Matthew turns 5!

Our sweet Matthew turned five on May 29th! Time flies so fast, we can't believe Matthew's been part of our life for five whole years. :)  This kid is super sweet--he has such a kind heart and is always so loving toward his brothers. He's sensitive, but has a pretty goofy sense of humor. Matthew really looks up to Daniel, and can't wait to start playing soccer on his own team in the fall, just like his big brother. He loves riding on his glider bike, playing football, and wrestling with his brothers. He has some great friends in his preschool class this year, which really made all the difference for him at school. Matthew is such a blessing in our family. We love him to pieces!

Chris was going to be out of town the weekend of Matthew's actual birthday, so we had a little party for him the week before. You can never have too much celebrating, right?

 Matthew received lots of generous gifts from his friends and family.

 A real treat for breakfast on his big day...froot loops!

 We usually open gifts during dinnertime on birthdays, but with Daddy leaving town, we made an exception and Matthew was super excited to get to open this big package!

 It is always so much fun to watch Matthew open gifts. Hooray for his very own Seahawks helmet and jersey set!

 I think he was happy.

The afternoon was spent throwing rocks in the water at Golden Gardens with Auntie Laura. What fun!

 Great-Aunt Bea dropped off a cupcake cake for the birthday boy!

 Yum!

 A new husky shirt! 

(Love the blue frosting lips...)

 "My very own shinguards?!"

 "Thank you, Daniel!"

 Flight suit sent all the way from Auntie Karen, Uncle Jesse and the Maryland cousins.

He couldn't wait to try it out. :)

One last celebration for our favorite second son--a little park playdate with his classmates! 

 

What a great time, for such a great kid. Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Last days of summer

I was looking through a few photos on the computer and saw a few that hadn't been shared of what we've been up to for the past few weeks.  Here's how our last bit of summer vacation went down.

Some friends of ours live in the Blue Ridge neighborhood and invited us to spend time down at the beach with them. It was a beautiful evening spent with lovely friends.

 Cleaning their feet.

 We signed up Daniel for a week-long swimming lesson session. He had a great time, as usual.

Barbecue down at Nana and Papa's house with the cousins!

 Five of the six local cousins with Great Grandpa Milt on his birthday.

 Riding bikes up and down the block is getting pretty boring (for Daniel, especially), so we packed the bikes up one day and took them to the cemetery to practice riding. It went really well, however we chose one of the hottest days of summer to go, and we didn't last long.

 These two spent an incredible amount of time in the pool this summer. Toward the end of the summer we ended up being a "clothing optional" operation. They loved it. :)

 For whatever reason, we never made it down to the wading pool down at greenlake until last week.  We went a few days in a row and the boys had such a great time floating and splashing around.

Daniel was very kind and gave his brothers rides.

 Nothing beats a little poolside snack. 

Aaron learned to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" this summer. This is his goofy rendition.

 So long, summer! We had a wonderful time filled with water play, friends and lots of cool treats. Can't wait for another fun summer next year!

Bodega Bay Road Trip, Part 3

Day three of our trip started with a small miracle...Mommy slept in. Till 8:45. This is unheard of. Usually if the kids wake up, Mommy wakes up and even if Mommy gets to stay in bed after the kids wake up, Mommy stays awake. Daddy was the hero today, he took the boys into the main part of the house so that Mommy could try to sleep.

 While Mommy slept, Daniel and Matthew enjoyed one of their favorite shows...

 ...and Aaron enjoyed a breakfast treat of pirate booty. (It is vacation, after all...)

 Daddy taught Casey how to play cribbage.

 Once Mommy got up, Aaron started practicing his piano skills.

 And Matthew practiced being cute,

and Daniel built a tower using all of the mega blocks.

 Aaron's hair was out of control this weekend.

 After everyone was up and ready we took a group trip to the beach.

 Monique and Emma. The boys were IN LOVE with Emma. (And it's not hard to tell why...she is SO cute!)

 Ah, the joy of being the first child. Casey followed Monique and Emma around the beach with a camcorder for most of the morning. :)

 Aaron spent his morning throwing "sandballs" into the waves.

 Daniel found a crab.

 Super big waves! There was definitely a storm brewing.

 Daniel and Matthew work to dig up the treasure they buried the day before. (Marked with a "Y" because if they marked it with an "X" somebody else might dig up the treasure.)

 Found the treasure! An old feather. 

Watching those waves.

 Running away from the waves. Matthew was a bit scared of the water.

 Daniel was so sweet with Aaron. 

 And then Aaron ran away.

 Running up and down the sand hills was fun.

 And we found this crazy feathery seaweed.

 Helping Emma run in the sand.

 More running.

 All of the kiddos. 

 Stormy skies mean we needed to head back for...

 hot cocoa!

 Mmmmm...

 Licking up every last bit.

 What a treat!

Cocoa mustache.

 Aaron was trying to show his mustache. It turned out more like a fish face.

I'm not sure what game they were playing, but it sure looks like fun. :)

After dinner we were very blessed to have our good friend, Fr. Steven, come and say Mass for us at the house. Daniel practiced his keyboard skills all afternoon and played the entrance and recessional music (on the organ setting, of course). It was so nice to visit with Fr. Steve for a bit--the boys especially enjoyed his visit because it meant they got to stay up later than usual. What a nice last night at the house! Tomorrow we would be getting up, cleaning up, packing up and heading out on the next leg of our adventure.