We were able to go to Texas for Bobby's brother's wedding. We were complete slackers and didn't take any pictures, except this one of Jackson and Brooklyn watching TV with his cousins. They are too cute! We had a blast in Texas though. Hopefully we will get more pictures from the responsible ones! It was cool though, it was the first time our kids met their cousins on Bobby's side, but they were great together. And Ryan kept asking if he could come visit us. Maybe one day we won't live so far apart!

Prescott Fun

The end of June we all went to Prescott to celebrate Mikelle'S dad's birthday and do Father's Day with him. We went out to Goldwater Lake for breakfast and a hike. Our kids love to be with their cousins.

For Father's Day, we made these Captain America shirts. They were so fun to make, and we look good in them!

Jackson couldn't wait to wear his. Aren't they so cute!

This girl always needs action, so it's great when Bobby's home to relieve Mikelle!

And, Brooklyn is in the water. She did good for the first half of the morning, because there was food, but once she was full, she made a beeline to the water, and there was no stopping her.

She loves her Papa.

Jackson and Bobby flying kites at Taylor Hicks. He has a turtle kite, and always wants to fly it. This weekend was perfect for kite flying.

Brooklyn, found the water, again. Jackson and Trenton were having a water fight, and she felt left out! Once the hose was turned on though, she was fine!

She is such a great helper!

The fight was a little unfair, so Mikelle and Grandma helped a bit!

Her favorite new activity, naked driving! What's a girl to do when she'd all wet and has places to go?!

Swimming at Grammies house, Susie's mom. Van and Ward are in town for a little before we all head to San Diego, so of course we just had to go back up to the cool air!

Brooklyn loved the floaty toys, and wanted all of them. She is such a hoarder. One day in the toddler pool, she slipped, and was drowning because she wouldn't put her toys down to use her hands to stand up! This is bad, but it was kind of funny!

It was the weekend there was soo much rain, so we only got to swim for a little, but Jackson showed off his moves all the same. He is getting really good at swimming, just learning to listen and he can't always have his way!

Summer Fun

While trying to stay cool, but also busy we painted with water outside. The kids loved it, but the water dried too fast. And of course Jackson had to have his squirt gun! Such a boy.

And by the end, Brooklyn had dumped the containers out on herself and she was soaked. Girl loves to play with and in water.

For Father's Day, the kids painted rocks and we make a rock family for Bobby. The kids loed it. They collected the rocks, and painted them all by themselves. Brooklyn mostly painted her fingers and face, but it was fun for a few minutes!

Jackson painted forever. He had to do a bunch of colors on each rock, and all in a very specific order. Bobby loved it and it was super cute!

One day when we had Bobby home, we took the kids to Jambo Park in Mesa. The kids loved it. It's a little indoor amusement park, and perfect for Jackson's age. Brooklyn liked it too, but the rides were a little old for her.

And of course, Bobby threw a fit when it was time to leave!

Brooklyn

Here is our princess at 18 months. She was not happy she was still awake, but this picture captures so much of who she is. She loves Minnie and Micky Mouse, and tries to wear this dress out of the dirty clothes! She is starting to talk like crazy, and loves playing with her babies. She has a little attitude, all from her daddy! 

Practicing their crazy face! We'd say she looks just like Tia! At her 18 month check-up, she was 26 pounds, 9 ounces, 80% and 33 inches tall, 85%. She is slowly loosing some of her baby fat, which is sad, but good for Mikelle since Brooklyn always wants her to hold her.

She loves food, but not just in her mouth. She loves to rub it all over, especially on her face and in her hair! The other day, she took her bagel, rubbed her hand all over the cream cheese, then rubbed it all over her face. This picture is of her and her macaroni and cheese. She could realistically have a bath after every meal. Jackson was just the opposite. It is funny to see how totally different they are, except for the cheeks!!

Jackson

Here is our handsome boy at wacky hair day. To him, a mohawk  is wacky! At least all the color added to it! Everyone loved it. Luckily for him we went to the doctor after and shopping so lots of people could see it. He is really getting into video games, argh. He has to play with mom most of the time since dad is gone most of the time, and it is hilarious since Mikelle was never into video games. They are both learning together, and getting quite good at Lego Batman and Lego Indiana Jones!

Preschool graduation, from Happy Meadows Preschool. He will  go there next year too, but it was fun to have a little ceremony for the kids. 

His teacher, Miss Janna. He loves her, and her husband Mr. Dave. He is already missing them now school is out. Oh to be little again!

Our sweet boy. He is actually giving us a run for our money lately. Not liking 4 much, but hopefully he won't always be so defiant! He did give us a scare the other day when he slipped and fell on his elbow. We thought it was broken, but luckily not. That would have ruined summer in the Valley of the Sun!

San Francisco

This last weekend Bobby and Mikelle were able to steal away for a few days. Bobby has been working out of town for the last couple of months, and was just transferred to San Francisco a few weeks ago. What better time to go see it! Mikelle's mom watched the kids with a little help from her dad and Kristin. They are the best. We had such a good time. We got to stay downtown, so we walked almost everywhere, but also got familiar with BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), the cable cars, the buses and even taxi's. A great place to visit, but we couldn't imagine living there, especially with kids.

Here we are at Pier 39 with Alcatraz in the background.

Here is Bobby in a cell in the D block (isolation) of Alcatraz. We loved this tour. They do a walking audio tour, which is fantastic and we learned so much. It was cold and windy, but despite that, it was well done with the amount of tourist there.

Here is the Warden's house. Did you know most of the guards working at the prison lived on the island with their families? Crazy! 

Lombard street is San Francisco's crookedest street. It was crazy.  Why anyone would build it, let alone live on it is beyond us.

This is a cool fountain that the kids were playing in and around right across from the Ferry Building. We also had fantastic Thai food near by at Osha Thai Restraunt and Lounge and of course Boudin's bakery was there too! Really we ate our way through San Francisco. The Burger Bar is good, as is Tony's Pizza in Little Italy!

This little rodent scared Mikelle half to death as she stepped near it's hole and it popped out. Mikelle screamed and made quite a scene, then had to take pictures because he was so cute!

This is Sutro Baths on the other side of the island. We had a lot of fun walking around and seeing remnants of what used to be there, which was a big swimming pool complex, with fresh and salt water pools! 

This is more of an overview shot. Way worth the crazy taxi ride we took to get there, but we took the bus home. Wasn't near as scary! 

The Park

The last few weeks we've really been trying to take advantage of the cool mornings before summer really hits. Jackson loves to ride his bike to a park and play, and Brooklyn loves a good push in the stroller, as long as she gets to play at the park too! Here Jackson is helping his sister. He really is a great big brother. 

A rare picture of him with an actually smile, not all  cheesy like. So cute, just can't resist taking photos! You'll notice his left eye looks a little red and puffy. He has a chalazion, which is like a stye, but it's not going away. The doctor said we may have to operate if it doesn't drain in the next two weeks. Poor boy. We are doing warm compresses and we have to put drops in his eye, which he hates, but hopefully it will pop on its own.

This picture just cracks us up! She is our little dare devil. She has no fear and loves the park.  She thinks she can do anything the other kids do, and really just likes to scare her parents!

Easter

The Friday night before Easter we went into Mesa to The Natural History Museum. They had a dinosaur egg hunt. It was actually super fun. The kids were allowed to find 5 eggs, then if they found more they could re-hide them. And the staff kept putting out eggs, so there was no problem finding them. Jackson loved it and Brooklyn did too, she just liked the re-hiding part the best!

Of course we had lots of egg hunts in the back yard,. Brooklyn did pretty good.

Jackson couldn't get enough. The more hunts the better.

Here is a picture of Brooklyn helping decorate the eggs. She got to do the shrink wraps! She is saying cheese for the photo if you can't tell.

Jackson loved dying eggs. We had superhero dye, of course!

The kids loved the baskets the Easter Bunny left. Brooklyn especially liked the candy. Nothing like a handful at a time, before breakfast!

One of the better pictures we took. 11 o'clock church is hard for Brooklyn, and she was so tired, but it could have been much worse! The boys looked so sharp in their ties, and Jackson wants to wear his every week. This week it was with a green shirt! We got these ties online at thematchingtieguy.com. So many cool choices!

More egg hunts at Aunt Kendra's and Uncle Barry's. The kids got to use real eggs, so they were super excited!

It also helps that their yard is landscaped, so there are way more places to hide the eggs!

Kiddos

Brooklyn has moved from trying to swallow your head when she kisses to giving actual kisses, and she loves to kiss. She especially loves to give brother kisses before naps and bed.

One of Brooklyn's favorite toys are dolls and one of her favorite things to do with dolls, change their diapers. She gets really upset with the ones that don't have diapers that come off!

One of Jackson new things is to get two different socks to wear, and of course, Brooklyn has to follow him. She takes his dirty socks, then puts them on. It's actually cute, and la little gross at the same time!

And not just socks, but slippers can't match either! It's sweet that he shares with his sister though. Jackson loves pajama day, and tries everyday to stay in his jammies. 

Brooklyn loves to attack Jackson and just sit on him. Here they are watching a show, probably Mickey Mouse, Brooklyn loves Mickey and will stop everything when she sees or hears him, sad but also cute! Jackson and Brooklyn really are super cute together, until she steals his toy he was playing with! 

Brooklyn stole Jackson's visor and put it on herself. She is super independent, which again is great and frustrating  all at the same time. Her favorite food to feed herself, yogurt. And every time she eats with her fingers and gets covered in it.