It is hard to believe 3 weeks of the summer have flown by since the last time I posted. We have had such a full wonderful summer. Angela's was closed and for the first time I got to be off with the kids for the entire two weeks! It just so happened that our old neighbors where in town and Axel had a play date with Rishaan scheduled for July 21st. We found out during the fun night of fun that Rishaan was going to be staying with his Aunt for 2 weeks while his parents traveled to Europe. This meant the boys could have a sleep over, a 30 hour sleep over! Well they had the biggest, longest sleep over that I have ever been apart of. We went to the library, Jack Fischer Park and the swimming pool. The kids played Legos the entire naptime both days without any issues and water balloons topped off the excitement. I was amazed at how well Rishaan and Axel got along. I was also amazed at how well they included Phoenix in their fun.
Having Rishaan around was such a joy and we hope their friendship can continue from afar. As you can see from the picture, Rishaan continues to be the tallest boy in his class. He is just under 5 feet tall at 8 years old!
While the 3 played with water balloons and chased each other around the park Rubix reacquainted himself with the sand. He was bouncing the sand in the shovel and laughing when all of a sudden it flung into the air and into his hair. I was shocked I got this picture on film. He was just as shocked that it went all over him and into his eyes.
Rubix loves to try on other people's shoes. Here he actually got Rishaan's shoes on. I have been trying to get a picture of him in someone else's shoes for a couple of months now. This is the first one where I was able to capture the picture before he fell over or took them off.
Despite Rishaan being with us for 2 days and one night the boys were still sad to say goodbye. Here they are together for one last picture!
After two days of fun with Rishaan, I needed to get some errands done. On our trip to Westgate Mall the kiddos, especially Rubix were excited to see the pretend cars and trucks to play on. Since it was really hot out I let them play for about 30 minutes before continuing our shopping.
I just love how much Rubix loves to explore and how he doesn't let anyone get in his way, even big brother Axel!
The kids took private swim lessons the first week of being home. Axel's swim lessons really paid off as he had a great meet at Swim Champs. He PR'd the butterfly by 6 seconds! He placed in all of his events and was finally able to be a member of the A team 100 meter free style relay. Because of this he received his first metal for getting 2nd place. The Gators won champs and then celebrated at the end of season potluck swim party on Sunday night.
Monday morning we got up, ate breakfast and then headed to Auntie Shannon's new house in Sacramento! The kids were so excited to go. We lucked out and had an easy, traffic free drive.
The kids had so much fun playing together. We went to the park and played in Auntie's pool every day. It was hot, but playing in the pool and inside the air conditioned house made the 107 degrees very comfortable. I do have to admit by 10 am I was ready to leave the park as I was already over heating!
I just love how all of the cousins on either side of the family get along so well. It is like they just know they are suppose to love each other and be friends!
Look at how well they were all listening to Auntie Bri/ mom on the walk home from the park. Perfect little angels!
The kiddos watching a show before bed!
Speaking of angels, I am absolutely in love with my beautiful new niece, Aya. She is such a happy cute baby. She has an unbelievable attention span for books and looking at people's faces for a 3 month old. I had so much fun holding and playing with her.
Rubix seems to be growing up very quickly the past month. He loves airplanes and trains. His vocabulary and ability to articulate his words amazes me every day. He is also the most loving child I have ever seen. He loves to give hugs and kisses, but what shocked me yesterday is that Axel was crying and very upset and Rubix went up to him loudly saying "Huggie, Huggie" until he hugged him. Rubix then bent over and gave Axel a hug while he was on the ground, kissed him and then pet his head until he stopped crying. It just melted my heart.
After coming back from Auntie's Grandma Susan came! We had so much fun visiting with her. Axel and Grandma are like two peas in a pod. They think alike and have so many similar interests. He is also an amazing helper, which she really appreciates.
Keith and I went out to eat for our anniversary and Axel was his charming helpful self while Rubix cried about one thing or another. As easy of a baby as Rubix is, he always seems to cry for Grandma Susan. Luckily, he did much better with her and went to bed easily when we got home from dinner.
Phoenix also seems to be connecting more with Grandma Susan. She let Grandma do her hair and read books with her and best of all Grandma made edible marshmallow play dough with Axel and Phoenix which resulted in hours of fun for two days!
On Sunday, after Grandma left we enjoyed a lovely hike to Lookout Point at Montalvo.
It was pretty much up hill for .8 miles and then down hill for the return back to the car.
The kids appear to be able to handle 1.5 to 2 mile hikes pretty well. Our goal is to get them up to 3 or 4 mile hikes to be able to tolerate longer hikes/walks that we may venture on in Hawaii or other travel in the coming years.
I let Axel take a bath with the younger two yesterday. They enjoyed a fun filled bubble bath and it allowed a photo opportunity of the three kids, which I always like to take advantage of.
Although Rubix played with a ball the entire bath he always seems to escape from my arms more quickly then I can get a diaper on him to play basketball or ball outside of the tub. I love this picture of his naked butt and daddy cheering for him.
We have two weeks of summer break before Phoenix starts full day preschool and 3 weeks before Axel starts third grade. We are gearing up for an exciting new school year, but first we will travel to Chicago for my 20th high school reunion. I am excited to see family and friends!
