Adam is 11!

 Can't believe Adam has turned 11. We can't believe he is off to middle school either.  Seems like he was that sweet little 3 year old who used to drive me absolutely crazy with his zest for life.  We are so glad he is part of our family and can't wait to see what the next 11 years has in store for him and us!

Adam got a few extra days of celebrating.  I can't seem to understand how my kids manage to drag out there birthdays for days on end.  His nana and papa were here on Sunday and were leaving before his birthday so he wanted to have his birthday dinner with them.  This worked since on his birthday Damon was going to be at school all night.  Adam had his favorite dinner with his favorite family :)

 Tuesday, his actually birthday, we had a birthday breakfast!  He had pancakes and got to open his presents with his dad around.  Tuesday afternoon he got to go water skiing with some of his friends.  He did a great job doing that and told his dad that we needed to buy a boat.

Wednesday I actually threw him a birthday party.  He hasn't had a friend party since he was 5 and I felt like he needed one.  Well, he had a luau when he was eight, but it was more family than friends.  So we had 6 10-11 year old boys over here.  They had pizza, played games, had water balloon fights, played on the wii and managed to squeeze in a nerf gun war and minute to win it games.  Fun was had by all!

 Happy Birthday Mookie!!

A Special Date

 For Lily's birthday we went to Los Angeles with her friend, Lucy, to visit the American Girl Doll store.  It was quite the affair.  We had lunch at the cafe, shopped and enjoyed spending time together.  It was a great day!  The girls were so preoccupied with their spoils they didn't realize how long we were in the car together!

The Dolls got to get their hair done at the salon!

 We met Lucy and her mom Debbi way back when the girls were 3 and 4 taking ballet lessons together.  It's been so fun to stay friends over the years!

Leaving San Diego is never easy, but Lily had Emma to entertain her and keep her company!

Lily turns 8!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet, beautiful, sassy, smart and perfect daughter.  We love you more than words can express.  Can't believe our baby is 8.  Where has the time gone?  Here's a look back over the years!

 sorry I can't seem to rotate that one.

2006

 2007

 2008

 2009

2010

 2011

2012

Lily wanted to celebrate her birthday in San Diego.  It worked out perfectly with Jerabek's promotion ceremony so that was great.  Lily wanted breakfast at her favorite French cafe, Fabrison's.  After breakfast we walked around downtown and visited some cool spots.

 Bob Hope Memorial

 The Black Pearl from Pirates!

 We got back to the beach house and chilled for an hour until the Mortensen's arrived.  We went to the beach with them and had pizza and cake and ice cream.  Lily loves celebrating her birthday with the Mortensen's.

After dinner we got to go to the airport and pick up Damon.  Everyone was so excited to see him.  We were happy to be celebrating Lily's birthday all together in San Diego.

More Beach

 Wednesday was all about have fun and seeing friends.  We woke up and rode bikes down to La Jolla Cove.  The kids thought that was pretty cool.  Nothing beats exercising right next to the beach.

 After the bike ride and breakfast we headed to another favorite beach of ours, Coronado.  I really love this beach and the drive to it down the 5 freeway.  I just really find San Diego to be a beautiful city.

 After the beach and a quick shower we headed back into Scripps Ranch and visited friends.  The boys went to our next door neighbor's house to play and Lily went to our other neighbor's house.  They actually moved up the street after we left.  I went and got my hair cut and then picked up the girls to get their nails done. Lily misses living next door to Sinclair.

 After I picked the boys up we went over to the Woodard's house for dinner.  Lot's of fun and lots of eating occurred.  April and I couldn't decide if we wanted to eat or talk more.  It was so fun watching the kids play and have fun together.  It was a great end to a great day!

 Thursday was a day of closure.  It was really rough on Adam, Lily and I to leave a school we all love in the middle of the year, especially Adam who left in the middle of his last year.  I promised him that we would go to Jerabek for promotion ceremonies and to visit his friends on promotion day.  From the instant I walked through the office doors I was greeted with hugs and friendly faces who were so glad to see us.  We hadn't even been there a minute when one of the 5th grade moms saw us and ushered Adam off to practice for promotion on the field.

Lily went to her class for the day and Adam stayed with the 5th graders.  Noah went to help his old kindergarten teacher with her class and I spent the day visiting with friends.

After school got out we went to the pool.  It felt pretty normal to us.  We hung out there until it was time to go to promotion.  We say lots of old friends there are well and got to play catch up.  It was fabulous.

Adam got a certificate for Safety Patrol and for completing the 5th grade.  It was so good for him as well as for me.  It was a nice way to end the day.

Our Fabulous teacher Mrs. Watkins who continued to help Adam through 5th grade even after we moved.  She really goes over and beyond when it come to teaching.  We have missed her a lot this year since we have moved.

 We went to Chin's for dinner and finished the night with a trip to Sprinkles!  I don't think the kids will ever let us go to San Diego without stopping by Chin's. It was a great day!

A Week at the Beach!

We had one week of relative quiet in the house.  Noah was gone at scout camp and Adam was gone for 2 afternoon/evenings for cub camp.  It gave me enough time to clean, sort and pack for our next trip. 

We arrived in San Diego on Monday the 15th and the fun started and didn't stop until we left.  It was quite an exhausting week, but we loved every minute of it.  After shopping and unloading the car at the beach house we headed down to Pacific beach.

 

 

 An evening favorite thing to do is to walk down to the park and watch the sunset.  I never get tired of watching the sun set over the pacific!


Tuesday morning we headed into Scripps Ranch to pick up our old next door neighbor and go to the beach.  We did that so much last summer it seemed only normal to do the same this go around.  Even though it had been a year it felt like nothing had changed except all the kids are taller.  After a long chat with my wonderful neighbors we headed into one of our favorite beaches, Del Mar.

 The kids came home exhausted and sandy.  We went to go get Lily's haircut and ears pierced at Chloe's.  She has been wanting to do it there for a year, but hasn't been ready.  She was determined to be ready this time and through the tears and then the laughs she finally got her ears done!

After watching another beautiful sunset (better than Monday's) we headed into Pacific beach and ate dessert at the Half Baked Bear.  You can make your own ice cream sandwiches.  It was very good! We may make it a tradition.