The Start of Summer 2016.....

The summer began about a month ago, and it has flown by!!! We have been having a great time together and I have LOVED having the kids home!!

We kicked off the summer bowling with friends!

We tried a new splash pad which the kids loved it!

The beginning of the summer has been really rainy and wet. It started pouring on us, and the kids were so excited to play in the mud! Something I don't let them do enough!

They also tried rock climbing! The gym I work at has a rock climbing wall and they really enjoyed trying it! After several tries Ella made it up!!

Cavin is so close! He needs a few more times of practice and I'm sure he will get up next time!

Channing...well, let's just say we got her equipment on and she let us let her go for a few rocks before saying she was too high ;)

I even tried! I haven't rock climbed much since my college days. It's amazing how weak you feel when you haven't done it in a while! I need to pump some more iron! I did get up a few times though!

Next we got a fun visit from my sister Marisa and her family! The kids hadn't met her twins yet and they sure loved them!

I think Channing was constantly asking to hold one of them, and as soon as she was finished with one, she would ask to hold the other ;) Needless to say, she loved Kate and Addy!

Ella also adored them!

We joined Ethan, Liam, Aubrey, and Grandpa at the zoo one day and sweat it out nicely! Zoos may not be the nicest place in the summer in Houston! 

We had fun though and got to have lunch with Ragnar at the Toyota Center afterward.

We went to Bouncing Bears with all the cousins who live in Houston. They had fun and got nice and sweaty.

One day we headed back over to the splash pad so the kids could show their cousins the fun place!

I sure love these kids!

Then the last day we got to celebrate my nephew Liam's birthday. He turned 6 a couple days after they left so we celebrated early. He had a star wars party, so naturally they had a jedi battle! As a family, we haven't seen Star Wars...I know I know..pathetic. So each week this summer we are watching one movie. The kids have enjoyed it and look forward to it each week.

This is all the kids except one twin who was sleeping! It was so fun to have both my sisters here and my brother Chris, we sure missed my other brother Corey and his family though!

Other than that, we have been visiting the pools! Also the kids spent the last week at AUMC bible school which they really enjoyed!
We also have been "soccering"

Ragnar took Cavin to the COPA America game at Reliant Stadium. He watched Mexico vs. Venezuela. I don't think Cavin had had a real soccer experience before that game. He commented on how loud it was and that he had beer spilled on him! He seemed to have fun though!

As a family we went to the Houston Dynamo soccer game as well. It actually wasn't too hot in the shade, and it even sprinkled on us at the end! We have of course also been watching the U.S.A. Olympic trials and cheering on Germany in the EURO cup. They won today! Yay! On to the Semi-finals! Go Germany.
It has been a great start to the summer!!!

The End of the Year for Ella

The end of the school year was pretty busy for Ella. She had her fourth grade musical, her first piano recital, a choir performance, took swim lessons, a dance recital, and got new glasses a few weeks after school ended. She is growing up fast and I am so grateful for her desire to be involved in different things. 

For the school musical this year, they did "Annie". Each class performed a song. She was a maid in the song "I think I'm gonna like it here." It was a very small part, but she was happy to participate.

 Here she is afterward with her friend Helen.

She really enjoys singing.
For her first piano recital she played two songs. " The Spanish Guitar" by Francisco Molino, and " Peter Peter" the traditional melody. She was very confident, got right up, and played well and we were super proud of her. Her grandparents and Aunt Natalie came to support her. 

Then the next week she had her end of the year choir performance. 

It was a great choir show and we enjoyed hearing all the fun songs she has learned this year! Mr. Whorton her teacher definitely has a spunky personality!

While she was finishing the last few weeks of school she freshened up her swimming with lessons. She did a really great job and is a good swimmer.

We finished the last day of school and Cavin and Ella had a great year! We celebrated with Culvers!

I can't believe Ella is going to be in 5th grade next year!

Ella's dance recital was at SummerCreek highschool. She danced this year with the Atascocita Dance Academy. She enjoyed her time there. She took a Jazz class with her friend Addy and they performed to the song "Great Balls of Fire" for their final recital. 

They are beautiful girls! Ella decided she doesn't want to dance next year and so I am sad this will likely be her last year for a while.

And finally....glasses.. She mentioned she was having trouble seeing toward the end of the year so I got her an eye appointment and sure enough she needs glasses. Sadly her genetics didn't give her much of a chance with perfect vision. She actually is really excited about them though, so I hope she stays that way! I think she looks adorable and intelligent!

A Weekend Away!

Ragnar and I decided it was time to take a trip with just our little family of 6! We were excited for some family time. We left on Thursday morning for a weekend in San Antonio, Texas! The kids did great on the drive over. We stopped at Buccees on the way down and the kids got a new beanie boo, which they love to collect, and as we were leaving they all exclaimed "This is the best trip EVER". Nice to have that out of the way with just a trip to Buccees and a beanie boo!
On the road we had to make it through some pretty strong thunderstorms, but we made it in and the weather was beautiful after the rain. We checked into the hotel and then went over to the Alamo and Riverwalk.

The ALAMO! It is interesting to walk around and learn about Texas history.

The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed our stroll.

The Riverwalk is pretty, but we didn't stay long.

We went to Red Robin and ate and then the kids wanted to get in the hotel pool!! 

 The next morning we got up and got ready for Seaworld!

 The kids were so excited about going together. The weather was nice because for the first few hours it was jacket weather and shady!

Here Channing is riding her first kiddie rollercoaster. It was called the Shamu express! She was excited to be brave and try it and loved it!

The older two kids were right in front of us! Luckily we had a good ride, and then the ride had mechanical problems after us and the next group got stuck for a little while.

Next the carousels!

A simple delight!

We went to the Sea Lion and Otter show and the kids thought that was great. As you can see from Deacon, he was pretty stoic about everything :)

 It was a silly but entertaining show!

Afterward Cavin decided he was going to be super courageous and try out his first "real" rollercoaster. It was called the "Steel Eel" Ragnar said he didn't say a word, just closed his eyes and afterward told Ella she was going to be really scared!

Ella and I had our turn next! I think I screamed more than she did! I'm getting too old for that ;)

Channing was making sure Deacon was ok all day. She was scared for them to go on the rollercoaster so she was holding his hand :)

Next was the "Great White" rollercoaster. Ragnar happily declined going on that one and so it was up to me!

Oh man, that one was rough, Cavin and I didn't enjoy it too much, but I was so glad we were brave enough to try it! Afterward we went to a Dolphin and Beluga Whale show which was interesting. We all love Dolphins.

Cute brothers stopped off to get some pizza and enjoy lunch!

The others rode a couple more rides and then we were gonna stay for more shows. It was 3:00 and the other shows didn't start for almost 2 hours and we were hot, so we headed back to the Hotel for a swim! We swam in what I swear was the coldest water ever and then we had dinner in the hotel and rented "A Good Dinosaur" to watch in bed! It was fun! Unfortunately, I got really sick that night and slept terrible. Halfway through the night Cavin wasn't feeling well either. So Ragnar gave me a priesthood blessing and the next morning we gave it a go at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. It was sprinkling and not great weather, so I was grateful we didn't have to pay for the tickets.

First we went as a family on the Rapid Ride which got Ella and Cavin soaked!

The kiddie cars are more our speed ;)

The kids did the rollercoaster behind in this picture. 

Cute boys and Deacon's cheesy face!

The girls rode in the other carrier.

Ella, Cavin, Channing, and Ragnar rode on the bummer cars. Cavin's wasn't working well so they let him do it twice. He wasn't a huge fan.

And the way back...Deacon was too cool for his chair! They all did well and we had a great trip. Like I said I hadn't been feeling well and neither had Cavin at the end, so we ended up going to a rediclinic the next morning and found out we both had strep throat, so that wasn't a great way to end it, but I am glad we got to be together as a family! I sure love our little crew of 6!