June

Summer is in full effect. Here are some things that June brought us.

Wallace had swim lessons twice a week this month. They were semi-private lessons taught by Kylie at our YMCA. She was awesome and being with 2 other boys made it really fun for Wally.


Celebrating birthdays at the park.

Our neighbors passed around popsicles. I love Wally's dimples. He needs a haircut.

And here is Skye's one dimple. In other news, she attemped to jump the brick stairs at my parents house like her brother does. It didn't end so well.

phoenix, az

we just got back from our big arizona trip. we left wednesday night at 7pm and our plan worked! the kids slept the whole 5 hours, giving rian and i a fun road trip to just hang out and drive through the desert. we arrived at the pointe hilton squaw peak resort a little after midnight. we were so bummed to see that our patio overlooked the parking lot... but after discussing the disappointment with them... we somehow got upgraded to a 2-story casita with practically our own private pool and jacuzzi out the front door. all at no extra cost! here is a pic of our pool from the front door. so after the kids went down at night (and nap), guess where rian and i were... laying out or sipping wine in the jacuz.

relaxing out at the main pool.

floating down the lazy river.

the kids were not fans of swimming under and behind the waterfall...

basically we swam and ate and slept.

the boys.

my little artist. he concentrates so hard while drawing.

our friend, melissa, from college lives in mesa with her husband, lee, and son aaron. friday night they treated us to a wonderful dinner in their home and we relaxed outside, enjoying the mild weather. we picked the best weekend for the temps... down to about 90 all weekend from 115 the previous week! thanks for such a fun night, stephenson's! we so enjoyed our time with you guys.

wallace & aaron were born only 7 days apart!

aaron is quite the musician. wally tried to keep up with him on the mic.

on saturday we went to joel's house (rian's bro) in tempe. he gave us a tour, we hit up the neighborhood park, and then went out to dinner for his birthday. afterwards we walked around downtown tempe. it is such a fun place! had we no children, we would have played downtown into the wee hours of the night... :)


we dreaded the middle-of-the-day ride home on sunday. but between solid naps, the doodle, the dvd player, snacks, and one stop... it was really pleasant. i'm not saying there were no tears (skyler)... but overall, it was a quick and fun trip home.

Waleppkenschlick

My parents Bible Study does an annual family pool day bbq called, yes, "Waleppkenschlick". A little combo of their lasts names. Those clever old folks, you never know what they'll come up with! Here we are, not all of us, but most...

notice how perfect all the kids are sitting... except for the 2 on either end.

Memorial Day Weekend

The kids spent the night at my parents house Friday night so Rian and I could go out on the town and enjoy a quiet breakfast the next morning. We picked them up Saturday and that night went to Lauren & Brian's housewarming party in LA. Beforehand we played at a park under the Hollywood sign.


We had this family over for dinner Sunday night. Here are the kids waiting for them to arrive.

Rian's sister, Bri, scored us all great seats to the Dodger's game Monday night. We sat behind Manny who threw a ball up to Rian. Wallace was very happy.

quick trip

my parents had some extra marriott points, so we decided to celebrate my mom's birthday at the newport coast villas for a night. such a fun getaway!

idyllwild

we just got back from a weekend in idyllwild. we rented this cabin, on horse property with strawberry creek running through our backyard. no computers, no cell phone reception. it was wonderful.


wallace & skyler running around in the barn.

the boys throwing sticks and rocks into the creek. wallace could have done this for hours. here's video footage.


sweet, sweet gypsy. she takes so much...

and more...

we cooked most of our meals in the cabin, but we did eat lunch at cafe aroma. here is rian showing off his huge hot dog.

we took some drives and found some amazing views.


the kids slept in the bedroom so rian and i could tuck them away and stay up late. we slept up in the loft with our own stargazing deck and skinned bear. you're not really staying in the woods if you don't have a skinned bear hanging on your wall.

sleepy eyes. morning stories.

oh this girl, this girl. i love her!

our family. minus oliver, who doesn't count, rian says.

me and my man. i am lucky lucky lucky!

weekend review

on sunday we played at crystal cove.

i forced a kiss on skye after being denied multiple times in a row.

rian and wallace hit a bucket of balls while i chased skyler around praying we didn't get killed by a stray golf ball.

skyler loves to draw.

and talk on the phone to pretend friends around the globe.

and read with her brother.

easter and other things like the potty

we had a fantastic easter at my parents house. my cousins came down from san francisco and wallace had second cousins his age to run around with. he had a blast. we had lots of other family there and we were all together again on monday remembering and celebrating the life of my aunt carol.

wallace is rockin it on the potty. this week i'm weaning him from the treats and presents. i'm also about ready to take off the child potty seat and get him more comfortable on the real toilet so that he stops screaming that he's falling in when we're out at any public restroom. my other project coming up is getting him to pee standing up. mostly so he can pee in the bushes. how awesome is it, having a boy!

skyler has taken off like she's been walking for years. she loves it and has been cracking us up lately. she is so goofy, loves to mimic her brother, and is such a daredevil. we have seen a very adventuresome spirit come out from her lately. it's very fun.

dodger game

wallace got to join us on our 'date nite' to see the dodgers play the angels last night. skyler got to stay and play with gigi and poppa. wally's highlights from the game: 1) watching manny hit. 2) keeping his underpants dry!

walking girl

here is skyler taking some of her first steps when she was 11.5 months old. that's wallace in the background doing his farm animals noises.

here she is yesterday...almost 13 months!