Sunny Beach day

One day we had a sunny day so we went to the beach, James wanted to go diving too. so he took all his gear and we went for the day. i was cold (ofcourse) but the kids weren't. they played in the sand, built castles, giant holes and played in the water. while we were there we saw a little seal laying on the beach. at first we thought he was dead but he moved around. he was very close to us and the kids went to touch him. he was fine (maybe a little sick) so that was cool. James, dove alittle but couldn't see much because a storm had just gone through there. Sophia wanted a starfish and lily wanted a crab. too bad the crab got out of the bag when james resurfaced. but sophia got a beautiful blue/purple starfish which we put back in the water. (live free and in the wild). a good break from the same old days.
james taking lily over to see the seal.
Lily and Sophia's "castle/cage" for her stuffed pet turtle she brought along.
sophia being cute and silly
Sophia and her pretty starfish.
How she got buried, all by herself.

Our little pet seal.
Beautiful waves.

Wild, Wild, Wild Kratts

So my kids LOVE the show wild kratts on pbs. i guess these brothers have been around with a couple older shows that we didn't know. but it's a great show all about animals where the brothers have to help out in some way and use creature power to become one the animals. I found out that they were going to be at the children's science museum (which is free) and we could see them and get tickets. so ofcourse we got the tickets and it was sold out a day later. we had been to the museum a few times so we didn't need to spend all day there anyways. we took our friends nicole, bernie, and nathan (loves animals) with us. but he wasn't very happy when we got there early for good seats and he was bored the whole time. the brothers soon came out and told a story about one of there adventures, answered questions then ran out. Cullen was so sad that he didn't get their autographs, but actually wanted their address to write to them. he was just bawling. anyways. we got some stickers, and posters and stuff it was a fun day.

we had to wait an extra 30 minutes for a bus full of boy scouts to come and they just kept playing the wild kratts theme song over and over so what do you do? dance to it!
Cullen so excited with his poster and wearing his "creature power suit" he designed and grandma sewed for him for that day.
Sophia showing off her sticker.
So happy to be there Nathan. bored, bored, bored.

Papa's 60th

For Papa's 60th birthday we all tried to get out to vegas for a stockdale party. we could really only make it for one and a half days but we had some fun and got to see lots of family. james and i got a hotel for 15 bucks, and it turned out to be super nice. the kids got to play with their cousins. we got to chat with adults and announce in person that we are expecting another one. we had some good food, went to the m&m choc factory which was "closed" that day.Super swimming at the hotel pool and had a party for papa. way fun fast trip.
can you count the candles on that cake! yeah we had a blast.
cullen and hunter, pretty much together the whole time and look so much alike they could really be brothers.
Dave, Bella, and Lily. I think there was an ipod and an iphone involved in the picture to keep them occupied.
Emma and Sophia also long lost twin cousins, had a blast just being silly little girls.
Cullen and Papa, loves being with him.

fun with cousins

In january we were sad to hear of the depleting health of my grandpa who had Parkinsons. we knew that his time was short and were planning on going to visit. but he passed peacefully sooner than we could get there. but with this sad news, it was also glad news because not only was his pain gone but we could join with family to talk about his life.
Delaine and her boys came back with my mom from Europe to go to the funeral and spend some time. it was great to see them. We were all very lucky to get to spend weeks with them. Everyday we would try and see them and join in some adventure. Liam and Lily were inseparable. they would do everything together and keep eachother busy. Everett was just a fine young man always laughing at the crazy things my older two do. i wish we had more pictures of those weeks but here are a few i had.