The last days of summer

As this summer quickly comes to a close, I thought I would take this time to reflect on some of the special places we visited and fun times we had.

We began our summer with a bang! We surprised my wonderful mom with a 60th birthday party. A great time was had by all and I think this was the first time in my entire life I have ever seen my mom speechless. We got her again later that night when her sister Leona and Denis showed up. They had flown to Boston that morning for my cousins graduation at MIT and immediately got back on a plane to make it to mom's party. What a special treat! My sister Amy created a very special video of her life story. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. I am so grateful and blessed to have such wonderful parents. My mom is the most giving and generous person I know and I am thankful for her every single day. Amy and I were so happy to give her this party and let her know how much she means to us.

We finished the weekend at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa with her four closest friends. While I finished with the clean up the girls spent the day by the pool and at the spa. I was able to join them for dinner at Roy's (yummy!) and the ultimate girls movie, "Sex in the City". We had a great breakfast the next morning and most of the women headed home.

That same day, Evan celebrated his first birthday. Cake, presents, family, friends and laughter ended a very special weekend. We even managed to make it to the pool for a swim.

The entire family spent the week of the fourth of July at my mom's house in Orange County. As my parents enjoyed a relaxing trip in Washington, we took over their house and pool. We were joined by my niece Bailey, Grandma Sue and Grandpa Jerry. The first day, Jerry held down the fort at my mom's while the rest of us headed to Disneyland for the day. It was so fun to see the boys enjoy the rides and characters at this truly magical place. I think the most magical thing there although was not Cinderella's Castle, but the crowds, well lack there of.

On the actual 4th, Patrick's sister Kathy and her family joined us for a pool day and BBQ. The kiddos even got to roast marshmallows over the fire pit. It was a fun and super relaxing day. Ended with Blake and Olivia asleep in the car while we searched for fireworks.

Although we had only planned on staying at my mom's for a few days, we were having so much fun we stayed for the entire week. We went to the beach, visited the Queen Mary, and spent more time in the pool. Thanks mom and dad for letting us invade your home.

During the middle of July, Patrick and I were able to go to Vegas for a few days...without the kids! Now this is definitely a rare thing for us. I went for a Kindergarten Conference and Patrick was able to tag along. We had a great time winning, then losing our money, chatting it up with Ronny the piano player at the El Cortez (for five hours!), and eating 99 cent hot dogs at the Slots of Fun. It was so nice to see Patrick so relaxed and to have some adult conversations with my hubby. I had a very informative and enjoyable conference as well. Thank you grandma's and grandpa's for taking the kids!

As soon as we got back Vegas, my mom called and invited us to the river. Of course we couldn't pass up a trip to one of our favorite places, so just a few days after we got back from Vegas we were off. The boys had a great time swimming, digging in the sand and fishing. They even proved Scott and my dad wrong and caught "the big one"! I still don't know who was more excited about the fish...Blake or Patrick. It was also great seeing Georgie and Jana...two of my very favorite people.

We finished the summer off this past week at my mom's house again. The summer heat in the desert was wearing on the kids (and us), so we decided to get some sun and outdoor time at my mom's once more. The boys spent the entire four days in their bathing suits. We spent most of the time again in the pool, but we also made it to the beach two of the days. Blake and Ryan got to finally try out their new body board. It took Blake a while to warm up, but he finally took it for a ride. Ryan was a bit easier to convince to take a ride. Blake and Ryan were also super excited to find sand crabs with grandpa and dad. Evan and I hung out together and built sand castles and splashed around in the water, although I truly was tempted to go for a swim.

Next week is my last week of vacation before I have to officially report back to school. I feel very blessed to have been able to have had so many fun times this summer with the entire family. We will have some very special memories that I hope will last a lifetime.

Sacred Heart officially starts on the 25th of August. I will be back in my kindergarten classroom, Blake will start Pre-kindergarten, and Ryan will be in Preschool 2 days a week. I can't believe I have two kids in school already. Time sure flies when your having fun!