And so it begins....

Today on the way home from school, Taylor told her friend Tyler that she was "falling in love with Zack." What???? She said she just can't help it, he is always looking at her. She then demonstrated "the look."

I think I just threw up.

Road Trip Part II

We packed up bright and early on Friday (2 days later than planned) and headed to Utah. We had to make a couple pit stops along the way and this was one of them.

We made it to Utah just in time to help with the last of the preparations for our 4th of July baby's 1st birthday.

Trisha did a great job with all things red, white, and blue!Andy had a blast going down the slide and into the pool.

Ashlyn was a great present-opener-helper.Taylor and Cannon deep in conversation.

So glad we were able to make it to Utah to celebrate such a special day.

After the party we took the kids to BYU to a creepy dead and stuffed museum. Andy and Chase were asleep in the car so I didn't get to go in. Darn!More to come....

Road Trip 2010 Part 1

1st stop: Las Vegas for Taylor to compete in a National Dance Competition at the Paris Hotel

The plan: 2 nights in Las Vegas, dance early Wednesday morning, head out to Utah.
Reality: 8AM call time, packed up and checked out of the hotel, Taylor dances, wait for awards, Walk the Dinosaur did well and was picked to compete in the World Series the next night. What????? We did not think they would be chosen. We were in total shock as we immediately called the Timeshare to reserve 2 more nights.
The World Series was pretty intense complete with crazy parents in line hours before it started, a stampede when the doors finally opened, and my sister being cussed out by an old man. However once inside there was lots of energy to cheer on our little girls competing against girls way older than them. Despite the curve ball to our plans it was super fun to watch the girls dance 1 more time.

Its always fun to go to Vegas and visit Aunt Tracy.We were happy Grandma J was there staying in her timeshare. Her pool was awesome and perfect for the kids. They swam ALL day and barely came out to eat.

The M&M store is a family favorite. We discovered Pretzel M&M's this time.....love them!Andy and Ashlyn needed some entertainment while we waited 2 hours for Taylor to dance so they got to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower
I love my dancing girl. And I love the faces of the girls next to her...hahaha! It was early!

I am so proud of Taylor.
I am always in awe of her when she performs on stage in front of hundreds of people. We have decided to take a break from competitive dance and although it is a little sad,
we can't wait to see what she does next.

stay tuned: more road trip adventures to follow..........

4th of July.

For the 2nd year in a row we crashed Sara's Aunt's 4th of July Bash in San Clemente. They are such gracious hosts to allow us to bring all our crazies to their beautiful home.

We made it just in time to swim, eat and watch fireworks on the beach.

Before:

About 2 seconds later!
This is a great depiction of our family right now.
Chase just hangs out while madness occurs all around him.

Missing Miles in this picture.

Fireworks on the beach.
I think Chase was blinded from the camera flash.

Another great 4th of July.

4th of July Block Party.

Am I really blogging about 4th of July??? Good grief, my blog has been neglected.

The 4th of July festivities started with our Annual block party hosted by the Blume family. They never disappoint. We had lots of good food, water balloons, a parade ,and general craziness in the front yard which the kids love.Chase is quite possibly the happiest most smiley baby EVER! I wonder if his cheeks hurt because of all the smiling.

Modes of transportation all decked out for the parade.

All the kids waiting impatiently for the green light to throw water balloons at their dad's.

Parade time.

1st grader!

Taylor started 1st grade last week. Even though we have been through the school thing before, this was hard for me. She is now gone ALL day. It is a long day. By 1:00 I feel that she should be coming home and yet she has 2 more hours. She is now on the big kid playground with older kids which means learning things like "Girls Rule Boys drool." Heavy sigh.....

Day 1 she was excited and ready to go, dressed cute from head to twinkle toes.

She was happy to see lots of friends.And felt very grown up with her own desk.There was no sappy drawn out goodbyes this time around. Her teacher, Mrs. Eikleberry, sent us parents on our way after about 5 minutes....o...k... Some of us weren't quite ready to leave yet. When I picked Taylor up at the end of the day, I could tell she was worn out and not too sure about this all day school stuff. Tuesday morning was a little rough but Tuesday afternoon was much better. Some of the girls had a hard time finding each other on the big playground on the 1st day. They figured it out though. On Friday we took her out a half hour early thinking she would be way excited because in Kinder she told me everyday to come get her early. Ummm not this time:

Taylor in her most grown up 1st grade attitude: "But Mom we were getting our reading buddies, it was almost over."
Me: "I thought you would be so excited to get out early."
Taylor: "Well I wasn't. I like 1st grade too much."

Back to school party.

These 3 cute girls started school last week. Morgan and Taylor in 1st grade and Paige in Kindergarten. We are grateful they have each other as they venture away from home and into the "real" world.

We decided it would be fun to get together before homework and schedules take over.And just because he is so darn cute...here's one of Chase.