Staycation/Mom's Birthday

We had so much fun at the GVR Pool last year that we decided to do it again this year, only we decided to stay one night at the hotel to make it a little more fun.  We arrived on Monday and went swimming at the pool and then went out to dinner at Balboa Pizza.  After the kids were tired and fed, we put them to bed and left the two teenagers in charge while my Mom, Sister and I went out for a little Bingo fun.  The next day we woke up and went to our cabana at the pool and swam all day.  It was even more fun than last year since my kids are much better swimmers and they didn't mind the sand this year.  I love getting to spend time with my Mom and Sisters. 

Fathers Day

My children are so lucky to have Zach as their Dad, the love he has for his kids is above all else.  I appreciate how good he is to them, always playing and doing the fun kid stuff like slumber parties on the couch or making big messes for mom to clean up!  He is the fun parent for sure!  Thank you Zach for all the hard work you do and for all that you give to this family!

 

Wish I took more pictures of our day but this will have to do, even though the sun was really getting to Becca!

June

So far we have kept ourselves pretty busy the first few weeks of summer.  I can't believe June will be over at the end of this week.  Here are some pictures of what we have been up to.

 To kick off the summer on the last day of school we met up with the Lichy Family at a park so the kids could play at a splash pad.  Unfortunately, Natalie decided to take a ride down a hot slide in her bathing suit and ended up burning her bum pretty bad.  We ran off to the Dr.'s office and lucky for my girls they got to stay and hang with Chrissy and her kids.  Natalie, ended up with second degree burns but they healed pretty quick.

 We have been to the library a couple times this summer, our goal is to read a ton, I want my girls to be excellent readers by the end of the summer!

 We have been swimming a bunch with the Lichty family, they are so nice to invite us to go with them to their Grandma's awesome pool.  My girls are becoming pretty good swimmers this summer, it makes time at the pool much more enjoyable! 

 We have been taking advantage of our Wet n' Wild passes and have been a few times since they opened. 

 We took a trip to Boulder City to go bowling for free at their little bowling ally.  We took advantage of the beautiful parks there and had a picnic.

 We of course had to stop at A&W to get some root beer floats.

 We hung out at another park right across from the bowling ally waiting for open bowl to start.

 Finally we got to go bowling and it was pretty fun.  Both the kids and I were pretty darn exhausted by the end of the day.  Me more than them I think, it is not easy having all these kids by myself.

 

 We went to watch the airplanes takeoff and land.

 This was Leila, Auntie Sam and Gracie's dance recital.  All three did so good, it was cute to watch! 

We went to see Monsters University and then had a Monster party with our friends.  It was fun with all of our Monster inspired food and treats. 

We had a few of our friends over all day while their parents were out of town looking for a new home :(  Glad we got to hang out and make some friendship bracelets.  We will miss them when they move at the end of the summer!

 

Zach keeps telling me that I am wearing the kids out but I am pretty sure that is what summer is all about, just using up every bit of every day to have a little fun!!



Year End Achievements

The first week of June was a busy one, with school ending there were several activities to attend at the kids schools to finish off the year. 

 This was at Zachary's 8th grade awards night.  He is an amazing student and won four separate awards.  He was the student of the year for Spanish, he took home the Presidents Education Award, the Principals  Award for Academic Excellence and finally was one of 50 students selected to write an essay for a potential scholarship.  He didn't win the scholarship but received an awesome watch and certificate to award his achievement.  Zachary has been a tremendous student, getting straight A's for the past three years.  We are so darn proud of him and know he is going to do just as well in High School next year.  I just said high school.  Unbelievable!!!! 

 

A few nights later was the 8th grade dance.  It was so cute, Zachary asked his friend Lilly to go with him to the dance.  They are both incredibly shy so they didn't end up dancing together but I know he had fun with his friend regardless.

 Such a good sport, I was one of very few Mom's out there taking pictures. 

I feel lucky that I got to be the one to help him prep for his dance.  I helped him choose his outfit and I just feel lucky that he lets me be so involved with these types of things.  I am  so proud of the young man he is growing up to be and I am so glad that we got past the evil stepmother phase in our relationship!

 

The same night as the dance we had the girls end of the year carnival at their school.  We managed to get there and have some fun before we had to head home to get Zachary to the dance.  The girls had fun playing games and we finally decided to wait in the long line for face painting.  I am happy we did, the girls look too cute with their face paint and they were so happy!!

 That face, she kills me she is so cute!

Next was the girls awards ceremony.  Alexis and Rebecca each won an award for language arts and math and Maile took home four awards, one for language arts, math, perfect attendance and the firebird award for her class.  She deserved every one of her awards, she made so much progress this past year, it really has been an amazing transformation.  (last year she didn't win any awards)

Alexis

 Rebecca

Maile

They were so happy to see both Grandma Liza and Grandpa Mike out in the crowd!! These pictures are terrible but it was hard to get close enough, there were many proud families in the audience!

 

Finally we have the last day of school.  It is always bittersweet, and this year it was especially hard since I loved the teachers so much.  I am just hoping that we get just as awesome teachers next year! 

 Alexis with her teacher Ms. Minneti.  She was fantastic!  So prepared, had the most learning friendly classroom and was just so kind.  I love the care she took for each individual kid, she made them feel so special. We will miss her for sure!

 This is Maile with her teacher Ms. Watters, aka the miracle worker!  I approached this year full of doubt and reservations about Maile's education.  With her being mute in the classroom I didn't think Maile would be able to achieve her potential until she started communicating.  That is where Ms. Watters came in.  I don't know how she did it but she got Maile to get her grades up and start talking in class.  I know how much she cared for Maile and that means the world to me! I will always be grateful for what she has done for Maile.  

Becca with her teacher Ms. Boyle.  It will be really strange for me next year when I won't have Ms. Boyle as one of my kids teachers.  Maile had her two years in a row for kindergarten and first grade and then Becca for first grade.  She has really made it easy for me to express any concerns and was always so good to my girls.  She will be missed!

 

I cannot believe another school year has come and gone!  Now on to another fun summer!!

Wet n' Wild

It's going to be a fun summer!!!

Triple Birthday

We recently got to go to a fun birthday party for our friends the Grubb boys.  They are a set of triplets that are such good, fun boys, we just love them.  I thought it would be fun to post a picture of the first time we got to meet these boys, way back in 2006 at Summerlin hospital for a NICU Halloween reunion party.  We didn't know it at the time but these cute kids would become great friends quite a few years later! 

This picture is only missing Rebecca who was still up in the NICU getting ready to come home this very day. 

After this day I remember bumping into Laura (the triplets mom) at the park a few times with her boys.  It wasn't until we showed up for Maile's first day of kindergarten that we really got to know these boys.  Lucky for Maile all three boys were in her kinder class.   Fast forward to today and we have perfect numbers for play dates.  3 boys, 3 girls. 

 What a fun party. Tons of kids!

 Maile in a Lucas sandwich.  Lucas Grubb, in the Hawaiian print shorts, has been such a big part of helping Maile come out of her shell of anxiety this past school year.  I asked their teacher if she would keep them sitting next to each other and he really helped her start talking in class for the first time in 2 years.  I am so thankful for their friendship!!

 Rebecca and Wyatt.

 My kiddo's playing with their birthday favors.  What a fun idea!

Can't get enough of that smile. 

My Four Daughters

 I consider myself to be a very lucky to be the mother of these four beautiful girls.  Each with their own distinct personalities, they bring so much to our family.  They have all grown up so much the past year, it has been fun to watch but I find myself missing the cute little toddlers they were not long ago.  I am starting to feel the way most parents feel, that it goes way to fast and time slips by faster and faster each day.  Somehow I need to take hold and cherish this time so that later I don't feel as though I missed out on anything!