The weather here could not have been nicer last week and we took advantage of our last days of perfect weather.
It was the nicest day to be out at the park with friends. We had the park to ourselves and the kids took every opportunity to scowl at the camera.

For some reason I thought it would be possible for me
to take a cute pic of all of them together.
Nope, IMPOSSIBLE.

Thank you Ben for that wonderful face and Hunter for your super cheesy smile.

So the next day is when we got this great rainstorm!
The kids loved playing in the nasty gutter water and soaking there clothes.
We love getting these storms and have loved our summer so far. If only the weather
would stay under a 100.

Ben's turn

Also at the final wrestling tournament a couple weeks ago............

He won first place!! It wasn't without tears
but he wrestled through the crying and he figured
out after that no one scored any points on him
through all of his matches.

So, I have gotten comments from family members when I mention the fact that he has cried at all his tournaments. Basically why do i make him do this sport when it makes him cry. He loves wrestling and looks forward to the tournaments but the first time his opponent gets him in a move where he is not in control or hurts him he immediately starts tearing up and since wrestling is just 3 rounds of 1 minute and two minute rounds as soon as they stop him he is crying and he takes a little bit to stop crying. He is a very sensitive kid that tears up VERY easy. It's not a bad thing normally and it's fine in wrestling as long as he doesn't quit just because he's crying. Soo many kids cry at these matches. It's surprising how many kids cry even at the high school level. It really is such an intense sport that is all based on individual performance so while its fun when you win it's a lot of pressure on just you. So by the end of this season he has learned to take deep breaths after each round to get his crying under control and that seemed to help a lot. The good side is as soon as he starts crying he starts wrestling really hard and then usually wins. It's hard to see him crying out there but basically we have told him that of course he can cry that's fine and nothing he can help but once you enter the tournament and commit to wrestling however many matches you can't quit because of crying ( which is what he would do the first couple times) so you just have to wrestle through the tears. HE loved wrestling this year and will definitely do it again next year. So that is the really long explanation as to why I make my son do a sport that he cries at.

Our pre summer swim lessons

A couple of weeks ago at a family party the kids all went swimming and we realized that Ben had forgotten how to swim . A friend of mine just started teaching swim lessons so I had him go to three of her classes and after the initial punching and screaming they had him jumping off the diving board and getting the rings.

Emma will have swim lessons possibly next month if I can handle hearing her scream. She had one and screamed the entire time and would just look at me to come save her. It was so sad but she is not afraid of water and loves it which makes it all the more important to get her swimming. We will see how it goes....... but for these pic she was just happy it wasn't her in the water and she could just clap for Ben.

He thought this was the greatest pic and

really hopes people think that he can walk on water.

The Magic Kingdom

more disney

Disney Land

Happy mothers day, anniversary, last birthday, memorial day.......

A couple weeks ago as my husband was leaving for work he was telling me how he was expecting some truck part in the mail and how I needed to call him as soon as it came in so he could make sure it was the right color. Being the nice wife that I am started to tell him how I most likely wouldn't get it and would be in and out all day and he should really just plan on opening when he gets home. Apparently I wasn't in a very giving mood that day to my hubby and I should have been. So he left for work with his somewhat brat of a wife continuing to tell him that he would need to check his own mail and reminding him that his truck part was really not that big of a deal. Later on in that busy day (which was really not) I was on the phone when the UPS guy shows up with a box. I quickly sign and take it to my counter deciding to be a nice wife and open his package. This is not what I was expecting..........

Definitely the nicest surprise he has given me! I am in love with my new camera and use it every day and I realize I have so much to learn in the photo area. It is so nice to be able to take decent pics now. Not that they are anything great but I now have the option to blow them up big. So I have been having fun with my new toy and will have some pics to post now.

We are off to the happiest place on earth................... be back very soon. (we're going for one day)