Logan is Growing Up

I can't believe my baby boy is going to be eight next month. Sometime I feel like it was just yesterday when we had two small babies at home and I remember thinking, it's going to be so much fun when they are 6 & 8 or 8 & 10. I love the kisses and cuddles that comes with a baby but my boys have so much personality, and I need sleep, that I knew it would be more fun and easier in many ways as the boys got older. Having said that, it's hard to believe that we are here...we are at that point where we will have an 8 & 10 year old. As I suspected, they are so much fun at this age.

Logan is an absolute sweetheart. He has a larger than life personality (although he has moments of shyness) with an incredible sense of humor. He has a million dollar smile, a super quick wit and loves to make people laugh. He might grow up to be a comedian. He works hard and loves adventure. This kid is up for anything. He's a great eater and usually good about trying new things. He loves to play doctor or nurse and take care of someone when they are sick, especially for his brother.  Lincoln and Logan fight like brothers but they are best friends. They love to be with each other and I know with more maturity will come their ability to better show their love for each other. I see it now in their 7 & 9 year old ways of expressing it.

Logan has rhythm, an ability to quickly memorize lyrics and great dance moves. He loves music!  He is willing to kiss girls at school (which he got into trouble for in kindergarten) but mom and dad have to work hard to get kisses from him. He pretends he doesn't like to cuddle but if he's in the mood, he is the best cuddler.

Logan still loves trains, planes and trucks. He likes to draw, play iPad, and do anything outdoors. He loves movies and watching SpongeBob. He's a rough and tumble kid with a heart of gold. we are so blessed to have him in our family, especially as my baby. I love you to everything and back, Logan!

September Misc.

Two months of school has come and gone and we are still having some summer fun. We've seen a few movies like Ninjago and a few other kids movies at the theater. We've done a lot of swimming in our pool. Throwing the football in the backyard and mom and dad have snuck in a few fun date nights with friends. We also hosted a surprise birthday party for Austin Curtis. There's always something adventurous or fun happening around here. Even some great football games or movies at home is fun for us!

Family dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Garcia's. 

Austin's birthday party.

One of Ricky's friends posted some throw back pictures of him from his younger years. Considering that I wasn't around during that time, it's always fun for me to see them and I'm sure the boys will love it when they get older too. 

 Family date night at Firebird's...fancy night.

 Lunch date to Culver's one day.

 My sweet friend Lisa asked me to accompany her to a USTA awards banquet where she got an award for captaining five or more teams in a year. 

 This picture was taken during our Fab 5 Staycation in August but Bam just sent me the picture. They thought it was so funny to get a picture of my wild mane before I got to finish drying it and getting the flat iron out. 

This wild bunch of women are so awesome to hang out with. Tennis 4.0 team dinner at BJ's after watching the tennis movie Battle of the Sexes. I'm always guaranteed a night of laughter and fun when hanging out with them.

 The waitress informed that our first round of drinks were covered by someone who wanted remain anonymous. At the end of the night, she gave us the above note that says, " Ladies - I am impressed tyou can all visit on Friday night, with younger and older. Enjoy a drink. -J" I was impressed at the kindness of a complete stranger who recognized the friendships of this great team. 

Ricky hates eating outside but the boys and I love picnics so we went Firehouse to keep Daddy happy and had a picnic at a new park. 

 Logan playing on the playground and then throwing the footfall. 

 Because it's the end of September and still over 100 degrees some days so we swam almost everyday still in September. 

Ricky and Gavin at the Comedy Improve in Tempe on double date night with Ashley and me. 

Camp Kaibab Scout Camp

Lincoln really wanted to go to Scout Camp this year. It's no secret that I don't like to camp. It's not that I don't like the idea of being in nature because I do. It's just a lot of work and I don't sleep well on the ground, when I'm often freezing cold and I have little boys kicking me and who I worry about through the night. I'm wanted to be supportive of Lincoln going to this camp and it happened to be a family event that would allow Logan to participate also so we made arrangements to stay the night at a hotel in Williams and drive to the camp early the next morning. We met up with our friends the Curtis' there and had dinner and breakfast with them.

I wasn't impressed with the activities they had at camp. It was pretty cheesy but the boys seemed to really have a good time. Lincoln will earn some belt loops from it which was a main factor for us going in the first place. It was a good day away with the family, despite the hot glue gun burn I got and the five hour drive home that should have only taken us 2.5 hours. We won't be going to that camp again but I look forward to more adventurous days like this with the family.

The boys made rockets and then launched them with an air compressor. This was by far the most favorite activity of the day. 

They made origami paper boxes and then mined for gems to put in them. 

Logan did a cooking activity where he made "ants on a log" and a marshmallow pyramid that he then ate with no hands. 

Lincoln made a walking stick.

The boys wee excited to "fish" but reality was that they were just casting and learning to aim. 

We went on a short one mile hike/walk on a trail through a nice wooded area that gave us beautiful views of a little gully. 

My souvenir from the trip was this second degree burn blister that has since popped and left me with a nice little pink scar.

August Misc.

Even though school was back in session, that didn't stop the fun. August still feels like a summer month so while we were finding our groove with the new school schedule, we maximized our weekends! Here are a few pictures from our fun in August.

Lincoln has taking a liking to working out. He and Logan like to talk about their abs and see who has the bigger pack. 

We met the Schreiber's for a fun day at Main Event.

Lincoln was the only one who actually went on the ropes course. The others got to the top and came straight down. Fear of heights is a real thing. 

As always, one of the boys hits jackpot on a game. This time it was Logan on the football rush. 

The kids loved bowling with each other.

Te gangs all here. 

Sadie, Logan, Dylan and Lincoln all doing laser tag. 

Book reports are a new thing for the boys. They didn't have those at their previous school. I don't like big projects looming over our heads so we took a few hours on one day and knocked them out. Lincoln had been working on his a little at a time leading up to it but it was good to finally have them done and out of the way. Both boys got 100% on them!

Logan's drawing from a scene in Splat the Cat.

Daddy took the boys one day to Cabella's and let the boys pick out a new pocket knife. Lincoln needed one for scouts and Logan wouldn't be left out. The boys practiced carving a bar of soap. I think they liked playing in the soap pile as much as they liked carving.