7 at last!

birthdays are always a big deal for mia for a multitude of reasons: 1) she is "finally the same age as everyone else in my class, but now they're all turning 8!" 2) who doesn't love a day devoted to them, especially when presents are involved? 3) "i get to have more than one sugar!" (she definitely inherited a sweet tooth from her mother, so we've had to limit her...oh, and she gets sugar-crazed)

we had a little playdate/party for her after school at the park. it was a good turnout, and her wonderful friends spoiled her rotten.

all the friends, silly faces

it was so hot that day, we got ice cream treats for the party. then a friend reminded me that she needed candles to blow out, so i ran to the store and got a piece of "afterthought" birthday cake.

our summer

Tim and I celebrated our 10th anniversary this august. it doesn't seem possible that we have crammed so many ups, downs, and children into 10 measly years. we escaped to a cute b&b in santa cruz. loved the place!!

of course we went to the boardwalk. (tim's face resembles tuck's a few pictures down:)

we saw some big trees. tim looks like an ant.

these are the gorgeous flowers they put in our room. i think dahlias are my new favorite.

Annie was able to participate in a couple of volleyball camps. she loves the sport, and seems to have a knack for it.

of course tim is proud.

We got to spend a week up at donner lake. tim was offered a coaching job for a volleyball camp in truckee. the camp director erica set us up with a free place to stay. it was a fun, relaxing week. we are ready to move there! the rental we stayed at was in walking distance of the lake. when tim and annie were at the volleyball camp, the other kids and i would walk down to the dock to throw rocks in the water.

tuck and afton eating pancakes for breakfast. mmm. i love tucker's face in this picture.

tucker liked to throw rocks too.

we watched lots of movies. afton and mia got snuggly so they could both see the little screen.

we went to the museum one day. tucker was fond of the fake fish.

the museum has a cute, well-manicured trail next to it. the kids love "nature walks" (it's a nature walk to them if it isn't next to a busy street). annie is a total ham.

We went to six flags discovery kingdom. it's no disneyland, but it did fulfill the girls' desire for some amusement park fun. we "discovered" that the food there is overpriced, and that annie has no fear of thrill rides...she was only limited by her height. mia was okay when she wasn't tall enough to ride. annie and mia on the pirate ship...classic. afton getting ready to ride "kung fu panda" as she called it.

tucker was out of his mind with excitement on the mini-merry-go-round. this was his face for pretty much the entire experience.

We had a fun day at alder creek with friends.

Baby boy turned 1! we had a truck-themed party for him. my cake wreck. note: DO NOT buy buttercream frosting from the sam's club bakery. it does not spread.

we took a lot of day trips to the beach. mia loved to get dirty. she was the bravest...always getting in the cold water, even if it was windy that day.

afton loved to get her legs buried.
annie loved to dig holes.

I think we all had a fun, busy summer. we really made the most of tim's time off, and i'm glad we did. now that he's back in school and working, we never see him! miss you timmy!!