Summer Happies

I have been neglecting this blog lately. Not that I meant to. It's just that we have been non stop this Summer! So that means I have A LOT to catch up on.

Read on loyal readers :)

It had been a long time since we explored OMSI, so a few weeks ago we decided to get in the groove and use Grammy's "grandparent pass" that gets any of her family in for free. Thanks Grammy!!! And not only does it get us into OMSI for free, it also lets us see a show in the Planetarium as well as movie in the OMNI MAX Theater. We learned all about stars. We learned about the world under the sea. We explored the Albert Einstein exhibit. That man was brilliant! We also learned that he was a huge perv.

But that's a whole other story.

And the best part was sharing the day with the awesome Belcher clan.

We LOVE,LOVE going to the river in Vernonia!

It's shallow. There are no rapids. It's beautiful.

And there's this really funky algae stuff that floats in the water that is so much fun to play with!

We had a total blast hanging out all day long.

And we loved hanging out with the Morinishi and Ruybalid families.

Sophia's Little Miss Sunshine girls camp has been a success this summer. There have been a couple of days where nobody was in town or everybody was busy doing summer fun activities, but for the most part she has had a good turn out.

This day was Pretty, Pretty Princess day. The little campers learned how to have manners at the table ( napkin on your lap). How to hold a tea cup properly (pinkies up!). How to dab at the corners of their mouth with a napkin after eating a meal. How to use the proper lingo in conversation ( please & thank you). It was hilarious to watch. The girls giggled.

And at the end of the day they all went on a princess parade up the street where they learned the proper way to wave at their royal subjects ( elbow,elbow,wrist,wrist,wrist).

Whenever a car would pass they would all start waving.

It was precious. And it made me laugh.

And this chica is growing up way to fast!!!

I really do wish there was some magical potion that I could give my kids to freeze them in their childhood.

It's tough to watch my babies grow up. But it's also very fun and rewarding.

Miss Rylie was invited by her friend Mikayla to go to the Justin Beiber concert. And oh was she excited! And her ticket was even paid for by her friends Mom as a gift for her daughters birthday. So generous! The benefits of being a single Mom with one child I guess. It's something I could never do having 4 kids all with summer birthdays! And lucky for Rylie, I completely trust Michelle and Mikayla so it was easy for me to let her go to her first real concert. And she LOVED every single minute.

Sophia is our Drama Queen.

A couple of weeks ago she got to fulfill her life long dream ( Sophia's words) and attend a week long Drama Camp.

In one week they got to create their characters, write a script, paint backdrops, and then perform their play on the last day of class for family and friends. It was a F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S camp for Sophia. She loved every minute of it! And the performance was laugh out loud awesome!!!

On July 30th Sophia turned 10.

Crazy!

She wanted to make her own birthday cake and this was the finished masterpiece.

Her theme was animals dressed up as other animals. Can you tell?

( cow-bunny & bee-bear)

This girl makes me laugh:)

And last but not least,

The kiddos just finished up with a session of swimming lessons and for the first time in Gold Family history every single one of them moved up a level.

Yeehaw!

Now that deserves a Slurpee from 7-11.