied, "Well, Mom, I kind of already know a lot of kung fu moves." I managed to convince him that he could learn something new. :) I also found a fantastic deal for 3 months worth of lessons at a martial arts center really close to our house.

On Tuesday we went to sign him up. Wednesday he had his first private lesson with Master Troy (for which I forgot to bring my camera). And today he had his first regular Dragons class. It was great. He loved it. It's hard for him since he's not the most athletic kid. Seriously, you should have seen him trying to do a sit up. Hilarious. I think that it's good for him to do something that doesn't come easily though. And, of course, he's having a blast punching and kicking and LOVES his uniform! Today he got his white belt after class and he was very proud. Skidoosh!

Museum and Baseball

Tuesday we spent the morning relaxing, but rallied enough for a little outing to the good old La Habra Children's Museum. We always have fun when we go there. We hit up the standard theater room, grocery store play area, and the animal room. They also had a fun art exhibit that Weston especially enjoyed. When it was time to go Grandma B let the boys pick out a fun toy at the museum store. They both chose a cool jet. Thanks Grandma!
We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing until it was time to get ready for the Angel's game. The boys had never been to a major league game, so I was really excited for them to watch the Angel's play (thanks Mom and Dad!!!). As we all got dressed in our Angel's (and matching colors) gear Weston was sad that he didn't have a hat, so I told him we would see if we could buy him one at the stadium. We ended up finding perfect red Angel baseball hats for the boys for only $7! I couldn't believe it. Davin mostly went for the hot dog. And it didn't disappoint. We had a grand time eating our way through the game. The Angel's even scored two home runs, which meant we got to stand up and cheer and see a few fireworks. Very exciting.
Around 8:30 Davin asked if he could go home and sleep until the sun came up. Poor kid was so tired. His 15 minute car nap just didn't cut it. I made him tough it out until after the 7th inning stretch. Mom and I picked up Talia from Blake and Paige's house (thanks for babysitting!!!) and took the boys home and put them to bed. Ian, Jules, and Dad stayed for the rest of the game. It was another long, fun day.