Summer Beach Trip

We had the best time at the beach this year with the Elverums and Croffords. We left Saturday morning at 4am and got there around 5pm. It was a long drive but well worth it. Seaside is my happy place - I really love everything about it. This year we spent every morning at the beach with packed lunches and went out every night for dinner. Many nights we spent in Seaside letting the kids run around, enjoying the concert in the park and children's play and eating tons yummy food. We also went out one night with just adults. The moms got to leave at 4 to shop and get some cocktails at Bud and Alleys before the dads met us. Then we had dinner at Cafe 30-a which is always awesome. Overall the trip was wonderful and we can't wait to go back next year!

Wright and Owen at the concert in the park.

Wright and Owen dancing...

It was hot but Wesley and Spencer had fun on the blanket with toys.

Wright's favorite treat to get was this green apple snow cone.

Posing at one of the Seaside houses.

All 6 kids - when we took this picture I think everyone within a mile was starring at us as we screamed to get them all to look at the camera.

The boys practiced playing frisbee.

Oh Spence...

Wanna play some football?

These older boys down the beach from us were boogy boarding and stopped to teach Wright and Jake to do it - so sweet!

Practicing.

Moms and kids posing.

Just playing in the sand.

My boys.

Dad and Spence.

Wright wanted this fishing net so bad but could not catch anything.

Spencer's favorite part by far was sitting in the chair eating his lunch.

This was our boardwalk down to the beach everyday.

Another attempt to get all 6 kids in a pic on our porch.

Spencer was very intrigued by Molly Mae eating her bottle. He kept laying next to her.

The boys waiting for dinner (minus Molly Mae)

Baby in a Bag

Love this pic!

Roughriders Game

We took Wright to the Roughriders game on Sunday. He had the best time. The highlights were the "dinosaur" (unknown mascot), singing "Take me out to the ball game", all the food (nachos, cotton candy, dippin dots, peanuts) and running the bases at the end. On the way home he said "I had the very best time at the baseball game!" Even though it was over 100 degrees, we were in the shade and it was just fine. All in all, a wonderful summer evening.

The Beards were in town and got to come with us.

Wright told Eliza Grace that he loved her :) Such a charmer.

Singing "Take me out to the ball game."

Most of the group...

Wright Can Write!

Today Wright wrote this all by himself. I am so proud and can tell our hard work is really paying off :)

Spencer's stats

Spencer had his 18 month checkup today and is 32.25" tall (55%) and 25.13 oz weight (55%). Average, average, average. So much for my theory that he was going to be huge. He did go from 25% weight to 55%, so that is a big jump. Dr Dreiling is still insisting that like Wright he will shoot up in height soon. He was also where he should be with his 18 month skills. I really feel like just now at 1.5 yrs he has finally caught up from being born premature. I've heard it can take 1-2 years, so that would make sense.

Oh Wright!

Oh Wright, where do I begin? He is quite a handful these days. So so so funny at times and a complete mess at others. He has been doing a lot of talking back and whining which I am hoping is either his age or fatigue and not faulty parenting :) We have been working a ton on review for school...tracing lines, mazes, letter recognition, fine motor, etc. He loves it and is learning so much. This week he could write every letter in his name, we just need to keep practicing the order they go in.

A few weeks ago, Wright was upset with us because we tried to make him go on the slide at the KC pool. He told me later that day that he did not like the slide because he got hurt on a slide once (this did not happen). Then he began to go into this elaborate story about how he has another family with a mom (Gina), a dad (Dado) and 5 brothers (3 that are really mean to him). He said he wanted to go back and live with his other family. So I played along for a while until I realized he was waiting at the door for Gina to come get him. I redirected his attention with a show and thought we had moved on. But, he has brought up his "other family" and "other mom" every few days since then, sometimes when he is mad at me and sometimes just to be funny. What an imagination!

He is also at the age where he is expressing his anger a lot more. Today in the car, he was so mad at me for not letting him have juice. He was crying for like 20 minutes telling me "I don't like you anymore.", "You are mean", "You are not being unkind" (loved this one) and "You're not nice". Then tonight when he was in timeout yet again, he was screaming "This is TERRIBLE!" over and over. It's awful that his behavior can be so bad but the things he says when he is angry kind of make me laugh. Is that bad?

Spencer is 18 months!

How is my baby 1 1/2? Crazy! He is so much fun. Here is what he is up to:

- He talks a lot more. New words are date do (thank you), bye bye mama, bye bye dada, puh puh (puppy), woof woof, of ew (love you), mommeeeee and noooooo!
- He is as busy as ever but is doing much better at obeying us and not running off as much. Thank you blanket time!
- He plays really well with his toys now. When Wright is not around, he will sit and play by himself for over an hour, happy as can be.
- He finally loves to read books and will look at them by himself and bring them over to us to read.
- He weighs almost 26 lbs (put him on the scale the other day). He feels so heavy. Like Wright, he is very solid and dense.
- He has the best, dimpliest smile and loves to share it all the time. He also loves to smile BIG at you when he knows he is doing something wrong. :)
- We go to the pool a lot and he is not really a big fan. He would rather run around the outside of the pool than get in.
- He still does not have any interest in TV.
- He just dropped his morning nap and sleeps 3-4 hours in the afternoon.
- He loves his blankies and lovies. I let him have them in the car because it keeps him quiet ;). As soon as I hand it to him, he immediately puts his thumb in his mouth.
- He has started screaming a lot again when he wants something that he can't say and he pretty much refuses to sign. Hoping this will end as he learns more words.

The "Mighty Warriors"

Some of my girlfriends with boys came up with a wonderful idea to have a character camp for all our kiddos this summer. We each lead one week and teach the boys about Godly traits like forgiveness, patience, perseverence, etc. The camp is called the "Mighty Warriors." Wright loves it, and it is such a wonderful treat for me to have a free camp to drop him off! This week, Emily and Elizabeth taught about forgiveness and the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors. Wright was the only one of 8 boys who would put on the coat. Here are a few pics...

Cousins

Loved this pic from the family reunion.

Memorial Day Weekend at Cedar Creek

We had the most wonderful Memorial Day weekend this year. It was just one of those perfect weekends where we had great company, great weather, great food and all the kids got along with no fighting or complaining! Thank you Croffords for having us!

Ready for summer...

The inflatable pool was a huge hit as always.

Our hosts.

Just chilling while our kids were entertained.

Wright was in LOVE with Annabella. And the feeling just might have been the same on her end.

Slippin and a slidin.

Little Spence waiting for cake.

Gina, Mac and Wesley.

Wesley waiting for his 1st bday cake.

Wesley opening presents which were quickly confiscated by the older kids.

Unwinding with Snow White after a long day.

A Few Recent Pics

Spending time at the Science place.

Spencer loved the water table.

Last day of sports camp.

Spencer loved playing with his big cousin Sean!

School's Out For Summer!

Today was the last day of school and we had our big end of the year "Patriotic" program. It was so precious. Each class sang a patriotic song, they all said the pledge and several of the kids had patriotic quotes. What a great morning. Wright did a wonderful job performing his song and singing loudly over the other kids :)

My sweet class...two of these kids will be going on to kindergarten. I am so proud of all of them and will miss them so much.

Wright's class sang "Happy Birthday to the red, white and blue." It was a huge hit!

Getting ready for the big show.

Goodbye Mrs. Gibbons! We will miss you next year!

Pajama day on Monday was big fun! Wright said it was his favorite day of school. :)