Camp Week

We decided to do some camps the first full week of summer break. Brandon and Zach went to golf camp and worked on their driving, chipping, pitching and putting. They did really great!

Nate and I did a music camp where he got to shake his booty with the other toddlers.

Brandon also had Cub Scout Twilight Camp in the evening. His favorite things were water rockets, water games, the obstacle course, and archery. Jerry had fun helping out too.

Great job guys!


Zach putting toward the hole.


Brandon had an awesome drive here.


Nate playing the rhythm sticks.


Brandon taking on the obstacle course.


Brandon winning the raingutter regatta boat race.
You make your own boat and then blow on the sail
to race them.

Bubble Lady

We've been hitting the weekly library shows that are part of the summer reading program. It's really too bad I didn't have the camera at the 1st one when the animal show involved a bear and an alligator.

But I did have it along for the Bubble Lady and Zach got chosen from the audience to help. I always thought he was a bubblehead.

Children's Discovery Museum

On the way home, we made a stop at the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose. It has a lot of great exhibits, but the kids particularly loved the waterworks. There were so many ways to use water to move plastic balls around. We were probably at this exhibit for 45 minutes and it was the only one we visited twice.


You roll the ball down this ramp and the stream
of water shoots it up in the air.


Soaking wet and still darn cute.

Monterey Fun

Whenever we go to Monterey we always hit 2 things for sure: the aquarium and Dennis the Menace Park. I'm not sure which one the kids like more. They all love fish and sharks. We sat on the floor in the huge outer bay tank for quite a while watching the sharks swim by. But Dennis the Menace is so full of really dangerous playground equipment...just what our crazy boys need!


It's totally safe to climb all over a real locomotive...


This slide was made of rolling dowels.


Nate loved the splash zone...he was the kid all
the other moms pulled their baby away from.
He was a little, shall we say, exuberant in his
splashing.


The boys always love seeing the "Finding Nemo"
fish...hard to wait for them all to be in the photo,
we at least got Dory.


The new exhibit this time was about seahorses.

Camping on the Beach

We camped on the beach in Monterey and the kids loved it. We had an especially good climbing tree that kept the big boys busy. It was also fun to play on the beach. Even though it was about 65 degrees outside. Only one of our children was crazy enough to actually go in the FREEZING ocean. Can anyone guess who that would be?


Nate is enjoying his sand toys or his feet?


Zach getting ready to toss the frisbee to his Dad


Here's the crazy one. Brandon was running out and
swimming and everything for about 30 minutes...
then he turned blue.


Isn't this the coolest climbing tree? There were
several similar to this one. The monkeys loved it.

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

We took a little trip to celebrate the end of school. Our first stop was the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk...so much fun! The best thing was watching Nate go on rides with his brothers. They went on several kiddy rides first, so he got used to go and was NOT happy when we went on some bigger rides that he wasn't tall enough for. Brandon and Zach did a great job taking care of him on the rides.

Nate's Little Gym "Show"

Nate and I have been doing a Toddler Gym class since January. It's a lot of fun and he gets some energy out. Today was the last day of the class so they had a little show where you could bring friends and family to show off your tricks. Well, we brought Zach. So it was a little hard to take pictures and help him with his stunts, so these aren't fabulous. But it was fun!

Walking on the balance beam after getting his ribbon.

Attempting to show off his ribbon.

I tried to take picture of him swinging on the bar, but I was never fast enough. He likes dropping and landing on the mat.

Zach's Amazing Game

Today was Zach's last day of an 8-week soccer camp. He's done this camp before and always done really well. This round he seemed to be in a bit of a slump during the games. He was still doing great in the drills and his skills were coming along, but he couldn't seem to score in the games. Last week, he finally scored a goal and was feeling much better. That really must have boosted his confidence, because in the last game today...he scored FIVE goals. These are small-sided games where all 3 players play offense and defense, but the coach finally made Zach stay back on defense so the other kids could have a chance. Way to go, Zach! He's so excited for the real soccer season to start in the fall!



He got around 2 defenders to get this goal.



He dribbled all the way down for this one.


He turns and makes sure I see every goal.

Cool Dad Tip #23

Hey this is Jerry blogging so you may be seeing this before Annette does but it is too good (or bad, depending on your viewpoint) to not get up right away. So for all you Moms out there, here is one way Dads are cooler than you (especially in little boys' eyes)

To setup the scene, Annette is at work, the boys and I are done with dinner (outside by the way, no mess inside (tip #1 for you dads out there). The boys are alternating between jumping on the trampoline and playing basketball.

Zach: "Oh man, I wish I could play basketball on trampoline"

The angel on Dad's Shoulder: "That's not safe!"

The devil on Dad's other shoulder: "Hey, grab a couple of bungee cords to pull the safety net under the basket, adjust the basket hoop height to just above the safety net and the boys think you are the greatest"

What do you think Dad did? (If it isn't obvious)




I may not be allowed to stay home with the boys alone again. Hee! Hee!