The End of Summer

We have been school clothes shopping for the last couple weeks and the other day we ventured out to the mall. I haven't been there in awhile because it can be scary at times. We had to go into Macy's and my kids were so excited they got to ride on the escalators, they actually rode it about 8 times! I guess it had been awhile that they had been on an escalator, because they were nervous getting on at first then they went nuts on them, I guess I have deprived them! It was so funny to watch them. Like experiencing Disneyland for the first time!

Of course Caden had to break the rules and go the opposite direction.:)

I usually hate public pools, but we have been really bored lately so I took the kids to the aquatic center. They had fun, but they kept asking who else was coming. They always think other people have to be with us for them to have fun.

Caden and Carsyn got to ride on the water slides because they were finally tall enough. Carsyn had to be measured every time she got in line to go on the slides. She got a little frustrated with the life guards.

Some of my friends and I decided to go on a trip to Vegas this past weekend. The girls went on a girls trip last year and I wasn't able to go, so I was really glad that it worked out for me to go this year!

Here we are about to leave.

We stayed in the Signature Suites at the MGM Grand. The hotel rooms were really nice. Usually they are all smoky but the part that we stayed in was smoke free!

This is the view from our rooms.

I had to get a picture of Kim and Lindsay who are pretty scared of heights, it was funny to watch.

We lounged by the pools all day. I have blisters already. OUCH

Dinner at night, and shopping, both fun to do with friends!

Another picture of us all.

I am so glad I went, it was fun to be able to not worry about anything and just relax and enjoy time with friends. I can't wait until next year. I think the next stop is Palm Springs, it should be fun!

Magic Mountain 2009

Caden and Carsyn got free tickets to Magic Mountain from school, for reading for a certain amount of hours. The tickets had to be used this summer so we decided to go on Monday. It was a little too hot! We started off by all going over to the Ninja, which is a bigger ride that everyone could ride. That was a mistake! Nixon was scared to death! He didn't want to go on any roller coasters for the rest of the day!

I stayed in the kid zone with Carsyn and Nixon and Brad and his brother Greg took the older boys on the big rides.

Here is Carsyn and Nixon, can you tell how hot it was, look at those faces!

Nixon showing of his moves while we waited for the bigger kids and the dads to get off one of the rides.

Caden and Gavin waited in all the lines for a long time, they were good sports. They are pretty funny together, some of the stuff they say is really funny.

This is Goliath, Brad took Carsyn on this ride.

This is Carsyn after getting off of Goliath, she was really upset!

Brad had to show her how high she was, after she saw, she was proud of her self for going!

The guys: Greg, Brad, Gavin, and Caden

It sure was a long day.

On our way home Carsyn started complaining about needing to throw up. I think she was just too exhausted and hot. She fell asleep and was totally fine in the morning. Brad and I decided that we shouldn't go during the summer anymore, it is just too hot and the lines are too long!!!

4th and the Beach

We were able to go out to the lake on the 4th of July. It was really packed and there weren't very many places to picnic in the shade, so we kind of squeezed in between some other people. It worked out and we had a fun time.

Hunter

Some of the 4 year old cousins hanging out.

My pretty little Carsyn! Even though she is around tons of boys all the time, she still has a smile on her face!

After the lake everyone came over to our house to swim and do fireworks.

Kids doing sparklers, I am surprised we didn't have any injuries!

I have been looking forward to going to Leo Carrillo all year. I can't believe it is already over, it wasn't a long enough vacation!

Every year the kids want to be buried in the sand, I don't know why, they are always so sandy afterwards.

My hot honey!

Caden liked looking for crabs.

One night my sister Becky gave all the kids these glow in the dark hats, they looked really cool at night.

This year they were filming a commercial on the beach right by us for Kashi cereal. I love how they are always shooting films or commercials at Leo Carrillo. I makes it a little more exciting.

The girls wanted Grandma to do their hair everyday, they looked so cute!

Nixon my little boogie boarder.

Carsyn the sand beauty.

Caden "I am too cool to take pictures anymore" Race

I can't wait until next year, we have to go for more days next year, my kids never want to leave there! We almost had my whole family there except Shelby and her family and Josh and his family. We missed you guys!

Summer Time

We have been busy doing tons of stuff for summer. Carsyn's teacher put together a field trip to the zoo, she wanted to do it during the summer because she is going to have all the same kids in her class next year because she is looping. Carsyn was excited to see her friends, she hung out with her friend Soleil the whole time.

Here she is, my little gorilla.

Every year we go to a few of the kids camp activities that The Breeze radio station puts on. I love going, they do some fun activities, this one was to Pump it Up. The best thing about kids camp is that it is totally free and lunch is included!

Here is Caden with his cousin Issac who loves to hang out with Caden. Caden thinks he's a cool kid!

The kids waiting to go into the jumping room!

The typical pump it up picture.

Caden just had his final baseball game for the season. I am glad it's over. It started to cut into our summer. Usually the games are over when school gets out, but since the new field wasn't done they had to start the season late. This year Caden played normal baseball, no pitching machine and no tee. When the games started this season, they lasted sooo long and they were really boring since the kids were pitching and mostly walked everyone. Our team finally got the hang of it and did really well! Caden is usually the smallest on the team, this year he was the second smallest so he was happy.

Here is a picture of Caden next to a kid from the other team, I think it is funny, because he looks like a munchkin next to him! He'll get his height someday! He put his hand up to Carsyn's the other day and he was laughing because their hands are the same size!

Afterwards we went to a swim/awards party. Here he is with a few of his coaches. He played well. He stole home 2 times and made an in the park home run!

Fathers day we ate lunch with my dad and went to church with Brad's family. Everyone came except his sister that lives in Indiana.

Nixon loves playing with all of his cousins. Here he is with Easton.

The original Race Family, minus one. (Left to right) Paul, Alyson, Roy, Penny, Brad, Greg, and Andrew.

I am so excited in less than two weeks we go on a week long vacation to the beach!! I can't wait!

Family Time

My cousin Jenny and her family stopped by to visit us on their way to Virginia, they just moved back from the Netherlands. It was fun to spend time with their family and to see her two boys. We had fun at the park, my kids were so dirty after we left. This park has sand, the parks I am used to have wood chips so your feet don't get so dirty. They had fun playing with the sand though.

Nixon and Carsyn

Nixon playing with Ty.

My mom, her mom and her 3 sisters.

4 of the 7, Davies grand daughters.

The kids were all taking a picture and of course Nixon didn't want me to leave his side so, I got to be in everyones pictures!!

Nixon's New Do.

Brad has been growing Nixon's hair out for a while now. It was getting pretty long and looked cool for a while. That is until Nixon would start tucking it behind his ears and while doing so it looked like how a little girl tucks her hair behind her ears, so it had to go!

Here is a before picture.

Here is an in between picture.

And the after picture. I asked him how he wanted his haircut and he said like his cousin Easton's, so here it is buzzed just in time for summer.

After he got his hair cut I put him in the shower and as he was getting in he asked me if the shower will make his hair grow back. :) He was a little shocked to look in the mirror and see all the hair gone. He'll get used to it and I won't have to fight him in the morning, trying to spray his hair down with water!

The Start of Our Summer

These are some random pictures of some of the stuff we have been up to this summer so far. We haven't gone out of town yet, but I am dying to. At church Brad has been teaching Carsyn's class temporarily. He comes home with some funny stories that the kids tell him at church. He gets a good laugh every Sunday and then so do I when he gets home and shares with me!

Caden is still playing baseball it doesn't end until the end of June. He is enjoying it this year. The games are so long now, almost 2 hours. This is the first year he is on a team where the boy's actually pitch instead of a pitching machine, which makes for a long game of walks and you get to see your kid bat only 2 times in the game. Luckily our team has a couple good pitchers so they have been doing pretty well. Carsyn and Nixon are troopers for lasting through their brother's games twice a week! The only reason they don't mind going to the games is because they have friends to play with there!

Carsyn has money from her birthday and decided she wanted to buy a Build a Bear again, as if 6 wasn't enough! She named this one Kacey.

Caden went to his first Pine Wood Derby the other day. We had the block of wood for a couple of weeks and Brad finally got to making it, he had to call off work to finish it before the Derby started. He won one race and lost the others. He wasn't sad that he didn't win, but Brad promised him he'd make him a faster car next year!

After the Race there was a lot of treats for the kids. I couldn't find Nixon, I finally found him in one of the little rooms at the church, he was eating his treats with his little friend Kaylee. Soooo cute.