June-One Second a Day

How is this year half over already?! 2017 is flying by. 

Happy 11th birthday Tyler!

Our oldest child is eleven years old! Tyler is a pretty lucky kid. Thanks to the timing of his birthday, he gets to celebrate in other states most years, and this year, he go to celebrate in Mexico! Having a summer birthday in Arizona isn't ideal, but the good thing is that it's summer break and we can get out of town. I think over half of his 11 birthdays have been spent in North Dakota. He was actually bummed that we wouldn't be there until later this year. 

We had a trip to San Diego planned, and were planning to leave. On Tuesday, I changed our plans, and we are in Mexico instead! The weather was supposed to be cool and cloudy (although I'm sure that would have felt great after all of this heat), and I wasn't excited about the hotel I found for us. Out of curiosity, I checked VRBO condos in Rocky Point and found some great options for about the same price as the dumpy Best Western we were going to stay at in San Diego. More about our Rocky Point trip in the next post. This one is about our awesome 11 year old son on his birthday.

We headed straight down to the pool and beach once we got settled in to our hotel. I know Tyler wasn't excited about spending 4 hours in the car on his birthday, but it was worth it once we got to the condo! 

We had beach and pool just steps away from one another. Done with the beach? Head to the pool. Pool too clean for you, head down to the beach and get some sand between your toes. The water was pretty rough on that first afternoon we were there, and the kids got tossed around in the waves a little more than they liked. Ava got totally pummeled and was scared to go back in the water the next day. 

After Dave and Ava went back up to the condo to clean up from her near burial in the sand by waves, we spent the rest of the time in the pool. We have these fun squishy balls that we had a blast tossing back and forth with and at each other.

This kid right here...he's pretty great. He is the most passionate person I think I know. We've known that about him since he was about 1 year old and became obsessed with cars. And then trains. And then space. And then technology. He never has just been kind of interested in something. He either loves it with every part of his being, or he's not interested. That trait will likely serve him well one day, assuming he finds the right thing to focus his energy on. He is creative and smart, dedicated and strong willed. We are constantly amazed by the things he can do, especially when it comes to technology related things.

He's still at the age that he will hold my hand and cuddle with me on the couch. I try to remind myself that he won't always be like that, and take advantage of it when he wants to hold my hand. I wonder what age it'll be that he's too cool to hang out with us? I'm afraid it won't be long. The years are just flying by too quickly, and as much as I love the independence of our kids, it's strange to think that they need us less and less as the years go by.

We are super proud of this kid for all he does. I know that we take his many talents for granted because it's just something he's always seems to know. I do realize that the things he does (again, with technology) are well beyond the skills of an average adult, much less an 11 year old. He's just crazy smart, and that combined with his willingness to learn and experiment amount to some pretty cool stuff. It's so fun to watch these two together. Dave is such a great dad for Tyler.

Happy 11th birthday by the sea, Tyler D. We sure do love you. 

One of the great things about our condo in Rocky Point was that we had a full kitchen and were able to bring food for meals and save some money. But, you can't go to Mexico and not some Mexican food! Our condo was on Sandy Beach, which is about a 15 minute drive from the town of Puerto Penasco, and we didn't really want to drive into town, especially in the dark. We decided to check out the restaurant at our resort, and it was really good! I had delicious fajitas, Dave had enchiladas and the kids had quesadillas. Tyler also had some shrimp cocktail to start his meal. The waiter was really great (although Tyler said "that guy touched me a lot"--lots of side hugs and high 5s), and he even brought Tyler a free birthday desert. They sang to him too, and it was definitely not Tyler's favorite part of the day. He does not enjoy being the center of attention, and even got mad at me for telling the waiter it was his birthday. Happiest of happy birthdays to you today, Tyler. We all love you so much, and we are super proud of the amazing kid you have grown up to be. We are excited to see all the cool opportunities you'll have this year at your new school and look forward to seeing your accomplishments.

I know Tyler enjoyed his birthday because he was bummed when the day was coming to a close. It was fun to be able to celebrate his special day in a new place. He has actually been to Mexico twice before, but this was what he looked like last time...it was 9 years ago! Here are more photos from that trip. Time flies! 

Last night of 10

This is the last night of sleep before Tyler turns 11. Ava was sleeping over at Grandma Claire's with all of the girls, so it was just Tyler home with Dave and I. We are heading out of town tomorrow for a weekend in Mexico, so we've been packing up and getting ready for our trip. Tyler is excited to turn 10, but he is bummed that we won't be in ND for his birthday this year. He's gotten pretty used to celebrating during our annual trip up there, but this year we're headed south of the border. It's a Mexican birthday instead of an almost-Canadian birthday. 

Anyone see anything weird in this picture? No, Dave didn't grow out a giant mustache. Ava got this in her goodie bag at Harper's birthday party last Sunday, and he thought it looked pretty good on him. So much so that I fear he might try to grow it out. Ok, maybe not, but he did think about it for a minute!

Happy almost birthday Tyler! I can't believe you're going to be eleven already and in 6th grade in a couple weeks. Time as your mother has gone so fast, and I love that I get to be your mom. I hope this is an amazing year for you! It'll definitely be full of new challenges, new friends, and hopefully some awesome adventures. We love you!

Happy birthday Harper!

Ava got invited to her friend Harper's 8th birthday party, so after we got back from camping, I brought her down to Ashley's house. She had about 18 kids there, so it was a big party! I thought about staying until I saw the crowd she had there and decided to go home until the party was over. I love you Ash, but I was with a bunch of extra kids all weekend. I'll be back to pick her up after the party. Ha!

Ava gave Harper a backpack full of fun swim toys and I think she thought it was pretty cool! Check out the size of this party group. They are pretty hip in their mustaches.

Camping in Prescott

We just got back from a weekend of camping with my friends. Once we start getting ready for a camping trip (it's been a couple years, this rainy trip was the last time), I'm reminded how much work it is to go camping. My friends, Becky and Heather, and their families went up to this campground at Lynx Lake in Prescott last year, and we joined them just for the day. Heather reserved 3 campsites again, but we were a little reluctant to commit to joining them. We finally gave in and decided to join them. 

Remember how I wrote about how hot it's been around here lately? Well, Prescott is only 2 hours north of here, so although it was cooler up there, it was still going to be pretty hot up there. They daytime highs for the weekend were about 97 degrees! Not exactly camping weather. Since the friends we were going with all have kids that are younger than Tyler, we decided it would be more fun for him if we brought someone for him to hang out with. Braden joined us, and I'm so glad he did. Tyler would not have had as much fun if Braden hadn't been there. 

It's a good thing we have a mini van. It takes so much stuff to camp for 2 nights! We also had our topper on the van with more stuff in it. Brining a 3rd kid cut into the amount of space we had, but Dave made it work. 

Down the hill from camp about 1/4 mile, there is a nice little area for fishing. It's not the easiest walk down there, so we can't really bring much stuff, but we managed to make it down with the poles. Of course, no one had as much as even a nibble, but they had fun casting. Braden has actually never been fishing, so he was really hoping he'd catch something.

For dinner the first night, we grilled sausages and shared side dishes with our friends. There was no shortage of food throughout the weekend! We had a bonfire that night (yes, even when it was 85 degrees), and then headed towards our camp. Becky and Heather were sharing a double campsite, but we were around the corner, a little separated from them. We've learned over the years of spending weekends together at the cabin that their kids are much earlier risers than ours are, so a little distance between the two campsites was nice. Tyler, Braden, and Ava all slept in the tent, and Dave and I slept on an air mattress in the back of the van. For future reference, June is too hot to go camping in Prescott. We all had a hard time falling asleep because it was just too hot. Dave and I ended up trying to sleep with the back door and one of the side doors to the van open. Eventually, it cooled off enough that we shut the doors (still keeping the windows wide open) and even needed a blanket. Still, not the most comfortable nights of sleep for any of us.

The next morning, we woke up to a breakfast of pancakes and sausages, fresh brewed coffee and fruit. It was a pretty sweet camping breakfast! After that, we got ready to head over to the lake. This is a non-swimming lake, which wasn't ideal considering the temps, but we made it work. Heather and Craig have 2 person kayaks, and I rented 4 inflatable paddle boards from my friend Sarah.  The kind I got from her are actually for fitness use, and not really meant for using to get from one place to another. They are essentially just a rectangular raft that airs up to be a firm surface. They don't have a fin on the bottom, so paddling on them is almost impossible. They were fun though! We aired them up, put them in the van, and headed over to the park area where we would spend most of our day.

This was one of my favorite things to do on the water--getting towed around by my kids! The boards could all be connected, and really, was the only way to get them to move smoothly from one place to another. We borrowed one of the Kruse's paddles from their kayaks and as long as the second board was right up agains the end of the first, the back board didn't fishtail too badly.

Sarah also sent this inflatable connector device that would hold all the boards together. It was fine for floating in one spot, but if you wanted to go anywhere, you had to disconnect.

At first the kids had a hard time keeping their balance while standing on the boards, but by the end of the day, they were pros!

They figured this trick out too--connect the boards to the back of the kayaks and go for a ride!

Here we had all 3 boards connected to the kayak and Dave and I towed them all in.

Again, not a single nibble on any of the fishing poles in the water.

Colton was catching a ride behind his mom and cousin McKenzie.

Ava pulled me around the lake for a long time! She did a great job paddling and got us out in to the middle of the lake, and then back again.  It worked best when the boards were right up against one another like this.

I can't be on a paddle board and not try to do some headstand poses! It was a little tougher than it is on a standard board, but I got the hang of it after a couple tries.

Here is Miss Lila with her mom, with Dylan, and then with her big sister, Olivia.

When we got back to camp, the kids played a little baseball while we waited for dinner time.

Olivia is quite a fan of the camera--she posed for me every time I had it pointing her way!

Looking back at the photos from the weekend, I noticed that as usual, there are very few of Tyler. I included this one just so you know that he and Braden were in fact there with us.

We had a delicious dinner on Saturday night. We all brought various toppings for everyone to make individual pizzas. We had chicken pesto, bbq chicken, hawaiian, and pepperoni options. They were so good! Looks like Becky's dog, Bella, was hoping she'd drop some of that chicken. We borrowed some camping gear from Karen before we left, and this little table of hers might have been the most useful item.

See that big old bandage on Colton's arm? Not 20 minutes after we arrived on Friday, Colton and Braden were cruising down a huge hill on the scooters, full speed. Colton fell pretty hard, and then Braden fell trying not to run him over. Braden was in flip flops and did a number on his toes. Colton go a pretty serious case of road rash that was swollen and super painful. Tough kid though, he didn't let it stop him.

Heather brought all the fixings for the kids to make homemade ice cream. It was a fun activity, and it definitely cooled them off--their hands anyway.

We didn't do a fire the second night. One time was enough, especially when it's as warm as it was. They did play a few games of Uno by lamp light before heading to bed.

Tyler and Braden worked on drawing cartoons using some super annoying You Tube character that they were talking like all weekend. "Hello daddy...." We heard that fifty times a day and have since banned it, and anything said in that annoying guy's voice (Purple Shep, whatever the heck that is).

We slept a little better the second night. It must not have been quite as warm. The plan was to get up in the morning and get packed up and head out before it got too hot. Our camp site slept in until about 7:30 or so, and then got started on our packing. At about 8:00 or so, Becky came over to tell me that they were almost all packed up! I was pretty glad that we were getting out of there early. It was just too hot to be out there, and it would be nice to get home in time to get unpacked and relax a little bit. Camping is seriously too much work! The remainder of our summer is very busy, with traveling almost every weekend that we have left before school starts. It'll go fast--school will be back before we know it! Here are some more photos from the weekend.

Tyler's surprise birthday party

Tina is the best aunt. She called me the other day and asked if I told me she wanted to throw Tyler a surprise birthday party. She was already planning on having a boys sleepover, but she suggested she make it a party for Tyler too. She decorated in his favorite colors, made him Minecraft brownies (she remembered that he didn't like cake), and they all yelled surprise when he got there for the sleepover. Here he is with all of his boy cousins (minus the 1 year old, Siler). Tina had been promising Brecken a sleepover since school got out, and he was so excited to finally be able to have a sleepover with all his big cousins. How lucky are my kids to have all these cousins to grow up with??

Tina has made some really amazing cakes for the kids, but she was not proud of this one. I guess brownies are a little harder to frost than cake. I doubt the boys cared though, I'm sure they tasted delicious. Tyler was most excited about the Minecraft figures that were on the brownies.

It's not a party at Tina's unless they end up in the pool! Thanks to Tina for having all of these boys overnight, and for making it a party for Tyler. It's funny though, Tyler told me later that he actually doesn't really like surprise parties. I guess it's not hard to believe though--he's doesn't like "jump scares" and isn't a fan of being the center of attention. It's kinda crazy because in his 11 years, he's had two surprise parties--one at Grandma Claire's for his 8th birthday and then again at 11. I've never had a single surprise party and he's had two, and apparently doesn't even like them! Ha! Now we know. I know he still had fun with his cousins, regardless of if he was surprised about it. Happy early birthday Ty!