Tanner is TWO!!

We had such a great week celebrating this little guy's second birthday! On his actual birthday we had the Carter's over for dinner and cupcakes. Tanner was surprisingly good at blowing and blew his candles out before we even sang!

He opened his gift from us, a Fisher Price See and Say game.

A few days later we got a gift from Grammie and Papa in the mail. Wooden blocks!

On Friday we headed down to the bay area to celebrate Tanner's birthday some more and to meet cousin Elsie!!

The boys thought she was just the cutest thing and loved to touch her hands and feet.

The next day we had Tanner's party with the Coons clan and Grama, Grandpa and Landon and Blayke. Swimming, BBQ, presents and cake!

Grammie had the great idea to have the kids all make melamine plates. So fun!

An awesome Little People Zoo from Grama and Grandpa, 

and some Hot Wheels from Aunt Anna, Uncle Brett and Kayden

Tanner got a huge cake and was too cute singing "Happy Birthday" with us.

We are so incredibly blessed to have this little boy in our family. I know I always say it but I cannot imagine life without him. He is the happiest, most enthusiastic guy I know. He makes everyone laugh because he will always answer your question, whether it is directed at him or not. 

Usually with an enthusiastic, "Yeah!" 

At two, he can talk so well. He is able to communicate anything he needs and adds multiple words to his vocabulary every day.  He is still a great sleeper but is asserting his independence much more. He doesn't like to take the time to nap each day anymore because he doesn't want to miss out, but once he's in his bed with his bunny, Pooh and dolphin I sing him a song and he goes to sleep. 

Sometimes he screams a little bit…

Preston has started preschool 4 days a week and Tanner is not happy about it. He wants to go too! He will often say, "I'm four" when asked how old he is, he wants to be big like Preston! Tanner and Preston love to play together and it's my favorite thing to watch.

He refuses to sit in his booster seat anymore because he wants to be big like everyone else. He is the best at imitating shooting noises, courtesy of his brother. He loves to read books and sing. He will even sit at the piano and plunk the notes while he sings. 

He is a joy and a light. Happy Birthday Tanner!!! We love you!

First Day of Preschool 2014

This year we are doing 2 preschools! One with Ms. Cathy on Monday and Wednesday and the other is our mom's group preschool with our friends from last year on Tuesday and Thursday. Preston was so excited for his first day!

Camping at Scott's Flat Lake

This summer we decided to go somewhere new to camp since our last summer's adventure at Big Trees included way too many bees, bears and smoke. We found out from some friends about a place called Scott's Flat Lake which is also where Aaron and Preston went on the Father/Son campout. It's only an hour away from Rocklin and we were so relieved that there were hardly any bees. The bears and smoke were another story...

We had a great campsite, right along the path to hike down to the water. It was wide open below us which was perfect for the boys, and the bears…

I had a really horrible time sleeping and it was especially bad because of the bears in camp. The first night I thought the noises might have just been critters but the next morning every garbage can in camp was turned over into the street. The second night I overheard the ranger tell people he just scared the bear away but he would be back and make sure to put all food and things that looked like food into cars. As we rushed back to our site to put away everything we could hear people in the campsite next door scaring the bear away and the dogs going crazy. Next year I have decided we are not camping in the mountains.

Hanging around camp

On Saturday we got to spend some time down at the lake and 

we had a great time even though it was smoky and rocky.

It really was a gorgeous lake.

The boys spent hours playing swords with sticks in the forrest.

Group shot

Family Shots

Alyssa and her future family :)

Santa Cruz

We were lucky enough to be able to go to Santa Cruz with the whole Carter clan over 4th of July weekend. Jim and Dee rented a house a block from the ocean and we had the best time. We arrived on Thursday night the 3rd and had a great time hanging with the family. Hillary and Mark hooked us all up with Vivint shirts. Thanks guys!

We spent the 4th of July during the day down at the beach closest to the house. It happened to be the only dog beach in the area and it was fun to watch all the dogs go crazy. We had the best time lounging around on the beach while the kids played in the sand. It was a little chilly so there wasn't really much going into the water. We also got to see tons of little crabs in this arch and the wall of rock when the tide was out

 Love this!

After our day at the beach we went back to the house and played an awesome game of Phase 10 that is still to be continued. We BBQ'd and had a great time as a family. Then we headed down to the Pier to see if we might me able to view some illegal fireworks.

Thanks for all the candy Grama!

It got quite chilly but we totally lucked out with parking. We got the very first 2 spots on the pier, facing the board walk so we were able to go sit in our cars and watch an amazing firework show and keep warm!

This was the tail end before we headed home. Not too shabby!

That night we woke up to Tanner being sick and I also came down with the stomach flu. We took it easy while Preston went to the beach with the rest of the family and had a great time. 

I was feeling better enough by that evening to enjoy dinner on the Pier with the family. 

The food was so good!

The next day we spent at the beach, soaking up the sun and the waves. It was much warmer and we all (mostly) got into the water. I loved watching Aaron and Preston jump through the waves together. Preston LOVES waves. Most of the time we were at the beach he was jumping up and down watching them because he was so excited and happy.

Tanner enjoyed some snacks on the beach.

Flying kites!

So happy :)

The boys

All the grandkids with Grama

Giving me a cheesy "cheese"

Relaxing with mom

As you can see, Preston is jumping

Our little family

Our last night I sent Aaron to the boardwalk with Dee and Hillary while I stayed at home with the kids and everyone else headed home. Looks like they had a great time!

Thanks Jim and Dee! We had such a great vacation, can't wait for the next one!!