Staycation Vacation part 2 Amazing Jakes

My mom was able to get tickets to Amazing Jakes pizza place as well. That was a lot of fun. I think if we go again we will go earlier in the day so we can spend more time there. Eating the buffet took half our time, but at least it was good food!

This is all of us. I like the black and white picture the best but Tad doesn't, so below is the color one.

Staycation Vacation part 1 Sunplash

This year we decided to do a staycation vacation in Phoenix since we had to be there for doctors appointments anyway. We started off by visiting Tad's brother Greg in their new fancy home with a splash pad and pool. The kids had a lot of fun.

Love the boogers Darci.







We also went to Sunsplash. My mom was awesome enough to use her trade points to get us into Sunsplash. Everyone had a lot of fun. I think it would be better just to take the older kids but Darci had fun too. They have a new rule about wearing life jackets and that kind of put my mind at ease a little. This is everyone in their new swim shirts ready to go.










Darci loved the wave pool until the waves started coming...


Derek absolutely loved Sunsplash this year since he is a good swimmer. He was brave and went on all the slides. There was a black tunnel slide that he went down on an inner tube and came out without it. Apparently when he was turning a corner, he slid off the tube and kept going. It scared him a little but he still kept going on the slides.








Darci wasn't happy about being on the lazy river with Daddy.

Karate Camp

The college hosted a week-long karate camp for $15 so we signed up Derek and Kevin and Paige. They had so much fun and learned a lot. Wish we could afford it every month but it's way too much, I think like $85 each or something. So it will just be something they enjoy for a week each summer!










And each day after class, we would go to the middle school for their summer free lunch. I think they enjoyed that even more than karate! They feel so grown up eating in a cafeteria.

Happy 5th Birthday Paige and Kevin

June 8th, the twins turned 5! We had a fun water party for them with a slip n slide and baby pool complete with Grandpa's train ride.






My sister-in-law Joleen came up with this cute idea for cupcakes, a teddy in a lifesaver ring, and my sweet nieces decorated them for me!




I can't believe they are 5 already. They are anxious to start kindergarten in a few weeks. Paige is still crazy and hardly stops for a minute. She is the toughest little girly girl I've seen. And then she can be the sweetest. She loves dancing, barbies, and playing with her friends. Kevin is doing great with his speech. He still loves to play with his trains and dinosaurs and cars and loves movies. He is so smart and comes up with the most obscure questions. I think the better he learns to pronounce his words, we'll realize just how smart he has been.

Summer Baseball

One of the things I DO like about living in this small town is that it is really inexpensive for the kids to play sports. We signed up Derek for coach pitch, and Kevin and Paige for T-ball. It was $15 a piece including the uniform. Can't beat that.

Derek hits the ball really far and if we would just swing HARD it would be a home run every time. He caught his first fly ball on Jun 1st and threw it to first base and made a double play. And I MISSED it! With all the kids playing, I often had to miss his games to take K & P to theirs. I couldn't believe I missed it! His coach was pretty impressed and so was I when I heard.

Paige chased the ball wherever it went even if it was nowhere near her and she even tackled a few little boys when they got in her way. Kevin is turning out to be a good ball player. He can catch and throw really good and does a good job hitting them too.

Paige:


Kevin:


Kevin ready to play, Paige a little bored playing in the grass:


Kevin running home:


At Derek's games, the kids would gather all the rocks within eyesight and stack them. Over and over and over and over.


Derek:

Other May Pictures

I finally have good internet access and am excited about getting caught up and staying caught up on the blog. These pictures and videos are from May.

Kevin graduated from preschool. He was very excited and proud of himself. Everyday he would come home and get off the bus, he would open his backpack and show us what he made before he even walked to the door.





My father-in-law graciously gave me one of his "squares" in his garden. I planted some tomatoes (which have since grown out of control and started taking over his garden) and bell peppers and eggplant and okra. As of May, this is what we were able to pick.



Derek, aka Mr Cool, got a hold of my camera and took some pictures of himself. He is definitely Tad's son.



Darci started saying "I love you so much". And yes, we love her so much. She is so much fun.