SUMMER ADVENTURES...part 1

Okay so you just have to be patient as you scroll through these pictures...patient is a virtue! This post is the first of many to come. Our family has had a great summer and I can hardly believe school starts is 2 days. Wow! Time really does fly when you're having fun. ENJOY...Happy #7 to Ally. Ally was quite mad at me this year on her birthday because she wanted to turn 8 on 8/8/08...oh well she got to turn 7. Next year will be Ally's "golden" birthday. Britt's too.(I can't believe she'll be 14) Andy's wife and kids drove with Jon's wife and kids to spend the night at our house to celebrate Ally's big day. Anne flew in from Utah too. The following pictures are reverse of how they happened. It's not that I'm not patient, just a little lazy in wanting to re-do the order.
Our neighbor has a birthday the day after Ally's and we had a joint party with him on Saturday. He has a big blow up water slide in his backyard and all the kids had a great time. Ally had invited a few friends in addition to all of her cousins who came.
All of the kids had a great time splashing and sliding. So the slide wouldn't deflate we set up rules that no more than 5 kids could be inside at one time. None of the kids complained. The older kids were really good about helping and not crowding out the younger kids. I think everyone had a great time.Nick is notorious for hiding during pictures and I was waiting for the perfect shot as he came out. He got a glimpse of me and he's closing his eyes hoping he'll just dissappear...didn't work I got it!!!Jon's kids (especially Jacob) wanted to go to the big cement slide that is at a park near our house. It's a favorite of all the cousins whenever they come to visit.
The cousins even got Aunt Anne to slide down a few times. I think Samie and Ally had the most fun. Madie was having a good time too!

Anne looks horrified in this picture. The kids sit on the cardboard to slide down a lot faster. I love that Nick is pushing Anne down! I wonder where he learned to tease his Aunt...hmmm Ally had a makeover party the night of her birthday. After they were all made up they gave everyone a fashion show.Ally was in heaven... the only thing she asked for was this fancy play microphone from Libby Lu's in our mall. Ally loves to play dress-up so she was thrilled that this was the theme for her party. Aunt Anne is the one behind this FABULOUS look sported by Ally. Truly a ROCKSTAR I love this picture of Madie staring at Ally. Madie was a riot during this party. She danced and sang and put on a great show.Princess Samie. Could she look more like cinderella? Beth and Britt started Samie's look and Aunt Anne put on all the finishing touches.I was lucky enough to be the designer behind Madie's FANTABULOUS look. She truly transformed into a ROCKSTAR!Bella was less than thrilled with the idea of a makeover party. We came up with the idea that she could be a basketball princess.(no makeup or frills just a basketball as her accessory)

Aunt Emily goes blonde for a night. Big girls can party too! See what happens when husbands don't come...everyone lets loose.Let the fashion show begin...

Ally all decked out a a ROCKSTAR! She had a great birthday! She told me it was the best party ever! So as a mother I take that as the party was successful! YAY! Here the girls are dancing and "runwaying" to Hannah Montana music. Notice the basketball princess sporting her ball! I'm glad everyone ended up happy!
Brynnlee didn't miss out on the fun either. Britt just thought she was a doll and she could do whatever she wanted. Brynnlee has an opinion even at a young age.
Here Britt is trying to put on earrings and Brynn didn't like it very much.

Each girl got a backpack with a purse, feather boa, headband, jewelry and makeup. We had a poster on the wall for them to choose what type of hairstyle they wanted. Britt loved every minute. I think the mom's looking on had a great time too. The boys were all playing PS2 so they weren't even an annoyance. They too were in heaven! I love win-win situations.
Ally loves her Barbie Jeep. I love that she is sporting "Sharpay" glasses as she cruises around with her cousin Samie.THE SORENSEN COUSINS (Tyler & Matt's kids are MIA) notice grumpy ol' Nick won't even look at the camera. Oh, well at least he is noticably there!When everyone got here Friday afternoon we headed to one of Ally's favorite places in the world...the swimming pool. Everyone but ANNE got in and enjoyed a swim. Anne enjoyed reading a book...if you know my sister at all you know that she was just fine reading a book. Here Britt is showing of her moves on the high dive.
Ally and her friend Meg. Megs family is in our ward and were moving to a new house so we had the 3 kids for awhile and we all went swimming.

CAMPING with our neighbors. We had the best time camping and even better food. Our neighbors Grandma used to work in a restaurant and loves to cook. We had the best food I've ever had while camping. From previous posts you know that I usually have PB & J and hot dogs.

Here the kids are singing and laughing around the campfire. I love to see the kids come alive with each other. There is just something about being out in nature that makes kids sparkle! I LOVE IT!!! While we were hanging out at the lake and the kids were swimming, we heard clapping and singing so we looked over and there was a baptism going on. 5 different people were baptized. It was very similar to an LDS baptism, it was all spoken in Spanish but the prayer that was said was almost verbatim to ours. They were confirmed also, but right there in the water after they had be immersed in water. It was actually pretty fascinating to watch!

Here Ally is drying off from her dip in the pool. I think she's just so adorable! (that's my right as a mother)
I love Jay's rooster hair in this picture. We had a great time hanging out at the lake while camping. The kids would swim and then come and lay on their towels and repeat it over and over through out the day. We were at the lake front for like 5 hours or more. It was awesome!
Wayne and Brittany hangin' out around the campfire.
HERITAGE DAY PICNIC... every year our Stake has a picnic for Pioneer Day. It's held at the fairgrounds here in Pleasanton and the food is always amazing and the kids love all the "Pioneer" activities. All of the kids took a ride on the "bull". Ally didn't get bucked around to much but Wayne had a good time trying to buck off Jay & Britt

Britt held her own. PIGGY BACK RIDES with Dad... On the way to our car after the party each kid took their turn on Wayne's back.
I love that Ally always copies Britt's "pose" my 7 year old going 15. She keeps us on our toes for sure. This is one of my favorite traditions in our Stake. This year it was right after we got back from girls camp. I always seem to visit with people that I've not gotten a chance to know and it's so fun to visit with new people.

The youth always have a water volleyball game. Britt wasn't about to miss out on the fun! YAY for a great Stake who always puts on great parties!

Jay is counting down the days until he can play water volleyball. It's only for the 12-18 year olds. Some of you might think "well that's lame" but I am a firm believer in rank has it's privileges. I think it's important that kids have something to look forward to and this is one of the things that the younger kids look forward to doing when they finally become a "youth" Britt helped at the face painting station. She did some really cute things, like butterflies, palm trees and even a fabulous pineapple. (some kids request odd things)This is the first installment of our summer adventures. My kids will be in school in just a few days and after my mourning period I'll be pumped up and ready to post some more. It's been a really great summer. It's not even over. Wayne's new schedule is allowing us to go away for Labor Day. In 14 years of marriage he's always had to work and this is the first year he doesn't have to. Yes, I am excited. We will be driving up to the Redwood Forest where we will meet his parents and camp for 3 nights.

TO BE CONTINUED....