Challenger Space Center

We are very lucky to have an awesome space museum just minutes from our house. It's called the Challenger Space Center and it's filled with interesting exhibits about the planets, stars, meteorites, and NASA history. This was a huge find for us because Jack is all about space right now.

This is part of a control panel from an old aircraft. The kids could have played with these switches and knobs for hours.

My little operators in Mission Control:

Water Stand

Jack has been begging me for days to do a water stand outside our house. He decided it would be a good way to make money and a lot easier than making lemonade. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn't have that. He decided to charge 50 cents for a cup and set up the little stand all by himself.

Thankfully, our sweet neighbor bought two cups and Ty bought another so Jack made $1.50. I'm afraid this is going to be a regular occurrence now...

Disneyland

On Thursday night, we told the kids to get their sandals on because we were going to go for a little family drive. We turned on a movie and started heading to California. After an hour or so, they started asking lots of questions and Ty and I tried our best to avoid them. Jack finally asked if we could "pretty please" stay in a hotel that night and we let him think the trip to California was all his idea. When the kids woke up in the hotel room on Friday morning, we told them again that we were going for a little drive. When we saw the the exit for Ball Rd, though, the game was over. Jack yelled out "Hey! That's the exit we took to go to Disneyland when I was four! Are we going to Disneyland?!" We were pretty proud of ourselves that we were able to keep our little trip a secret for that long.

Audrey and Elliot's favorite ride - the Carousel.

Jack loved the Toy Story ride Midway Mania.

Audrey talked Aurora's ear off. One thing she said was, "I'm a princess and this is my Prince Elliot. I scare away all the dragons like this - ROAR!" Suddenly, I noticed a bunch of employees that had been in the back on break coming into the room and watching Audrey. They all laughed hysterically at her and told me to please let her stay there as long as she wanted.

We had a great (and exhausting) 12-hour day in Disneyland and can't wait to go again!

Newport Beach

After a long day at Disneyland, we decided to spend a relaxing day watching TV in the hotel and going to the beach. The weather was a freezing 75 degrees and breezy, so we didn't last very long, but we had a good time.

I love this picture - after feeling the temperature of the water, Jack goes running back to the dry sand and Audrey heads for the waves.

Ty bought some corn from a local and we had a good laugh thinking about Nacho Libre:

"Get that corn outta my face!"

"We will let you win!"

Summer Days

Summer is almost over! Jack already got a letter in the mail from his new school with a list of school supplies and his class assignment. I can't believe it. We've enjoyed our vacations and also all the time we've had to just relax at home and do nothing.

 We dog-sat this little guy and all fell in love.

Lowe's Build-and-Grow. It's a little frightening handing all three of your children a hammer, but they managed just fine. Good thing for safety googles!

My tree climber is getting braver and better everyday.

 

Evidence that Jack is a mini-me. Every morning he writes a list of what he wants to do that day. He will also write down things he's already done, just so he can cross something off (my favorite: "wake up").

The twins enjoying green smoothie popsicles.

Oh yeah. Ty sold my car and bought this. I guess I drive a truck now.

Fourth of July

There is nothing like spending the Fourth of July in a small town. We went to Page last year and loved it so much that we thought we better do it again this year. The kids loved the flags all over town and the big parade.

After the parade, we went to the lake to play in the water and do a little kayaking. Ty and I took the twins with us and Jack paddled with Papa. 

 The rest of the weekend was spent napping, reading, relaxing, biking, canning, and eating. Nobody wanted to leave.

Jack got to take a spin in the orange bug with Aunt Les, too!

Lizard-catching

We had cousins over for dinner last weekend and Uncle Ty thought it would be cool to show off his lizard-catching skills. We have some big lizards living in our backyard and one of them was hanging out on the ceiling of our patio. Ty got out his fishing rod and somehow tied a knot that was able to catch the little guy. The kids all loved petting him.