Seaside again... one of our families favorite places ever

Eric's Brother John and Shana moved up here this last July. We are so excited to have them so close. Well they are not actually that close. I wish they were a little closer. They moved to La Center, Wa which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive. They are really close to Portland, so we thought it would be fun to take them to one of our favorite places ever, Seaside!!

The weather was perfect, and the beach was perfect. We had such a great day just playing together as a family on the beach. Eric's parents also came a long and joined in the fun.  Can't wait to go back. think we will make it a summer tradition!

Warrior Dash

Eric and I thought it would be fun to do something a little different this year. The past two summers I ran a half marathon, this summer we decied to do the Warrior dash with our friends the Camelot Crew. We had a blast. much different then running a normal race. Much more fun. Here are some pictures of our adventure:

This race was a lot of fun. We got to jump over cars, crawl under wire, jump over fire and crawl through mud. I had so much fun running this with my friends and especially my husband. If it was not so dang expensive I definatley would do it every year.

4th of July

After going camping for the weekend with our good friends we came home and celebrated the 4th of July by having a barbecue and fireworks at my sisters house. In the years past, we did fireworks in our neighborhood, but as our neighborhood grows up through the years, this has sadly, and slowly faded. BUT that just means we get to start new traditions. Eric and I have decided that we would love to go camping as a family every 4th of July weekend and if we can continue to celebrate at my sisters house. There neighborhood firework show is absolutely amazing. And when it is at my sisters house, that means I get to have her be the photographer.

Here are some of the pictures she took! Enjoy

Goofy Gals!!

Me and the absolute cutest red head in the world!!

It wouldn't be Brody without a little bit of dirt on his face!! But his adorable smile makes up for it all!

Blake all cuddled up and ready for the fireworks to begin!

Tommy and Brody doing our traditional roman candles!!

In honor of our Veterans

Right before the 4th of July, Tommy's scout troop was invited to go to the local Veteran Cemetery and pay there respects by cleaning up and preparing the cemetery for the holiday. They placed flags, pulled weeds and cleaned off all the headstones. It was a neat activity and all the boys really enjoyed it.

Blake and I also went to this activity and helped out. Blake loves to be a part of scouts when he can!

Carlos and Tommy spend a lot of time looking at all the different headstones and learning as much about the veterans as they could.

Blake taking his task at hand .. very seriously!!

Goofy scouts!

The finished product! They did an excellent job! The place looked fantastic by the time they left!

This was a neat activity for the boys. They got to serve the Veterans that served us and our Country. I think that it made the 4th of July a little more meaningful to all of them.

Tommy's District Track Meet

Tommy did track again this year. I have to admit he his pretty fast. Well faster then me anyways. One day I took him running and he totally smoked me, and he went 1.33 miles without stopping. I was pretty impressed! He and some friends made it to districts this year for the relay. They made 5th place ... neck and neck with 4th place, but did not make it to state because only the top 3 make it to state. But those boys ran there little hearts out. Tommy had a little mental block, as he has never been the first runner in the relay. He is usually the last. They started him in the number one position as well , which was really hard for him because he feels like he is so much farther back then the other guys. But he ran hard, and did great!! His whole team did.

The boys!!

And the fans!!

Parade of athletes!! Go Camelot!!

Poor Tommy had to stay way back behind!

Tommy's number one fan!! Brody kept yelling.... GO BUDDY!!

Poor Tommy!! They got 5th out of 8. But he was really disappointed. You can tell by his face! But I was one proud mama!!