~Adventures of a Family of 6~

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Our Kindergartener!

Abby started school on Wednesday and loves it so far! Our district only offers full-day kindergarten, so she is gone for 7 1/2 hours. I've missed her but am excited for her to have exciting, new experiences. It's nice to give Alex and Katie a little extra attention, too.
I can't believe how fast our baby girl is growing up!

More Balboa Coverage

The quirky little spot where we stay in Newport is called Balboa Island. My dad's family started going to Balboa when he was two years-old, and they have returned every summer since--for over 60 years. The tradition of a young couple with five small children has ballooned into a massive invasion of around 100 of us every August. Of course, we're too big for formal get-togethers now, but we meet at our traditional spot on the beach to catch up as cousins. It's a great way to stay connected. I love going back to a place with so many magical childhood memories. This was my 26th trip (I think) to Balboa . . . what a lucky girl I am!

The best part of Balboa is always hanging out with family. Here is Alex with Grannie (my mom, Lori); Abby with her cousin Sam; my sister Melba with her nieces Marian, Abby, and Baby Emily (whom we loved meeting for the first time!); and my sister Jennie with her nieces Katie, Marian, and Abby.

Katie and Abby loved playing with their cousins! Here they are with Sam and Josh . . .

. . . and with Lizzie . . .

. . . and with Lucy--wading here with Pops (my dad, Richard) and Katie.

Ben, Abby, Jen, Katie, Joe, Marian, & Adam

Marian, Martha, and Adam

Uncle Sammie with his nieces Emily and Katie

We had the added bonus of seeing Luke's sister, Lara, who lives in Santa Monica, and her boyfriend, Mike . . .

. . . and also (briefly) Luke's mom, Nora! (She and Lara were passing through after a road trip to get Lara's new car from Utah to California.)

Although I don't have pictures of everyone, we got to see all seven of my siblings with their spouses (except Anna's husband, Spencer) and their kids. What a great trip!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Beach Trip

We had a great trip to Newport Beach, California, with the Boyer clan! It was awesome to see everyone and to relax at the beautiful beach. The kids loved it--Abby had a blast with her cousins and couldn't get enough of the swimming; Katie made the rounds from lap to lap of adoring relatives for cuddles; and Alex mostly munched on sand. (Yum!)

More updates and summer pictures to come!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Joe!

The same evening my mom and Jennie left, my brother, Joe, arrived! (They even met up in the airport, since his plane from Salt Lake took them right back there. Pretty exciting!) The heat wave continued during his visit, but we had a great time together anyway.

Here we are at a Cardinals game--our first one! I thought we were all having a great time until Abby told me at the end, "This is the most boring thing we've ever done, Mom." Oh, well--you can't please everybody!

We visited the Gateway Arch, which we discovered is really hard to photograph if you want people in the picture too!

After the Arch, we took the kids to Tower Grove Park to cool off in the wading pool. Alex didn't last very long!

Abby & Katie with Uncle Joe.

We love having visitors!

We love visitors!

It was SO fun to have my mom (Lori) and the youngest of my six sisters, Jennie, come visit us in June. It was quick, but we packed a lot into it: Grant's Farm, The Magic House (the children's museum), shopping, seeing "Up," and splashing in the wading pool here at home.

Grannie getting major snuggles.

Abby on the new carousel at Grant's Farm. (We had the place to ourselves, since very few people were willing to brave the 99-degree, 87%-humidity weather!)