thirty two!

chris had a birthday,

shout hurray!

we had a great time celebrating, thanks to grandma linda, who watched the kids so we could take off for a little getaway.

we headed up to tampa last thursday and hit up a rays game-

so fun!

the hotel we stayed at in downtown tampa-

so scary!

i wouldn't recommend getting a cheap hotel in tampa.

we thought we'd go cheap on the hotel and then go to a super nice restaurant in tampa (bern's steakhouse, anyone?) the following evening.

the next morning, bright and early, we headed to orlando and planned to spend the day at the temple and then swing by that super fancy restaurant in tampa on our way back.

that was the plan.

until we got there and realized the temple is closed due to maintenance.

i.was.so.bummed.

chris was able to laugh it off, but i couldn't hold back my tears. its been so long since we've been able to attend together. we were looking forward to it.

we decided there wasn't anything else we wanted to do in orlando, so we headed home early, went to a movie, and then relieved grandma of her grandma duties.

it was really great to spend adult time together. we don't make time for that as much as we should. i doubt anyone does. but we had a lot of fun laughing at the concession guys at the game, singing to the music on our drive, trying to ignore the creepers at our hotel, and just being silly. it was a great trip!

happy birthday, chris!

rain

i love love love the rain.

and I'm so glad that this little miss loves it too.

i had laid down for a catnap this afternoon, when the rain started. i immediately jumped up, grabbed my camera and said, "lets go play!"

each car that passed us waved and laughed with smiles. some even stopped to watch while ellie giggled so hard, with her head tossed back and droplets falling on her face. she said to me while we were having a puddle splashing contest, "this is my very favorite mom! i love dancing and jumping and running in the rain!!!"

jack wasn't as adventurous

 jack took the next few for me so i won't forget that i played too

 best half hour of my life.

rikki's-30th-birthday-harry-potter-HOOPLA!

rik had another birthday last tuesday!

we had a very nice, low-key get together to honor the birthday girl, complete with low-key fireworks on her all time favorite- a stack of homemade mint oreos.

what she didn't know was we (larissa, alli, mom, and i) had a BIG SURPRISE in store for her!

MUWA HA HA HA!!!

we kidnapped her thursday after work and whisked her off to

the wizarding world of harry potter!

which is every 30 year olds dream, right?!

she was so surprised and excited to find out our plan, and even more excited that lari had got her the next day off of work, that she was in tears of happiness!

i havent laughed this hard in a long, long time. it felt good. we didn't take too many pictures because, well, truth be told, we were having too much fun.

livin' it up at the hotel with a luxurious robe 

(that alli spilled our room service desserts on :)

 a creeper in the hotel hallway

 HARRY POTTER WORLD!

we were as excited as Buckbeak around a dead ferret... probably even more

this is Dr. Doom.

i had to get this picture for jack and waited in line with all the 5 year old boys :)

rikki, alli, and larissa went on dr. doom's fear fall three times. 

mom and i sat that one out, three times. 

i realized that I'm not as crazy about those types of rides as i used to be.

but the coasters were better than ever!

what would a trip to HP World be without a few of these bad boys?!

 i had to include this pic because it made me laugh SO HARD.

we had the best trip! we rode on almost every ride, some of them multiple times, and even managed to bring home a couple pigmy puffs for the kids. i love my sisters and mama so much and will remember this trip for ever and ever. it was fantastic to let rik know how much we love her with a little get-away. and of course, we wouldn't have been able to do it without chris, jacob, bo and dad taking a day off work and spending the day with the kids. they really are the best! it certainly made us happy to celebrate them yesterday for fathers day!

spies

while chris is at work, he has no idea what is really going on at home.

somedays are filled with swimming and coloring, while others can be a bit more exciting.

today, for example, we trained to be spies.

 we had to silently slip through a maze of lasers.

i say silently because, well, spies need stealth.

(i.e.- charlie was sleeping)

and i say we because i had to complete the course as well.

(i.e.- i left something in my room and had to stumble through to the other side)

ellie screeched, 

"OH NO! i got a laser in my hair! jack its your fault!"

mission: complete

 on days when chris isn't at work and we aren't training to be spies, 

i have found a new hobby. 

it helps to have a brother and a sister who own a kayak business :)

if you are interested in renting kayaks for an eco tour or a fishing extravaganza, 

check out 

Bonita Kayak Company

preschool grad

our jack is a preschool graduate!

the school put on quite a celebration with songs last friday.

it was at estero high school and jack felt like a pretty cool dude, inviting everyone and anyone to attend.

thanks family for supporting jack!

 jack's teachers this past year:

mrs. luisa

 miss dara

 and mr. matt,

who worked a lot with jack.

he was a bit more advanced then the other kids, so mr. matt worked one on one with jack and his math/reading skills.
(and yes, that is jack's good buddy, ava)

jack's third from the right

this had everyone laughing. 

good thing we caught it on video

we watched the kentucky derby a couple weeks ago and i guess he enjoyed it more than we realized!

 jack, you better stop growing if you really want to be a jockey.

afterwards, he told me the real reason why he wants to be a jockey is to find out "for real" how fast a horse can run. pretty good reason, if you ask me!