{FriDay NigHt FuN NigHt}

Yesterday Jeremiah rode the train to work because we knew traffic home would be a nightmare on the Friday evening of a holiday weekend!  So we decided we would pick him up and then go to Irvine Spectrum to hang out and have dinner since it was only 1 mile from his work!!  :)

When we drove up to his office, we found him poppin' wheelies in the parking lot!!!  Psshhh....what kind of job is this that he goes to every day?!?!  Must be a rough life to have to go to "work" every day and do your hobby!

We pretty much pretended we were at Disneyland.....the kids rode the carousel....

  

And then we all went on the Giant Ferris Wheel....

The views were pretty cool....

 

But that darn thing made me icky sicky!!!  Blah....I had a head ache, a tummy ache and felt totally car sick after going on it!!  I decided I hate ferris wheels now!!!

We met Uncle Brandon, Grandma & Grandpa there too....Zoey rode in their basket right next to us.....

And then the train ride around the Spectrum....

It was a really fun night and we decided that we should do this EVERY Friday!!  Then, Jer & I decided it would be much more fun to just get a babysitter and go hang out by ourselves!!  :)

{RaiNguTteR RegaTTa}

Pretty sure that I have no choice whatsoever.....I am gonna have to embrace the fact that from here on out, I am a scout mama!!!  With a Daddy as an Eagle Scout and an 8 year old boy that is destined to be an Eagle Scout "JUST LIKE DADDY"......and a 2 year old boy that doesn't know it yet, but when he turns 8, he will love scouts to I am sure....and will want to be an Eagle Scout "JUST LIKE DADDY"!!!!

So.....I may not "get it", but I will embrace it from here on out....and most importantly, I will be grateful that I have a husband that loves scouts and can encourage these boys of ours to achieve all that he did in scouts!!

Ayden completed his first month of scouting and on Tuesday night, we went to the first pack meeting and the "Raingutter Regatta"!  I'm not sure what that means or where that name came from, but it's pretty much the Pinewood Derby of boats!  Ayden earned a bunch of awards and patches for his shirt, so he was excited about that!!

He got called up and recognized for being a new cub scout!  And notice the baseball gear he's wearing on the bottom half of his body.....that was because we were headed to baseball practice right after scouts!!  He pulled a Superman and changed from Mr. Cub Scout to Mr. Baseball Player in the car on the short drive over to the field!  This is our life.....for the next 20 years or so!!  :)

When Ayden was receiving his awards, Maddix of course had to go up with him!  The lady in the yellow shirt is Maddix's preschool teacher and since she was up front, Maddix felt he should be there too!!  :)

We pretty much didn't see Maddix the whole night....he was either running around or hanging out with his teacher. Ms. Kimberly!!  :)

Some boys practicing for the "Raingutter Regatta"...and Ayden sitting in the background....

  

Ayden's turn.....

I didn't get any better pictures of his boat.....it was nothing special.....kind of a last minute "oh shoot, tomorrow night is the Raingutter Regatta....let's hurry and see what we have to get your boat ready" at bedtime on Monday night!!  Oops!!  But in Jeremiah's exact words to Ayden, "It's ok Ayden....we're gonna kill it at the Pinewood Derby"!!!  HA!  We will see....

Ayden won the first round and then lost the second.....at least he had a blast yet and he LOVES scouts!!  I really am glad there is a program like this....for boys like mine that live and die for this kind of thing!!  :)

{MoRe raNdoMnesS}

My little helper.....

Ayden got to go to his very first scout camp this summer!!!  It was day camp and he got to go for a whole week from 4-8 pm!!  He seriously had a blast and was in heaven all week long!!!  They did some pretty awesome things....including his favorite, shooting a bow!!!  Yay for being 8 and starting scouts!!!  :)

We installed a whole house fan early this summer and it literally saved our lives!!!  We rarely even used the air conditioner at all and since it luckily cools off in Corona very nicely at night, we have been able to run the fan and make our house a freezing ice box!!  YAY!!!  

Jeremiah and Ayden had fun playing in the attic and installing it!!  :)

This is what grocery trips look like when I have to take all 3 kids and when a certain toddler refuses to ride in the cart anymore!!!  Ahhhhh.....CRAZY!!!!  And this was at 7:30 am.....BEFORE the donuts!!!

Ayden decided he wanted to be a man one night, when he was supposed to be taking a shower, and he got out Jeremiah's shaving cream and razor while we were all downstairs!!  We heard him screaming upstairs and found he cut himself pretty bad on the lip!!  OUCH!!!  It kept bleeding and bleeding and bleeding!!!  This is how I found him when I checked on him before I went to bed....hahahaha....I guess one bandaid wasn't enough!!

Maddix takes his Wii playing seriously!!!  :)  LOL!!!

When Ayden was gone at Grandma & Grandpa's, I took Maddix & Zoey to Jamba Juice for dinner.....

....and then Panera for dessert!!  HA!  Maddix took a bite of his cookie and said, "It's quite delicious"!!!  :)

They thought I was the best mom ever, but I was just craving a cookie from Panera!!  :)

I was ordering shoes online one day and was measuring everyone's feet.....I was SHOCKED when I realized that Maddix was one size smaller than Zoey!!!!  Seriously, big foot has some ginormous feet!!  I wonder if he will ever grow into those or if he will just have big feet!!  HA!

Last month we went on a date and when we got home, I handed the cash to Jer to give to the babysitter!  By the time we got in the house, he had lost the money and couldn't find it anywhere!!!!  Story of his life....he would lose his left arm if it wasn't attached!!!  Well, later that week, I went to throw something away in the backyard and found this shiny wad of cash gleaming from the trash can.....guess he threw it away on accident!!!  :-/

Sometimes he lets me pick out his clothes.....and sometimes he is a picky nicky and likes to pick out his own clothes!!!  He wears these boots WAY TOO OFTEN!!!!  :)

When Ayden was in Big Bear at Critter Camp....and Zoey was in Fullerton at Grandma Brenda's house, I got a couple days with this cutie!  We enjoyed lunch at Panera all by ourselves!!!  He was the perfect date!!  :)

Zoey and I got to go to a fun bridal shower for our friend, Kate!

It was a tea party and tea parties are our favorite thing!!!!

Zoey is a lucky girl and gets to be a beautiful flower girl for this beautiful bride on her big day!!  :)

I seriously love that these 2 have a love for reading!!!  You can find them like this pretty often......it's the best!!!  Especially coming from someone that isn't a huge reader herself!!!

This silly boy has been running around with a dinosaur head and feet a lot lately!!!  He sure is scary....especially with that dimpley smile!!!  :)

Wend to bed one night and found this sweet note from our Gracie Girl on our pillows.....inside she told us how much she loved us!!!  That girls is definitely a sweet one!!  :)

HAHA.....watching movies on the laptop is pretty exhausting!!!  You should try it!!  ;-)

Ayden and Jeremiah completed an all day Hunter's Safety Course!!  Ayden was pretty proud of himself!!  He has been obsessed with his bow and hunting and everything that comes with it ever since his birthday when he got a new bow from his birthmom!!  :)

Caught these 2 dancing together before church on morning in Zoey's bedroom!!  :)

Maddix came upstairs when I was getting ready to show me that he had a popsicle!!  Popsicles before breakfast?!?!  Sure, why not!?!  At least he asked nicely....and apologized for not asking first...."Forry Mommy"!!!  How could I say no to that?!!?  HAHA!!  So I let him have the popsicle!!!  :)

Here is a video of Maddix singing his favorite church song....."I Am a Child of God"!!!  :)

We were lucky this summer to have some really fun times with cousins!!!  We got to see them a lot and the kids had a blast!!

Dance Party Central.....

Forts....

Pieology....

Nothing says summer in our family like riding bikes in the street as the sun goes down!!  I got my all time favorite pic of Jer on his bike!!!  This was actually the night of his birthday....he was doing what he loves most.....hanging out with the kids, doing stunts on his bike....acting like and feeling like he's still a kid himself!!!!  :)

Maddix has almost graduated up to Ayden's bike!  Seriously....I can't believe he is 2 years old and rides an 8 year olds bike!!!!!  CRAZY!!!!

 

But it fits!!!!

These 2 love their last few minutes hanging out before the bell rings for Zoey to go to school!!  HA!  Just "one more hug"!!!  :)

We went to Big Bear last weekend ONE LAST TIME before our Friday nights and Saturdays are bombarded with soccer and baseball games!!!  I am so sad that summer is over and we will miss going to the cabin!!!  Can't wait for next summer already....and if I get brave enough, then hopefully we will spend some time there this winter....in the SNOW!!!!!  :-/

While we were there we took a little off road bumpy excursion in the Jeep!!  Ayden didn't want to go, so Jer & I took Maddix and Zoey!  I guess it was good he didn't want to go because we didn't have enough seat belts for him to come!  HA!  No wonder my parents only had 2 kids!!  :)  Seriously, I love this Jeep....I have so many fond memories with this Jeep....and it makes me so happy that my dad has kept it in the family...and not only that, but that he has kept it in such IMMACULATE condition!!!  Noone would ever know that this beauty is 40 years old!!!!

37 years ago, my mom drove herself to the hospital to have me in this thing.....when I was Ayden's age, I remember family Jeep rides to Baskin Robbins on summer nights....when I was in Junior High, I remember riding around with my brother and his friends, thinking I was SO COOL....when I was in High School, I drove this thing every day and was mortified that everyone could hear me coming from a mile away!!  I drove my neighbor to school and I didn't even have to honk when I got to her house....she heard me coming!!  HA!  I remember the one and only time that I ever ran out of gas....I was in this Jeep!!  My dad just spent a day teaching my 14 year old nephew how to drive a stick shift in this car....before I know it, MY KIDS will be learning to drive a stick shift in this thing!!!  Such a fun toy with such fun memories!!  I love it and can't wait to add more memories!!!

Phew.....all caught up!!!!  What a great feeling!!  :)