Fourth of July Festivities!

Fourth of July...my favorite holiday!

Every year we head over to the Netto's house for a day of swimming, bbqing, dipsy doodling, fireworks, and so much more! 

Never heard of Dipsy Doodle? Only the most competitive, sometimes...who am I kidding...ALWAYS...full-contact, pool game that includes one tooth pick that is left at the bottom of the pool and all of the players stand on the pool deck, waiting for it to float up, and then you all jump in to try and grab the tooth pick. I know...it sounds goofy...but don't knock it till you've tried it. :)

Part of our tradition is that I am in charge of dessert. You all know how I love to keep to the theme...and over the years I have done many variations of  red, white, and blue treats. This year I did a repeat...I know, how could I...but they were such a hit the first time, I had to. 

Nothing says, "America" like red, white, and blue push-pop cupcakes!

And I always like to bring some sort of "healthy" snack...

so I put together some quick strawberry, blueberry, and marshmallow kabobs.

Someone had a REALLY rough afternoon! :)

Don't let the "relaxed" look fool you. 

He was scared, mad, and tense as could be. 

Have I mentioned that my son HATES swimming pools? Yup. HATES them.

After an afternoon of swimming, food, and fun, it was time for...FIREWORKS!

This little one couldn't wait!

Note that the squinty eyes are the look of the night. :)

Landry loves him some sparklers!

Nolan does, too!

Obviously you can't tell from this picture, but Landry got so into the spirit that he started to dance to the very patriotic playlist that Sheri created for us. 

Yes, we have a soundtrack for our fireworks shows...we don't mess around. :)

We had just a "few" fireworks...

and even about 6,943 sparklers!

Does anyone else end up with a BILLION sparklers? 

I mean seriously...we always have a ton and we keep buying less and less and we still have more and more. 

I think it is some evil ploy by the firework companies. :)

I am not seeing the "sparkler joy" in these faces...what about you?

Since Sheri and I are the "amazing" dancers that we are...we were very inspired by one of the musical selections and decided to "perform" our own spontaneous, sparkler-wielding, interpretive dance of patriotism. :)

Here is Sheri getting started...

Clearly my leaps have lost a bit of their form over the years...

and Sheri had a perfectly "choreographed" finale...disposing of her burned out sparkler in the water tub.

Just a little proof that once a pep girl...always a pep girl! :)

Here was my first attempt at getting a pic of Landry and Chad.

Can you feel the joy?

No? Come on...Chad clearly looks thrilled...

and Landry looks a bit frightened of the fireworks behind him.

I promise you he was not even close to being in harm's way...the angle is little off and does look like he is super close...but he wasn't. :)

That's better!

Dave decided to perform his own dance...

with his very own, unique ending!

If you have read about our past 4th of Julys then you know that we have another "tradition" that I like to call, "The Crazy Guys with Fireworks Totem Pole."

Normally Brian will sit on Jake's shoulders, both of them with fireworks in hand, and pose for the cameras.

Sadly, neither Jake nor Brian were able to make it this year...so the tradition had to come to an end. :(

But wait...two other crazy guys tried to re-create it!

Yes, Chad and Ryan attempted...but it didn't have quite the flair that Brian and Jake give it.

Ha, just realized my funny pun. :)

I think it is safe to say that Nolan and Landry were not too sure of what to make of their fathers' actions!

Landry and me...oops squinty eyes...

let's try it again...not so great either...oh well.

As our fireworks show was coming to an end it was time for some dessert!

Sheri and I with our sparklers!

Here is a rather funny series of attempts to get a family picture...

1. Too much smoke.

2. Landry with closed eyes.

3. Landry and I are smiling...and Chad...not so sure. :)

4. Oh forget it already!

Look at these two cute "boys"...like father, like son!

If you can't tell...Frank is standing on his tippy toes trying so hard to be taller than Davis.

Thank you Netto's for once again, another fabulous 4th of July celebration!

We wouldn't miss it...ahem..unlike some "other" people. ;)

You always know that is was a good party when you crash out in the car, are carried to bed, dead asleep...but you still have a firm grip on your glow stick!

Movie Date!

 Last week Landry and I got together with Erin and Amy for a movie date!
You might remember that last year we took these two to their first movie, The Lorax, during the $1 summer movies. Once again, Regal Theaters are offering their $1 movies...and I have to say... this summer's movie list is much better than last year's. So, on Wednesday we set out to watch...

Look at these cuties!

Of course it's not a movie without snacks! 

Yes, it is only $1 for the ticket...

but $5,000 for popcorn and a drink. 

Or $5,000.25 if you get a large. :)

Yes, we were matching...no, it wasn't planned! :)

The movie was a hit! 

Landry LOVED it and was laughing hysterically through the entire thing. 

At one point I was crying from laughing at Landry's giggle...precious.

As we walked out of the theater these two grabbed hands...future spouses! ;)

They had to take a picture in front of the advertisement for the penguin movie...next movie date?

Like all other children, they went right to the arcade games that are near the exit/entrance. Luckily they haven't figured out that they aren't actually playing anything. I'm sure this will be ending very soon. :)

Next up was some playtime in the park area out front.

Unfortunately they knew that the bus took money...so we let them ride the bus a few times.

You might notice that in the background is a photo booth...so we HAD to try it out!

Silly face, scary face, smile, and another silly face...

you can see that Landry only got the memo on the smile part!

After all of our fun, we had two hungry and thirsty munchkins. 

So, we finished our date with a little Jamba Juice.

I've said it before...and I'll say it again...I am so grateful for these two and their sweet, little friendship! 

They are pretty much just like their mamas...they can go several months without seeing each other...

but when they do...they pick up right where they left off. :)

Santa Barbara: Beach Fun and Stearn's Wharf

Day three of our trip started with this view...

Beautiful! 

We spent the morning relaxing on the beach, building sandcastles, looking for sea shells, and trying to get Landry to put his feet in the water. :)

Landry and I worked on a pretty cool sandcastle. 

He was very focused on the roads.

Not going to lie...I think our castle turned out pretty cool. 

Clearly, it wasn't the most structurally sound castle...but it had some seaweed flourish...and that's what counts when building a sandcastle...right?

The weather was perfect...sunny, warm, nice breeze. The water was a bit cold but nothing like it is in Pismo. We did get Landry to finally get his feet wet...and then he fell down...and that game was over. :) 

It took quite a bit of coaxing just to get these pictures...and a LOT of reassuring that he would NOT get wet.

That afternoon we headed to Stearn's Wharf. 

On the wharf they have a wonderful little aquarium, the Ty Warner Sea Center.

It isn't nearly as big as the Monterey Bay Aquarium but it is still pretty neat. If you have been to the aquarium in Avila...it is a little larger than that one.

Landry immediately wanted to check out the tide pools.

They have a small octopus...that is quite active!

One of the neatest things...in my opinion...is at the back of the center they have a small science lab area set-up. In this area they have an opening down to the water, where the kids can send nets down into the water, and catch sea creatures. Some of the kids actually caught some crabs while we were there!

Landry wasn't interested in catching anything...but he did work with one of the staff members to determine the clarity of the water. Here he is pulling up the tool...I forgot what it was called. :)

After following the directions, we determined that you could see 7ft down into the water. 

A fun fact...that water is only 13 feet deep underneath the wharf.

The sea center also had a jelly fish exhibit going on. 

I could watch them all day long!

They have a large whale hanging from the ceiling...Landry thought it was pretty cool.

Checking out the sharks...you can actually pet them! 

Don't worry...Landry had NO interest in petting a shark. :)

Here is one of many shark eggs they have on display. 

You could actually watch the little sharks move around inside the egg...pretty cool.

Landry's favorite part...hands down...was the touch pools with the starfish, sea cucumbers, and urchins.

I think we spent about 45 minutes touching, holding, and "watching" the animals. 

Chad and I joked that he seems to have a liking for the most inactive animals...elephants, alligators, starfish, urchins...he cracks us up!

Seriously, if he would have had his way, we would have stayed there all. day. long.

We finally got him talked into leaving to check out the rest of the wharf. 

Here is a quick picture of the view of Santa Barbara from the wharf...stunning!

Next on our list of fun...the Lil' Toot boat ride! 

I had read about this online, before our trip, and was secretly so excited about it. 

It is this darling little boat...seriously how cute is it...that takes you from the wharf to the harbor...and it is super cheap. 

Even better...right?

Landry was a little nervous at first, because the boat was rocking quite a bit while everyone got on, but he quickly warmed up.

During the ride, the "tour guide" gave information about the harbor and different fun facts about it. Here is a large vessel they use to keep the sand from building up in the harbor.

When it isn't being used...many animals use it as a home...like sea lions...and...

just a few pelicans!

Our normally shy, quiet, reserved little man jumped at the opportunity to drive the boat. They let all of the kids have a turn...and he couldn't wait!

On the way back he was the only child that wanted to drive...so he got to drive the entire way!

Everyone complimented him on his good driving...and he even called it "his" boat. :)

We had a great morning at the beach and lots of fun on the wharf...wonderful way to end our trip.

The next morning Landry got a little teary eyed when he found out we were going home. 

His quote, "But I love the Santa Barbara Beach and our nice hotel. I don't want to go." I think he had fun...what do you think? Another clear sign that it was a good trip...even Chad said it was a lot of fun. I know. Crazy! I was really proud of him for "unplugging" for the few days and just relaxing. :)

On a side note...

one of the funnier conversations during the trip was when Landry was asking me about my phone.

Landry: "Mommy...when you were little did you have a phone like this?"

Me: "Nope. When I was little they didn't have phones like this."

Landry: "So you had a phone like Daddy's?"

Me: "No...when I was little we didn't have cell phones. We only had phones like that." 

(pointing to the land-line phone in the hotel room)

Landry...with a very confused look on his face: "What? You couldn't bring your phone with you?"

Me: "Nope, you couldn't. You had to stay at home to talk to someone on the phone."

He just shook his head at this response! :) 

He became quite fascinated with the land-line phone...no, we do not have a land-line phone...and when we were in the room he would spend most of his time just listening to the dial tone or "calling" Nawnie and telling her about what we were doing. It was quite hilarious!