July I

Christmastime last year was crazy, so we never did our gingerbread house kit. It was going to expire soon, so we busted it out one afternoon.

Finding the new neighborhood kitten who likes to hang out in our front yard.

Scott showed each animal their page in his book.

We had a playdate one day while Lauren had an eye appointment. The train track set still gets regular use and the new tunnel my aunt sent kicked it back up into all day, every day use.

Playing again with Cash. I am always so proud of myself when I can include all the pieces and I take a picture so I can copy it later if needed.

Jonah was in time out in his room, but I went to get him and found him reading happily to himself.

Cousins playing in Grandpa's dirt pile.

Scott was invited to a birthday party at a ceramics painting place. He chose a racecar and painted it "blue like Finn McMissile."

Jonah's daily meltdown over Daddy leaving is still going strong.

So many grandkids over to wish Grandma a happy birthday (8 of 17).

We re-purposed the Darth Vader candle again.

Waiting for an oil change--Scott found a garage for his cars in the vending machine slots.

Jonah helped himself into our bed to read his book.

Scott was SO excited about Star Wars Mac n Cheese my aunt sent. He played with the boxes like they were toys.

Our wards combined for a 4th of July service and pancake breakfast. 

Cooling off with a shave ice. Jonah had his first brain freeze.

Inspecting the baby toys.

Scott brings me food regularly. I said, mmm a banaana smoothie! He said, "No! It's banana bread butter!" Of course, my mistake. It's like identifying his drawings--just wait for him to tell you what it is.

Poor Amanda can't come over without being sat upon and forced to read.

She gets banana bread, though. Every time we make it Scott excitedly asks when Manda's comin' over.

Pinecrest Lake

Lauren's family has a cabin a few hours away and she invited us to go up for the weekend with them.

John took Friday off and we left first thing in the morning. The kids played all day and we went to the lake that evening.

The whole place is beautiful. It's in the same area as Yosemite.

We went back to the lake the next morning and Jonah wanted to get right in.

Scott did not.

It was overcast Saturday, but Jonah didn't mind the cold at all.

Going down!

Loving and concerned parents. One's laughing, one's taking pictures.

Jonah's face!

One second later he's happy again.

Little Q the angel baby.

Boys on a log.

Family on a log.

The kids got along well considering how many straight hours they spent together and how little sleep they had all weekend.

Playing on rocks. We were checking out the outdoor theater, but the movie ran too late at night for the little guys.

The kids spent hours and hours playing in the sand (Scott) and the water (the other 3).

Q was happy everywhere.

Jonah took a break from swimming to eat his weight in graham crackers.

John engineered some cool ponds for Scott to play with.

It was a fun and surprisingly relaxing weekend with friends and the only cost was food!

June II

Passed out after our first day of swim lessons. Their teacher, Emily, lives less than 2 miles away.

We have some cool Duplo building sets (from Emily's family I'm pretty sure) where you follow the book and make different animals one piece at a time. After finishing them all, Scott went and got a regular book and tried to copy the pictures. "I need a brown block, Mommy, and a white one and this color (points)."

My mom took the kids for their first sleepover together. We both had different things to do that night, so the next morning we went out to eat before John went to work and my mom dropped the kids off. We tried a cafe nearby for the first time and it was pretty good, but not really worth repeating. We're trying to test out the local places, though, so cross that one off the list.

Reading well together. They love search and find books, but they memorize them and get really fast.

"I wanna holdit baby!"

"My choo choo needs a new battery. I got my screwdriver, so I can fix it."

My aunt sent John a birthday package, so we brought it to his work and stayed to have lunch with him. We waited in the a/c and I fed the boys while we waited for John to come out.

We went back to San Pedro Square and tried the two most alluring restaurants, both Italian. Fresh pasta and margherita pizza. Both were delicious and we want to try other dishes at both places.

We went roller blading afterward at an outdoor rink during their free summer night.

I was at Karen's when Sarah was in town and took the kids for a walk to get them out of the house for a little bit. Olivia wanted to be buckled in the stroller the whole time. Annabel was happy to be in there, too.  So the opposite of my kids.

Scott wanted to hold "the baby."

Which meant Jonah needed a turn, too.

Another day Katie came down, too, and I took a bunch of the kids for a walk.

3 of the 4 2012 cousins.

We went to the dollar kids rerun movie one morning. Scott wanted to hold hands so Jonah wouldn't get lost. He's very into parenting lately.

Jonah looking so comfortable during his nap in Grandma's pack and play.

Scott was devastated that his milk ran out and I wouldn't take him to the store to get more.

You can only see Scott's face, but they're smiling at each other. He loves babysitting.

Having an older playmate is fun, too.

Between trucks, trains and Duplos, they keep themselves busy.

Another train track. I like to see how many variations I can do using every piece.

Reading the Cheerios book. Scott reads to Jonah like we do with them, asking what color and how many and what's that called.