1st Day of 1st Grade!

Today was a big day at our house -- Sam's first day of school! He's been ready for school to start for a few days now.

He had his bed made before he sat down for breakfast!

Zak wanted me to take his picture too!

Ready to go!

Silly boys!

Zak is going to miss his playmate!

Walking into school -- this year he knows the ropes!

Ready for a great day!

Matthew headed off for work and Zak and I headed to Cafe Sip-n-Play for the morning -- I thought he might need to do something special to make the day go by a little more quickly. He had lots of fun playing with the other kids, however he did ask if we could go pick up Sam around 11:00am!

Taking a little break from playing.

Zak and I went home for lunch and a quick nap for him -- I had to wake him up so we could pick-up Sam from school.

Here comes Sam at the end of a long first day!

Then we were going to stop for ice cream since it was almost 100 degrees outside -- but the boys decided they wanted donuts instead. A few other families had the same idea, so there were a bunch of kids from school and they had lots of fun hanging out together.

They both picked sprinkle
donuts -- a shocking choice!

Laughing at Sam's friend, David!

Kids lined up to watch the donuts go by.

Sam said he had a great first day of school. He earned "Bear Bucks" for paying attention in class, they had a visit from Chester, the class raccoon (stuffed, not real!), saw a lot of friends from last year and is excited to go back tomorrow!

Two For Three

That's right -- two wheels for a three year old!

Zak can ride from the house to the park all by himself -- sometimes he thinks he needs a little help -- but he really doesn't!

Starting out with a little help from Dad.

A little support from behind.

And he's off on his own!

Yeah for Zak!

Weekend At Poppy and Grammie's!

The boys and I squeezed in one more trip to Poppy and Grammie's house before school starts and our schedule becomes a little less flexible.

We had so much fun -- so much fun that I forgot to take pictures -- except when we were at the Beach Cafe for lunch!

Sam and Zak love their big sandbox!

A quick stop for lunch.

A little rock climbing!

Play a little more before it's time to go home!

The boys played in the water and turned the grass in the backyard into a slimy mess -- so they moved to the front yard! We visited family, went out for ice cream and just had fun!

Day At The Beach

We spent the day at Cannon Beach -- the weather was great and the kids had a blast!

Laying in supplies -- we needed lots of
water to make sand castles!

We found the greatest spot - a huge
sand castle had been abandoned!

Zak and Dad working on adding to the structure. It took a
few times before the water to sand ratio was correct!

Taking a break...

There was sand everywhere!

Working together!

They reluctantly took a break for a picture!

After almost five hours of playing on the beach, we packed up our stuff and headed into town for dinner. The boys were very sad to leave the beach -- they felt like they hadn't had enough time to play!

A stop by Geppetto's Toy Shoppe
and their funny mirror!

Pizza is the dinner of choice this summer!

Treats from our stop at Bruce's Candy
Kitchen for the ride home!

We had so much fun -- we wondered why we don't do this more often -- it's not that far away!

Pool Party!

Who can pass up a chance to go swimming? Not our boys! They were quite excited as we headed over to another firefighter's house to swim for the afternoon.

Life jackets on...they were ready to go!

Sam was old enough to try the slide this year...
he did it again...and again...and again!

This kid loves the water!

Rick taught him how to run off the end of the diving board.

He did it again...and again...and again!

A fun afternoon sitting in the sunshine, watching the boys play in the pool!

Silly Chilly Boys

This is how I found the boys on one
of the hottest days of the summer!

Summertime Fun!

Sam and Zak have been begging me to get the pool out -- but it hasn't really been hot enough this summer. Finally, we've had a day in the mid-eighties -- perfect for swimming!

Zak hanging out in the pool.

Sam liked to get a running start for
his jump to maximize his splash!

A little dinner outside after a hard day of play!