Youth

If this doesn't show you how active our little boys are. I bought these tennis shoes for Avery at the end of January. This is what they looked like at the middle of April. Two and a half months. The soles are almost completely gone and he's worn holes in the toes. If we could just bottle this energy and sell it, we would be rich. And I could then have a house cleaner.

Happy Birthday Avery!

It is hard to believe my baby turned 7. I am amazed how fast time flies. I remember my grandma always said, "the older you get the quicker time flies by." This couldn't be more true. It seems just like yesterday I was following Avery to school on the bus for his first day of kindergarten. Now he is nearing the end of first grade. Where does time go? It reminds me of how I need to quit cleaning the house and folding that load of laundry and start enjoying the time I have with my children. My ultimate dream would be to be a stay at home mom and have a house cleaner. Quit dreaming sister! Maybe someday. Anyway, Avery had a fun Birthday this year. The party grew exponentially about a half hour before it started. Henry took it upon himself to invite a few more guests and they were all delighted to come. It was very cute because they all came with a gift for Avery that they made or found in their house. We had a wild night with lots of wild and crazy kids.

Pond Skimming 2001

Kevin was bound and determined to win the pond skimming tournament this year at Brundage Crazy Days. He woke up early to wax his skis, ironed his beer man costume, and started premedicating himself an hour or so before. The results..... He won! He won! He won a season pass for next year. Hot diggity! Here is a video I took with my phone. If you want to see more there is a u tube video on the Brundage website.

Ski fun!

This was Brenen and Dillon's first time skiing. They were all smiles and did so good.
We all took turns taking them down the hill and in a couple of hours they were getting the hang of it.The tailgating scene at brundage mountain.

Summer Teeth

Avery's got summer teeth! Summer in his mouth and summer in his pocket. Only a mother could love this smile. Avery has one giant tooth in the middle all by itself and he finally lost the other. Uncle Dave asked him last weekend it he could use his tooth to open his beer. Poor kid.

Wrestling

OK let's talk about wrestling. Wrestling is probably the last sport I wanted my children to do. Kevin was never a wrestler but he was determined he wanted to sign Avery up for wrestling. I couldn't understand why. The first time I walked in the practice room I about fell over because it was s-t-i-n-k-y with a capital S. It was like walking into a hot sauna with a bunch of sweaty football players. And then I looked at the mats and couldn't help but think what kind of skin infections were we going to come home with us. But, with all things said, I am actually very happy we did it. In fact we will probably make both our kids wrestle for a while. I think it teaches them they can overcome things that are hard. Most of all, it teaches them to lose. Don't get me wrong, it is very hard for a mother to watch your son pinned down with his legs flailing in the air. Aunt Meme can't even come to watch because she starts crying and then I start crying and then we have to try to dry it up before Avery sees us. But my point is that I think these are great things for our boys to learn. I am very proud of Avery. He went out to every match with courage and learned a lot along the way.

January Highlights

In January we did a last minute trip with the Dallimore's to Disneyland. We woke up in Vegas at 3 o'clock a.m. (yes I said a.m.) and drove to Disneyland. We were there when the park opened and we were there when the park closed. Our favorite things about Disneyland are:

* Churros (this brought back child hood memories for Kevin. He used to sit and eat churros instead of riding on the rides. Because he was too scared. And of course it is not o.k. ,by him, for our kids to be scared.)
* We saved lots of money by purchasing tickets on ebay. (That's the couponer coming out in me.)
* We had the best tour guide. (Uncle Brian. He had us lined out to hit all the rides at the best times. He is always hospitable.)
* We rode on Thunder Mountain at least 4 times. (And mommy had enough of that.)
* Henry got a new pair of Mickey Mouse sweatpants. (He wet his pants while we were standing in line for Soaring over California. They cost $30.)
* We made another memory with the Dallimore's. (We don't get to see you much but we make it count when we get the chance.)

Uncle Kevin gave all the kids a pep talk before we entered the park. We knew it was going to be a long day for them. They were all such troopers. No whining, just smiles all day!


The Downey's and Dallimore's snuggling up with goofy.


The signature teacup picture. It was so nice that all the kids could ride together while we took pictures and did not get sick.


Thunder Mountain ride #4. We had had enough.


The line up. Excited for Thunder Mountain ride #4!


So tuckered out he couldn't even finish his ice cream cone. Now that's tired!