Summer Going-ons

Well, I am happy to report that  I   we survived the summer.  Thank goodness it is over but looking back, we did do a lot of fun things.  We took a few trips (Ie. Cinci and our trip out west which I plan on blogging about one of these days.)   We also stayed busy around here.  I didn't edit any of these, and a lot of them are off my ipad so not the best quality but it isn't like I need to impress anyone.

So here goes:

 We have our season passes to Busch Gardens which is awesome, but sometimes I need a slower placed location to take the kids, especially when I am by myself so we got season passes to the Virginia Living Museum which is a mix of a zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, aviary, planetarium and a nature walk on a lake/boardwalk all mixed into one location.  It is made of all things that live/grow in Virginia.  The boys really liked it.

(Alligators)

Sea turtles.

 All kinds of birds.

 Tucker walking really funny.

 The boys pretending like they actually get along.

There is about a mile of boardwalk that the boys liked walking around on.  This particular day was hot and muggy so it wasn't as pleasant.

 I have been meaning to take them back now that the leaves are starting to change and the humidity is slowly but surely going away.

 Cooper has this strange thing where he won't look at the camera head-on.  

 We spent the beginning on the summer in the pool in our back yard but quickly moved on to the pool in our neighborhood and many trips to a beach near Virginia Beach on the Atlantic and another local beach on the Chesapeake.  The Atlantic is fun because of the big waves.  Fisher learned how to boogey board and had a really fun time doing that.
It was a little scary for me at times because Fisher became quite the little fish and loved swimming out far.  Tucker was normally chasing after birds all over the beach and Cooper could be anywhere from knocking over another kid's sand castle to running off with our double jogger stroller (and in the process taking out sunbathers) or trying to go into water much to deep for a kid who doesn't really know how to swim.  Anywhoo, the Virgina Beach trips made for fun days and I could always guarantee that they would fall asleep on the ride home (anywhere from 45 mins to 1.5 hours depending on the bridge/tunnels and traffic.)

 I don't have pictures from all of our beach outings because it was only me with my three kids (there were times where I went with friends but they had their own kids to tend to.)  Camera, three kids of varying ages and sand do not go well together.

 Cooper and Tucker really enjoyed the beach on the Chesapeake.  You still get little waves but the water is a lot more calm and the sand was a little easier on the feet.  Plus, that beach was only about 15 mins from our house.  It is a really cute one that you wouldn't want to go anywhere near once the sun went down.  Our little peninsula has very defined areas of "good" and "bad."  Very seldom do I venture into the bad parts but this beach is a good one during the day.

 We made one little trip to the Outer Banks which is about 2 hours from us to get to the good beaches.  Next year we plan on going there more.  I want to take Todd to ANY of the beaches we frequented this summer since he didn't get to go to any with us this year.
The ironic thing is that I am the one with the shark/ocean phobia.  Todd thought it was so funny how much I was there this summer and kept telling the kids how much I must love them to take them.

 Tucker is a wild child.  

 I have taken the little boys to the Bounce house up in Williamsburg a few times and thought that Fisher would enjoy it also so one day Todd and I took the kids together.  Great place to tire out wild little hellion children.  

 The boys loved playing air hockey.  Even Tucker played and scored some goals.

 When we weren't off doing things the boys were building forts or living in the bookshelves.

 Listening to music or watching movies.

 Making themselves at home preparing their own lunches...

 Cooper decided he was in charge of making sandwiches for everyone.  I passed for obvious reasons.  It had been a while since I had mopped...

 Cooper and Tucker did their headstands on the couch.  Then they would proceed to fight over doing headstands on the couch.

 Tucker played with trucks.  

Sometimes in church clothes...

 And sometimes out in the sandbox.

 We found some new little friends.

This was a picture I didn't post about when G&G visited us but this is a good representation of what goes in in our house every night.

 It turns in to wrestlemania.

 And at the end of the summer this is what my house looked like in just about every room.  I am still trying to recover form the damage three little boys are capable of doing.

 Tucker stopped napping and sleeping at night for a little while so we had about a week of where he would fall asleep on the couch during the late afternoon.

 We let him since he can be a nasty little turd when he hasn't had much sleep.
He sure does have a cute squishy face that I love to kiss!  It makes up for all the awful things he does during the day.

Then one glorious morning, the sun came out and angels started to sing and I remembered that it was the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!  (You won't see any tears from this mama.)  

Fisher is obsessed with all things Star Wars and I don't really care what he wears as long as it isn't inappropriate. If he wants to be that weird Star Wars geek that we all knew back in school then by all means go for it Fisher. :)  Here he is rocking his Star Wars shirts the first and second day of 2nd grade.

Todd and Cooper went to Back to School Night.

I do have to make note of the fact that Fisher has been struggling a lot with his emotions and transitioning into school this year.  It hasn't been a month yet which is about how long it takes him to get adjusted and happy so I am hoping he settles in a little more.  Thankfully, although he has struggled emotionally, he does fine academically.  We are constantly told that he is a bright, efficient kid.

A week later Cooper started his first day of pre-school! 

(I told you- the kid doesn't look at the camera.)

I was so nervous about taking him.  He has a history of being really angry when he gets shy or embarrassed.  He does not like lots of grown-ups around.  In fact, for his open house night we sat in the hallway for a half and hour until it was all over and everyone was leaving before he would step foot in his classroom.  Thankfully, it seemed to be enough and his desire to go to school like a big boy was so strong that it seemed to help him overcome any separation anxiety that seems to occur naturally. 

He hopped out of the car and they swept him away inside and that was that.  When I picked him up he was all smiles! 

He LOVES preschool.  He loves his teachers and everything about it.

 Fisher was a sweet brother and wrote Cooper this note to put in his lunchbox.  

I try to write a note for Fisher with a joke on it every day and he wanted to do the same for Cooper sans the joke.

Cooper doing some homework.  Cooper is behind in his writing and coloring from where Fisher was (we aren't worried at all) at his age.  I think it is cute how he holds his pencil.  Turns out it is actually considered a functional grip.  Who would have thought?

 Cooper wearing his ladybug hat.  His classroom is the ladybug room.  He comes home with so many cute hats.  I love it.  Tucker doesn't want to be left behind so he likes to practice his writing too.  He is going to be starting up a 1 day/wk joy school this week.  I can't wait!

They are turkeys but I love them enough I won't sell them when Thanksgiving rolls around.  

We are counting down the days until Fisher's 8th birthday when he will be baptized!  He is so excited. I wish I could say it is because he understands the importance of this choice and the spirit has told him it is the right thing to do (wishful thinking, eh?) But it is mostly because he hates that everyone in his church class is older than him and have already been baptized before him. *Sigh*
That's all for now.

My favorite picture

My aunt sent this picture to me and I am in love with it.  I had never seen it before and plan on printing and framing it one of these days.  Being in the throes of motherhood with small children, there is something that makes me feel even closer to own mother seeing her with me in a moment like this. Plus...she looks dang cute!  I would wear that whole outfit from sunglasses down to her shoes. :)

Grandpa C. comes to VA for the first time!

 Grandpa Church had not had the chance to come see where we live yet so when I went out to UT for the funeral, G & G came to help out with the boys since Todd was on call that weekend.

 They boys were so excited to have them come visit!

 Todd took them too see base and Yorktown. (Yorktown stinks during the summer tho.  Too many people, not enough parking and a bunch of migrating jellyfish!  Can't wait for fall to come so we can hang out there again!)

 I took them on a quick drive-by of Williamsburg and Jamestown.  We haven't actually been to Jamestown yet with the boys although I have heard it is fun to take the kids on the ships.  I was trying to get them as close down to the water as possible when we found ourselves being waved in in a frantic manner.  Next thing we know we are on the free ferry!

The kids were so excited.

The water was ugly in this neck of the woods but the kids didn't mind.  Fisher has been dying to go on one ever since Cooper got to go on one with me in Seattle when I visited Robbie & Erin.  (*cough* Twilight tour* cough*cough*)

We decided to take a scenic drive rather than turn around and cross back on the ferry.  We took a quick ice cream break in a cute little town called Smithfield.  I have wanted to go there after moving here and hearing about it and have heard their hams are amazing.

I was once again reminded of how much history we have in this area.

 Later we took G &G to visit Daddy at work.  It is always fun to see him in action.  Sometimes I forget that he is a legitimate dentist!

Here is a leftover picture from when we went to Cinci.  I just love Tucker's face in it so much that I decided to throw it in with the mix. :)

Next up is our 16 day trip out west.