WICKED.....

 

For our Anniversary this year we went to Wicked.  It was fabulous and I am glad I was able to see it with my best friend.  

Mike told me he liked this picture and I needed to blog it.  I am not a fan of posting pictures of myself, but I will blog it just for him.

 

 

 

 

 

The famous donut shop in Newport

Dylan was looking at the blog and thought I should share one of his favorite places in Newport.  The infamous donut shop.  The boys loved this place and would ride their bikes to get a donut almost on a daily basis.  Dylan and Parker became good buddies and played so well together on the trip.  We only wish that Parker lived closer then Farmington so they could play together more often.  My favorite treat was the balboa bar.  It was incredible and I gained an extra 4 pounds thanks to that temptation. They take a vanilla ice cream bar and dip it into light or dark chocolate and then cover it with your favorite treat.  I am craving one right now!

Playing with family in San Diego.....

After we spend time enjoying Newport Beach with the Green family, we loaded up and headed to San Diego to play with the Young family.  It was alot of fun and the boys were sad to leave their cousins. We went to Sea World and saw Shamu.  Tate was more excited about seeing the sharks.

 The kids by the Shamu bug. They were enthralled by this car.

                             
On Saturday we visited Aunt Kathy, Uncle Bob, cousin Enjoli and her husband Brandon.  They had made the best breakfast/brunch and we played in their pool for many hours.  It was great to see them and they were so sweet and hospitable. 

 

Dylan and Addie loved that they could make Orange Juice with oranges freshly picked from the Blair's home.  It tasted so good!

Some of our favorite photos from Newport.....

 Newport Beach is beautiful. We had such an amazing trip.  Thanks Uncle John and family for letting us be part of all the fun.  It was awesome and we will definately be back again.

 Tate with his bike helmet on.  The sunset was gorgeous every night and we rode our bikes all over at night.  Tate would go 2-3 miles on his training wheels and loved every minute of it.

 He was happy to find his "Jack" pillow at the end of the night.  He would put himself to bed at around 8:30-9:00 and was out until around 8 in the morning. He is usually an early bird.

 My handsome boys!

 Mommy and her boys.

 We love this picture of Dylan.  We told him it was time to choose 5 more sea shells and then we had to leave.  He was not too happy about that!

 Tate told us that his had to wear his bike helmet, "because it keeps you safe in the ocean." 

 Wiped out after a long day at play.

The kiddos found a few star fish. I found out that they can not be removed from their habitat and that you can get a big fine if you try to do so.

Tate's attempt to boogie board.....

 Tate was happy playing in the sand with cute Kathryn and then...........

He had a great idea to pull Kathryn around on the boogie board.  This lasted for close to an hour.

 It was really sweet that he was so tender with Kathryn.

 And then he found Kathryn's sister, Corrine, and in the ocean they went.....Notice the boogie board is as tall as Tate.

But they could not figure out just how to work the boogie board.... Maybe next year.

Time to Boogie Board....

Dylan was in love with the boogie board.  He had no fear and it was fun to watch him in action. 

Here are a few photos that Cousin Joey snapped. We loved them!

"Crabatron"........

The boys had a blast collecting the crabs and then building "crabatrons." They had names for the crabs which included: tiny, Grandpa, Uncle, Henry, and so on. The "crabatrons" were really amazing and they sure used their imagination.  They had rooms built for them and mazes out of the sand.

Dylan holding "tiny."

Fun in the sun and the sand....

 The kids could not get enough of the beach. They were constantly playing in the sand and making "crabatrons." They would spend hours just in the sand.

Off to Newport Beach..

Our vacation day arrived and we loaded up and headed south to Newport Beach. The boys were awesome travelers and never once did we hear any complaints. We really enjoyed the time on the road just visiting. 

As soon as we arrived at Newport the boys had to go check out the sand and the surroundings.

Here comes 2nd Grade.......

   Dylan started school this past week and was thrilled to be back in the classroom.  He has always loved school but we have been concerned because he has only had a month off for summer break. He has not yet complained about going back, instead, he has been up every morning reading and excited about his school day. We were placed on A track this year and his teacher is Mrs. Blanchette. 

 The first actual day of school after we returned from the beach.  We excused him from school with "educational days," for the first four days of school because we were on vacation.  I spoke with his teacher on Friday and she remarked that he had caught up quickly.

 I was not in love with the pictures we took of the 1st day return to school because we were in such a hurry that morning adjusting to the time change. So these are photos taken at the school later in the week.  The lighting was much better and I love the red brick look.