Jason's Birthday

Jason's birthday was on a Tuesday this year, but since he still had some time to take off, and since he already had Monday off, he took Tues. off too! But since he knows how much I like going to the State Fair, and since he hates going on Monday when everyone is there. We did what he wanted to do (fishing at Heise) on Monday and then went to the Fair on his actual birthday (Tuesday).

This is how we spent most of our time. There were so many trees and shrubs that we kept getting snags, and didn't end up doing a whole lot of fishing, but we still had fun 

 Asher spent most of his day sneaking chips and drinks from Mom and Dad's pops.

 Caught

 Oso and Shanyce had lots of fun running around, and as a result, this is what Oso looked liked when we left. It took forever to brush all of those out of his fur

 But Shanyce had just had her hair cut, so she still looked great when we left. 

*Note to self: keep her this short all summer! 

 Family picture before we left. The dogs were already in the truck, afraid of being left.

 Asher got to ride up front until we hit the actual road, He loves sitting in the middle and knows when he can. You can't get him to sit in his seat if it's a gravel road, but he doesn't put up a fight when you tell him it's time to go back to his seat. 

 That would be a mixture of pop and dirt on his face. Probably some chip crumbs too

 This is at the Fair on Tuesday. Don't let the face fool you, he loved this ride!

 This one not so much. We thought he would love it, After all it is just a big swing, but he hadn't had a nap, and he didn't like the bar that came down on your legs. So he ended up screaming the entire ride

 While I was making Jason's Cheesecake and cupcakes (yes he had to have both) Asher found this Easter basket and thought it made a good hat.

 And then he thought Dad needed to wear it

Happy Birthday Jason WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Does My Head Look Big?

I'm still really behind and trying to get caught up. The weekend after Warm River we were cleaning out our garage when Asher found Jason's old helmet  and decided he needed to try it on. He loves it and still wears it around the house sometimes.

 You can never be too safe

 Dad helping him adjust it

 Posing

 He did not want to take it off. He wore it around for probably 10-15 minutes before he neck got tired and he had to take it off for a while, but he put it back on as soon as his neck felt better.

Warm River '11

The weekend after Jason's week off was the Marriott Reunion at Warm River. There wasn't many people there this year, but it was fun to see who was able to come. We had lot's of fun, and are so glad that we got to see the few who came!

 A bald eagle in a tree across the river

 Asher and the little/big kids (ages 4 and under) decided they needed to make their own fire

 I think they ended up taking every piece of firewood from the pile by the fire to their spot up by the picnic tables

 Asher kept getting in trouble by Sereniti because he would sit on the pile, and then they couldn't put anymore on. And the fact that it was a "fire". Side note: after they got the "fire" all built up I over hear the kids talking and Sereniti says that they need to light it and Koden says "I have a match in my pocket!" And I'm pretty sure he did! They didn't actually light their fire though, thankfully!

 Playing on some big rocks with Trae

 I love Trae's face! And poor Shanyce! Here eat a stick! I save her right after I took the picture.

 Our only trip down the river. Asher was tired and fell asleep on the way down, so we ended up getting out right after this picture was taken so he didn't wake up when we went over the rapids. We are at the very back of the  picture.

 Asher and Dad after the excursion

 And yes he is totally my son, and is not wearing any shoes. I totally have a hard time enforcing him to wear shoes everywhere when I don't like  to wear shoes either, and didn't most of childhood in the summer. Jason is the shoe enforcer. 

 Playing with Trae

 The big kids made a huge tower from all the tubes

 Trae was so tired from playing he couldn't even finish dinner

 Playing chase me with Dad

 Catch me Dad!

 He loved playing football with Kobe

 And frisbee with Krey and Renni

 We had to do some fishing of course

 I love how he sticks his tongue out when he concentrates! 

 He tries to put his fishing pole in his pocket. It doesn't work so well.

 Playing cars with Trae

So tired! (On our way home)

Our Stay-Cation

Jason had the whole week after Asher's birthday off. So we had a stay at home vacation! It was so fun and very relaxing. We went to Pocky for Jason to take a test at ISU to test out of Spanish and finally get his Bachelor's! While we were waiting for Dad, Asher and I went to WalMart and spent his birthday money on some new cars, and then killed some time at the mall. We did things like feeding the ducks, playing at the park and in our backyard, BBQ'ed, and we even went to Kung Fu Panda 2 at Paramount for free! (Asher was already free, and then, it was the last day of their summer film showings, and the guy in front of us had two left so he gave them to us!) It was Asher first time at the theater, and he did really well, and loved the show (even though he fell asleep with like 15 minutes left). It was such a fun week, and very much needed, and I think we've decided to do it at least once a year!

Feeding the ducks at the Greenbelt 

 And of course we had to have a picnic too!

 Him and his Lightning and Mater Cars he got with his birthday money

Throwing the bread

 Playing at home

 Where's Asher?

 He loves to wear Mr. Potato Head's glasses

 At the theater before Kung Fu Panda started