Chuck E. Cheese Lunch Date

Took a break from work the other day to take the kiddos to lunch at Chuck E Cheese.  I haven’t been to a Chuck E Cheese in probably 10 years and my memories of taking kids there were not exactly wonderful.  I was dreading this trip, picturing complete sticky fingered germy chaos with tons of unsupervised children. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was virtually no crowd at lunch mid-week and even more surprised that the facility was actually very clean and the food wasn’t as bad as I remembered.  The whole experience was actually pretty fun - the kids had a blast at the games, mowed through a cheese pizza, and scored a ton of tickets to exchange for cheap plastic trinkets which they loved.   The arcade wasn’t headache inducing or overwhelming, the hand stamp system to protect children from leaving with the wrong adult is much appreciated, the online coupons were helpful, and the service was friendly.  I will definitely take the kids there again.

Pretty sure Logan spent all his tokens on this game.

Joey hit the jackpot at this machine and won 100 tickets!

Pizza smiley face!

Cool app they have that puts an animated Chuck E. Cheese in your pics

Seriously like looking into the future... this girl is addicted to slot machines already!

Our First Drive In Movie Experience

On our List of Summer Things To Do we included, "go to the drive in movies."   I am happy to report we checked that off our list this past weekend.  We took the kids to see Monsters University at the local Drive In. We packed the car with games, snacks, pizza, sleeping bags, drinks, and candy and headed to the theater two hours early.  Luckily we just beat the crazy long line to get in and found a great spot to park.  The kids had fun in the bounce house and slide at the Snack Shack, and the two hours flew by.  Unfortunately by the time the movie started at 9 p.m., Logan was spent and was ready to go home and go to bed (why is he never tired at 9 p.m. when we are home?!).  We stayed of course, but he fell asleep and missed most of the movie.  Emmie and Joey loved it though!

Happy boys!

Emmie was thrilled to get a snow cone.

Love Emmie's face in this one.  Clearly she is not impressed with photo-op time!

Logan Graduates Preschool

 Logan graduated preschool on June 20. He has been at that preschool since he was 3 months old, so this was a hard day for both his family and his teachers.  He on the other hand, was super excited!  His only request was to buy his teacher Ms. Vanessa, "a beautiful necklace and flowers" which we were happy to oblige. 

To say that Logan is prepared for kindergarten is an understatement.  He knows how to read over a hundred words, knows his alphabet and all the sounds, loves to speak the Italian he has learned, and can count past 100.  We are so proud of him and even more proud of what a wonderful friend he has been to his classmates. 

Some decisions you look back on in life and wonder if they were the right ones, others you know were definitely the right choices.  This preschool has been part of our family for over ten years now, and we are so happy with that decision.  Our children have flourished there, and Emmie continues to do so.  We are so grateful for this wonderful school.

Tommy & Logan - they look so much alike!

The scrapbook his teacher made - tear jerker!

I love how Logan and Aunt Megan are making the same pose!

The whole family!

Chocolate faced Logan with Cheri

Me & Meg

First Yosemite Trip for Father's Day

Father’s Day weekend we headed to one of our nation’s most beautiful locations, Yosemite National Forest, on the way to spend the weekend with my dad in Mariposa.  We are lucky enough to live only 3 hours from this treasure and were happy to check it off our “Exploring California” checklist. 

The park was busy and despite very thorough and thoughtful advanced planning on Jeff’s part, we forgot the entire box of non-perishable food that we were bringing for the weekend.  Not deterred, we stopped at a convenience store and bought supplies for a picnic which we enjoyed at Cathedral Beach.  It was by far the most beautiful picnic location I have ever been to, breathtaking is an understatement.  Sometimes I wonder if the kids are too young to appreciate a place like this, but when we were sitting on the beach eating our picnic they were all in awe of it.  Logan even turned to me and said, “thank you for taking us to this place, it’s awesome!” 

After Cathedral Beach we made the mild trek to Bridalveil Falls and then headed to Dad’s house.  We spent the night hanging out with my sister and dad, enjoying time together in the mountains where he lives.  The next day I drove the kids home and Jeff stayed behind to go zip lining through the forest with Meg and Dad. They had a great time, all in all a wonderful Father’s Day weekend. 

Making a "soup" in the water at Cathedral Beach with rocks and sticks.

Because our boys don't mess around when it comes to throwing sticks in the water!

Best picnic place EVER!

Fierce

Bridalveil Falls

In awe of the waterfall.

Climbing over rocks at the falls.