Zoo and Funderland

I can't believe how fast this summer has flown by. The kids start school in only three days!! So this being the last weekend of summer vacation, we didnt know what to do. We haven't done anything as a family, ( However, my kids have the best tans hands down!! Thats because we went swimming at Grandma Cliz's house almost every day!) due to work being so slow, Dustin and I were not sure what to do with this last weekend of summer vacation with the kids. Well we were very blessed, and he was called to do three construction jobs. Yeah for us!! So at the last minute we went to the Sacramento Zoo and to the little park Funderland. The kids had a fun time at the Zoo. Kind of bummed that all of the BIG animals, Lion, Tiger, Monkeys were all "hiding" and we couldn't get a good look at them. So no pics of animals. I think the San Diego Zoo would be fun to go to....maybe when we have LOTS of jobs lined up. Anyway here are some pics from our little get away. I think Sophie looks SO stinkin' cute in this pic.
Joel and Mom. He was actually really scared of all of the animals. Every time we got close to even the birds, he held on to me or Dustin for dear life. So here we are with a far view of the animals.

Sophie at Funderland

Joely driving a car with Dad

Someday this will really be them driving...scary!!

Darn, how did this picture flip?!?

On His Own

Joel is finally swimming on his own! We have been having the hardest time with finding a life jacket that will keep him afloat....some make him fall face first into the water, some make him fall to his back. Joel is not scared of the water at all, and there have been three very scary incidents where Joel has jumped into the pool on his own and has gone straight to the bottom!! My friend Prenny goes over to my moms to swim all the time, and I noticed she had a life jacket I had never seen before. It has the arm floats, and then it has a float that goes around the chest, and snaps in the back. I asked if I could try it on Joel....it worked. He LOVES the water, and now we can enjoy having the peace of mind that he will be ok by the water. He gets in and just laughs and laughs.

Joseph loves to jump of the rock at the Carter's.

Play Date

Its that time of year again, and we are back at the park with our friends for the weekly play date. Last couple of weeks the weather has been hot, but it was really nice this morning. So if you are in the area, we meet at 9:00 at the park for about an hour or so. We would love to have you. My little Mr. Joely

The twins, Sophie, and Jaydn going down the slide all together

Joseph was "clean up" and cleared the slide of all the little kids.

Ella....cute as ever!!

Grandpa is 89 Today

Today is my Grandpa Sus's 89th birthday. I feel so blessed to be able to take care of him everyday. Joel and I head over in the morning and feed him his breakfast, and get him ready for his day. We take him downtown to do his errands, and the highlight of his week is when we take him to the casino on Tues, and Thurs. Growing up my Grandpa and Grandma were in Mexico alot taking people on tours, so as kids we really didn't see them too much. Now I get to spend every day with him, and hear many stories. The best yet.... when my grandpa was graduating from Oroville High School, his Senior class put the "O" on table mountain. I had no idea!! I think thats pretty cool, my grandpa help put the "O" up! Darn, I should of taken a picture of the "O" for those who don't live in Oroville.....maybe I will add it to the next post. Happy Birthday Grandpa, I love you!!

Going to jail

With it being summer vacation for the kids, they have had to come up with some was to be entertained. They only get to watch an hour of tv and that goes by pretty fast for them. In the afternoons we head over to my moms to go swimming. So with no game boy or wii, they have had to really use their imagination. Last week they made cars out of cardboard boxes, the took more card board boxes and put on a puppet show. But yesterday takes the cake. Josephs wanted to be inmates. He said we were all going to jail, and we needed to take our mug shot. Joseph told us that we needed to look mean. I tried, but what he was having us do, I just kept laughing...."Mama', no, you need to look real mean." Here's how they turned out. Tough guy Joseph

Joely

Crazy girl Sophie

New York Dustin

and me trying as hard as I can not to crack a smile!

I love how they are coming up with things to keep them busy.