Pure Karina Mischief

Just when I think I can blow-dry my hair without incident, Karina proves me wrong. Please see "Exhibit A:"

Do you think she was upset by it?? See "Exhibit B:"

Yeah, not so much. I figure someone else might find the humor in this and get a good laugh. I probably will later.

Summer Getaway

It's hard to believe we pulled Daddy away from his work long enough to take a 3 day weekend trip to California last weekend. He has been very busy with real estate this summer. We went to Huntington Beach the first night we were there. By the time we got to the hotel (behind schedule) and to the beach, it was probably 7:00 p.m. My big bro, Jonathan, and his wife, Vanessa, live about 2 minutes from the beach and hooked us up with all the necessary beach gear. Thanks Vanessa (and Alice)!!

We had a wonderful time just playing in the water together and enjoying the ocean breeze.

The next morning, it was time for Disneyland!! We hadn't been there in 2 years and were so excited to go and play again. It was Karina's first time there.

Dumbo was the first ride of the day and is one of the rides they are still talking about!

Karina's favorite movie these days is Monsters, Inc. Camden and Karina loved the Monsters, Inc. ride. It was like driving through the movie. We went on it twice in a row! Karina wants to have a door like Boo's in our next house.

The kids both got Mickey ears hats and had their names embroidered on the back. They are so cute!

We were able to go on so many rides. Karina is so adventurous and was willing to go on any ride she was tall enough for.

Of course, the last ride of the night had to be Dumbo! One last flight and we were beat. Thanks to Mickey Mouse and all his friends for a fantastic day!

Summer Break

I thought I was going to love year-round school, but just as the real summer is kicking in, Camden's summer break is already over. Good thing it's only kindergarten now. We still have the afternoons to play in the sun!

Camden had his last baseball game on Saturday and had a great season with the Gators. This picture here is so Field of Dreams. "If you build it . . . he will come."

Eric was one of the assistant coaches again and Camden loves having him out there with him. Next year, it might be time for Daddy to be the coach. I think he would be great!

Camden is our lefty at the plate. He writes with his right hand, but swings the bat naturally with his left. He was known as the "Lefty Bomber!"

He is a natural athlete and we love watching him improve each season. Here is a picture of him with his trophy. This is his buddy, Eli, next to him. These 2 are ones to watch for in about 2022 in the big leagues!!

We also spent last week in Georgia visiting my mom in Peachtree City and sister, Jessica, in Savannah. Here are just a few pictures of the kids at the beach in the Atlantic Ocean. What a blast! I can't wait to go back to Savannah and eat at Paula Deen's place.

This is Karina's Baywatch picture. She loved running to and from the water.

We'll have to see if we can get to the beach again this summer. The kids really wanted to build a sandcastle, but we didn't have the time or the proper tools. They loved it!

Swimming Lessons

We finally have the kids in swimming lessons!  Camden and Karina had their first lesson yesterday with my cousin's niece, Courtney.  Karina is usually so shy with EVERYONE, but was happy to meet Courtney and went right to her.  I was thrilled!  Here are some cute pictures of their first lesson.

Here is Camden swimming into the "Batcave."

Here is Camden singing, "motorboat, motorboat."  This was a song to teach how to kick his legs to go faster or slower.  He was a little nervous blowing bubbles under the water and holding his nose to go under water, but got a little better by the end of the class.

Here is Karina taking to the water like a mermaid!  She has no fear.  Scary for Mama.

Courtney tried to keep Karina on-task, but the pool toys were just so distracting.  She especially loved this lobster.

This is Camden feeling comfortable in the water with just a paddle-board.  Good thing their was a lifeguard and a mommy on duty!

After only 30 minutes of lesson time, I am feeling confident that they will be swimming well in no time.  Next lesson is tomorrow.  We can't wait!

Camden Lost a Tooth!

This is the "before" picture -- the day it became loose.  May 2, 2009 (Eric's birthday)

Here is the "after" picture (May 8, 2009):

Here is the tooth in a sandwich bag (properly labeled) so we wouldn't lose it!

The tooth fairy was very generous.  Camden got $5 in coins ($1 Susan B. Anthony coins).  We think the tooth fairy went a little overboard because of how traumatic it was for Camden for the week he had to deal with the wiggly tooth and the fear of it falling out!  He is so funny.

Eric's Party Pics

This entry is brought to you by the wonderful people who made Eric possible:

Christine Earl (Mom)

and Kenneth Hanlon (Dad)

We had a couple really delicious cakes at the party.  Who would have thought orange, white and black could look so tasty together?  It took a lot of time, but I love doing the baking!

Daddy was a little overwhelmed by all the candles and had to enlist Karina's help to blow all 40 candles out!

Eric's mom put together a beautiful photo/memory album for the birthday boy.  It was so much  fun to watch Eric looking through it with his friends and family.  That book provided many  laughs that night!  Just a few laughter-inducing photos were the following:  Eric's old hairstyles, cowboy Halloween costume and 1980's style basketball uniform with the shorty-shorts!  Some were impressed that Eric used to play sports!  He is actually one of those "naturally gifted" types when it comes to sports.  Some real classics in that book.  What a treasure!

Eric just enjoyed the evening with his wonderful friends and family.  

He was smiling the whole night!

Here we are enjoying the night!  It was so nice to be past the stressful worrying part and just having fun at the birthday bash.

40 sure looks good on this man.  Many happy memories ahead!  If you couldn't make it to the party, you sure missed out.  We had a blast!

Happy 40th Birthday to my Handsome Huzz!

Happy Birthday to my Sweetheart, Eric!  Admittedly, I usually don't gush about my man, but I feel very grateful today to have this man in my life.  Eric is the most wonderful father to our beautiful kids and I am truly blessed to have him beside me.  Thanks to his parents for raising such a fantastic man!  His party was so fun last night -- all I heard all night was laughter and excellent music from 1969 to today.  I'll post more pictures of the bash later.

Happy Birthday Eric!  I love you.