On a Lighter Note

Before the craziness of this last week took over we had a pretty great weekend in San Diego. Let me first say that Dan and I had been planning for six months to go to Boston this last weekend, but couldn't foresee Hurricane Irene barreling her way up the east coast the day of our departure. After spending a couple of hours on the phone rescheduling our plans there, we decided last minute to go to Sea World (one of the many perks of being with the Air Force is getting in free once a year).

We've had so many pictures at the beach this last year, what can I say, we LOVE the beach and who knows if we'll live this close to it this time next year.

We sat in the "splash zone" for the Shamu show, Rayce and Avie had a few reservations.

We spent the last half day before we went home on Coronado, this is Dans very favorite place in California, if you've ever been there you understand why. It's so quaint, It almost feels like it could still be in the 1950's.

Muscle beach

Sassy beach

A good sort of worn out!

Feeling Grateful

This morning as Avie woke up she experienced a seizure. She woke with a fever and was laying upstairs with Dan on the couch when she went really rigid and then began convulsing. Dan brought her downstairs to me, she was unresponsive and her face was grey. She wouldn't look at us, wouldn't respond to her name. It was so scary, Danielle was panicked, we all were. Dan took her to the emergency room, while I took the other two to school. At the hospital they determined she had what is called a febrile seizure, this happens when a fever raises too quickly for the body to handle. They did a chest X-ray and also said she may have a touch of pneumonia, poor baby went through a lot this morning, it was so frightening to let my mind for a split second go to the worst case scenario, but now I just feel thankful. Thankful that it wasn't more serious, thankful that Dan was home and is familiar enough with seizures to know what to look for, thankful for competent doctors and nurses, and mostly thankful for my amazing resilient kids who I love more than anything. Our time with them is so short, even if they're completely healthy! They grow so fast and I hope I never take my time with them for granted!

Looking Sharp

I clearly don't quite yet understand the nature of boys, and this proves it. Rayce puts everything in his pockets; change, rocks, leaves, small toys, big toys, whatever, it all goes in his pockets. It's like Mary Poppins bag, he keeps pulling stuff out!
I know this is the case, but I still never seem to bother checking his pockets before I do his laundry...yes, you can see where this is going. Rayce leaves a blue crayon in his pocket; crayon in the washer not bad; crayon in the dryer...really bad! Most of his church clothes came out tie-dyed a lovely blue color! So I take Rayce to pick out new church clothes and what does he want, a suit?

Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with little boy suits (especially when they're on clearance at Kohl's) I just didn't think Rayce was the suit type.

He does look very handsome!

Incidentally, he also tried pop rock candy for the first time...

He was a bit surprised at the capabilities of a simple candy.

Just Stuff

Look who's a looker in glasses!

Danielle has been telling me for a year now that she couldn't see the board at school, so I finally called and got her an appointment and sure enough her vision isn't that great. Good thing she looks so darn cute in glasses!

Also, yesterday Dan and I celebrated our 11th year wedding anniversary! We went to a place called St. Francis in Phoenix and it was very yummy!



And I just had to throw this in for the Grandparents and Aunts!

Big Kids

So both Danielle and Rayce started their new school year, Danielle yesterday and Rayce a week ago.

The very cool and very stylish 4th grader!

Boris and Rayce both got spiffy new haircuts!

Now, three days a week it's just Avie and I! She's staying busy maintaining her cuteness...it's not that hard for her!

Maybe a Little Bored?

Danielle has been struggling lately with end of summer boredom. What do you do when it's 100+ every day. I told her to find something to do, maybe an art project, here's what her and her friend Chase came up with:

Drawing Harry Potter faces on Rayce and Avie, which totally qualifies as an art project.

I vaguely remember in my last post saying something about not being ready for summer to end, I retract that statement.

Our Summer So Far

Aside from getting a new pet and taking a long vacation, we've had some other adventures this summer! Surprisingly, the heat hasn't bothered us as much this summer, I guess we're finally acclimating...just in time to move. Yes, we've entered into under a year now, the countdown is on!

In a couple of short weeks the kids will head back to school, Danielle to the fourth grade (gulp), and Rayce to his last year of pre-school, and life will become erratic and crazy again in one sense and scheduled and structured in another. I'm not ready for summer to end just yet, we've actually had a great time together, not that I'm surprised they're great kids, I'm just usually ready by this time to push them back out the door to school.

Danielle participated in a volleyball camp this summer and really loved it! I've been waiting for her to find something that she would light up doing and I think volleyball is that for her, doesn't she look so cute in her knee pads?



She also had another dance recital, I wish I got better pictures, she did a fantastic job, and will be continuing this fall.


For the Fourth of July Holiday we trekked it up to Prescott, one of the best kept secrets in Arizona. This place is gorgeous, and they have trees, actual trees!

Did they film Pollyanna here?

Walking around a little festival they had going on, the weather was perfect, overcast, and upper 80's.

Cutie pies

I think the kids thought it worth the two hour drive for the amazingly big sno-cones!

We ended up driving to a nearby lake to check it out, the scenery was beautiful...

...the water quality questionable.

I wasn't getting in the water, but my family didn't see or didn't care what the sign said, neither did Boris!


I'm glad summer isn't quite over yet, they're still some fun to be had!