on monday we braved the 100 degree heat & headed to the lake to play in the water & on the beach.
...the kids & i arrived in north dakota for our summer vacation. if i thought we were going to escape the heat of vegas, i was mistaken, 'cause it's been HOT here too! once the plane landed in bismarck we still had about a 4 hour drive to get to the lake. g'pa (my dad) was waiting & waiting for us, along with my aunt & uncle, to get to the lake. we made a few stops on the way first:
1. can't pass up a good deal at kohl's :) before we leave bismarck
2. gotta get body fuel at mickey d's
3. need real fuel for the long drive
4. countless stops along the way for isaac's small bladder
5. the house in williston to check on a few things
....dennis claims we were torturing g'pa by not getting to the lake sooner.
when we finally got there at 8:30 that evening my dad was brought to his knees by the sweetness that is lauryn ~
we are leaving for our trip north to visit our families & don't know how often i'll be able to blog. i will try to post a few entries while we are gone, we'll see if i can get any photos posted. :)
here are the rest of the photos from our trip to cali this past wkend. enjoy!
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| disneyland july '07 |
don't you wish that sometimes you could put your kids in a kennel like this? just kidding.....or am i? :)
the boys were busy playing catch. isaac wasn't afraid of the water at all.....he took every opportunity to fall down in it.
lauryn & i stayed on the sand......she wanted nothing to do with the water.
after a few hours on the beach we went back to the hotel, cleaned up, & went out to eat. unfortunately, we should have just stayed in the hotel & ordered in food. the kids were tired & lauryn was full of attitude while at the restaurant. it ended up being a late night for them, knowing we were getting up early the next morning to head to the happiest place on earth....
i neglected to write about isaac's week in june at day camp at our church. the camp was called "camp pebbles" & isaac attended full days for one week. it was for children from ages 2-5. isaac had a great week filled with many activities. there were bible stories & lessons, music, arts & crafts, free play, lunch, snack, & short resting period. he had friends he already knew to play with & met new ones also. he will miss vacation bible school because it is during the time we go to north dakota. maybe next year.....
on dennis' latest trip for hbo (via compubox) he went to cologne, germany. he had some time to explore the city which is situated on the rhein river. he enjoyed sampling the local beer at some brauhauses, along with eating sausage & potato salad. here are some pictures of the cathedral in cologne. he marveled at the architecture of the landmark that is the largest cathedral in germany.
aren't these chalk drawings amazing?
here is ukrainian wladimir klitschko, the ibf/ibo heavweight champ. he retained his title against american lamon brewster, the fight dennis worked at in cologne on saturday, whom he lost to a few years ago. his brother, vitali, is to the left of him. both brothers are heavyweight fighters & have their ph.d.'s.
yesterday swimming just seemed to finally click with isaac. yay!! a few weeks ago i purchased each of the kids one of those outfits with the floatation devices built right in to them. at first, isaac was still very cautious, needing either dennis or me close by at all times. he didn't want to try swimming without holding on to us. last weekend i bribed him with a few dollars & got him to swim the width of the pool. that took a lot of coaxing. then yesterday, all of a sudden he's a fish! he would take off by himself & even swim the entire length of the pool on his own ~ treading water when he felt like it & turning to go a different direction. yippee!! i now can take both kids in the pool by myself. :) we are so proud of you isaac!
isaac ~ mom, can i have a drink
jen ~ sure isaac
i ~ thanks mom, what is it
j ~ it's gatorade
i ~ mmmm.....what kind of gatorade is it
j ~ it's mango
i ~ dad!!!!! mom got me flamingo gatorade
laur isn't so impressed.....although she doesn't cry, she hangs on for dear life with a slight quiver moving through her body.
HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!
yesterday at church i sang with the choir in our annual 4th of july celebration honoring our armed forces and the freedom we all have in our wonderful nation. we performed for 2 of the morning services after rehearsing for a month. like my mom, i tend to get choked up when a song touches me. one song in particular (mansions of our lord) is about our broken soldiers being sent to live in the mansions of our lord. this is the song i thought i would tear up on during the services. but no! i bawled during the "salute to the armed forces" when members of the congregation stood during the song that saluted their branch. talk about emotional! as i looked out over the crowd, you could feel the genuineness that everyone had for the military presence among us. i also thought of my aunt karen whose husband steve is in iraq right now as she is left at home with their 3 terrific kids & how hard that is on all of them. it is because of these great service men & women that we can worship when, how, & where we want. what a blessing to live in the greatest country in the world!
here's my boy taking a nap.....you know, those things that kids REFUSE to take & adults WISH they could take on a daily basis? in fact, dennis & i were able to catch a few winks on the couch this afternoon while lauryn herself was napping. only problem was that the 30 minutes of sleep we got were in 5 minute increments since the OTHER child kept coming out of his room to talk.
i thought lolo was eating her yogurt......this is what i found a few minutes later when i went to check on her. i say what a waste of some yummy key lime pie yogurt. guess i'll just have to lick it all up! :) by the way, dennis' sister rissa (who used to live in hawaii & whose husband is hawaiian) told us that lolo in hawaiian means crazy/wild. how appropriate!
