Calling Card

It's over. We spent many long months learning many formations of a swing dance, teaching the dance to 16-17 yr olds, sometimes yelling, often yelling, to get them to be quiet or put their phones away, but in the end it all came out pretty good. Ya, I may have seen some kids 50 ft off their marker on the field, but none of them cared in front of a crowd of at least 8,000. Then came the patriotic songs and the fireworks. I don't know how anyone can hold back a tear when you got a 300 ft flag made up of energetic kids, cool fireworks, and the song "I'm proud to be an American" blasting. It was very cool. 

One cool thing was on opening night there was a missing boy and girl from our group so Kelly and I got to fill in as dancers and be part of it. I must admit it was a great payoff for all the miles we put into this. I have a feeling that this beast of a dance festival will rise again and we will once again be involved. But another 20 yr break would be good.

WAIT. One more thing... We don't get to see some of our best friends often enough and we have a lot of fun with local friends, but sometimes you meet really cool people and know you'd have some good times with. However, too often in my life have those opportunities vanished. So, to send out a calling card to that person we met at the festival, we are waiting for contact cause your info doesn't register (how we remembered it). You know who you are (we hope, how lame would that be??) Mrs. Fireman, Arbor Cove... come on now...

One of my favorite things...

And HIS favorite things.

Just for Fun!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

Happy Brithday G'ma Southwell!!

To a Mom / Grandma who can do it all...I thought this little drawing was fitting.

You are truly a Super Woman! Thank you for all the fun times we have and all the time and effort you put into making our lives that much better.

Have a Happy Day!

We LOVE YOU

The Summer Theme...

"STAYCATION!!"

We have jumped on the bandwagon of staying close to home for our summer fun! It has proved to be a great way to make some great memories and not go over-board on the wallet.
We spent a day at Sea World and enjoyed the shows and activities they have there. My 3 older ones got to ride on their first roller coaster ever!
"Atlantis". I think it helped that the
beginning
of the ride looked like an innocent
Log Ride-type...the surprise drops and
hills came later. They certainly had
mixed feelings on this
"awesome",
"freaky",
"cool" ride. It was funny to see how they each reacted to it.
There was something there for everyone...fun rides and shows for the older 3 kids, "Sesame Street Land" for Ez, and of coarse, yummy amusement- park- junk- food for mom and dad. There's no pictures to show (it was a BUSY day) but Ryan's side of the family got to join in the fun with us too! We had fun with Jared & Allison and their family, G'ma Southwell
and some more cousins as well.

When Ezra saw "Melmo" he was so excited
to go and see him. The closer we got to him, the more nervous Ezzy was. So, although it looks like he's smiling, he's screaming bloody murder and swinging his arm to get Elmo away from him.
Also, keep in mind that we had just come from the "Soak Zone" at the Shamu show! (thus the extra curly frizz for a few of us).


Thank you G'ma Southwell for a wonderful day at Sea World!! (next time we'll take more pictures).

Leo Carillo State Beach

Yes, it's 1:00 a.m.
Yes, I am just now getting to my computer to blog.
Yes, we've been playing hard and loving our summer.
Yes, this post will be mostly photos (since I can barely keep my eyes open).


The nice part about camping and being at the beach,
is that everyone gets to find their own favorite way to spend their day:

Emily LOVED boogie boarding

Of coarse, these two ran, swam, dug holes,
buried each other...and MUCH more!

Pure Heaven for this little guy.
Sand and a tractor, what more could he want?

How fun to bury a big brother!

Joel loved it!

The infamous Leo Carillo Cave:
We cannot go to this beach without visiting the cave!

How can you beat campfire s'mores?
YUM!



Emily's lovin' 'em too





And...how can you go camping without
having a little "nature" time?
(I couldn't resist).
No, not the trash can.

we're off!

Be Back Soon!

Happy Day!

Today marks the 61st wedding anniversary of this fun, happy, and loyal couple! As a society over-all, we could sure learn a thing or two about "how to make it work" from them. thanks for being such a good example of marriage. We love you!

Happy 61st Anniversary!