Breathtaking...

I have hit the jackpot- I have the best babysitter who also happens to be a pretty amazing photographer, too!! Here are a few pics she captured of the kids while I taught Summer School last week!

My grown-up little girl...

My little man

Thinking deep thoughts...

Crazy hair!!

I love these 3 pictures in sequence...

July 4th with Cousins

For the 4th, we headed to Jen and Frank's lake house!!

The kids jumped in and had fun like they had not been apart at all!

Aren't they cute? They amaze me at how similar in size they are!

All life-jacketed up and ready to hit the lake!

Getting advice from Nate

Sweeties!

Addie trying to keep the boys in line- they were making sand angles on the beach next to the house....

Looking for buried treasure...

These 3 love each other!!

Dare Devil Alden

Alden fully embraced his inner dare devil this trip to the lake!!

Ready to go tubing- they were bounced around and laughed the entire time!!

Next up- trying water skiing!! Uncle Frank had a trainer- and Alden took all Uncle Frank's advice to heart!

Al held him up as Uncle Frank started the boat

Can you see how proud he is?? He made it a looooooong time!

Can you tell how proud we both are?? The sky's the limit- I'm just a tad bit nervous HOW he will get to the sky....

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

We woke-up to it raining Sunday- and it was supposed to rain all day. Boo!

The kids played with Uncle Frank's HUGE tinker toys- they loved it!!

We also took the kids to see Cars2!!

They enjoyed the candy and popcorn more than the movie- the adults loved the movie!!

Next, in order to keep everyone alive, we inflated the bouncy house in the garage- they were SO excited!!

They played hard!

Fireworks & Fun!

Uncle Chris (Uncle Frank's brother), his wife and 2 girls (same ages as Addie and Alden), he brought some fireworks up- the kids loved them!!

Overseeing the loading the of the fireworks into the smaller boat.

While we waited for it to get dark, the kids got into the holiday spirit with some sparklers. Keeping 5 kids from burning each other is quiet the feat....

Addie loved them!

Alden LOVED the fact that we gave him fire and told him to walk around with it...

Getting settled on the edge of the dock- Carrie, Jen and I were pleasantly surprised that no one fell in!

They were fantastic!!

The next day all 5 kids played together wonderfully!!

Alden, who is currently obsessed with vegetables, thought he had died and gone to heaven when Aunty Jen showed him the HUGE garden they have at the lake house!! Here he is showing the carrot and mint he picked all by himself!

Relaxing with Uncle Frank's iPad!

Uncle Frank showing the kids videos of them skiing!

Alden discovered a poor inchworm....

We closed out our stay with 1 final run on the boat- Al is amazing- wake boarding like a pro even though he only goes once or twice a year!!

Good-Bye Car Seat, Hello Booster

After lots of fun- it was time to say good-bye....

He was beat

She was beat- poor thing has asked to ride in her old carseat on our next car trip...

Ahhh- using the water ski next to her was better...

We had a great time- thanks, Aunty Jen, Uncle Frank and Nate!!

11 Years Blessed

June 24th dawned clear and beautiful- just like it did 11 years ago!! We have been so blessed these 11 years- and we are both excited to see what all God has planned for the next set of 11 years.... This year, we celebrated a bit differently- we had to as Al had a managers meeting out of town for the entire weekend! Alden and Addie happily stepped up to the plate and helped me celebrate in style!

First up- donuts!! Al had breakfast with us and then had to hit the road.

2 of our greatest blessings showcasing our traditional celebratory breakfast- yumm!!

Alden was super excited to try powered sugar....

Can you tell she's already had a donut??

Since we are all practically fish, we headed to the pool to swim- and in keeping with the celebratory theme, the kids got to have a lunchable there- yay!!

We did go get Sweet Frog (yummy frozen yogurt)- but sadly, I forgot to take pictures...

The evening ended with a movie (Cinderella III), popcorn, and water bottles- not the typical action to celebrate 11 years of marriage, but it was fantastic tweak to this year!!

In true Perreca fashion, the celebrating did not end after the actual day- we kept having fun all day Saturday!! Addie was invited to her bff's birthday party- it was at a hair salon where they were going to do the girls' hair, make-up and nails. She was SO excited!!

All the princesses- Addie was thrilled to get to play with her friends from school- she has missed her friends.

After the party, Lainey and her Mom, Miss Emily (Alden's teacher who he is in love with) came home with us and then headed to a baseball game with us!

It was hot and we had to park a looooooong way away, so we enjoyed some Rita's- ahh!!

The kids' were not into the game, but they had fun with each other! Once the game was into the 7th inning stretch, Al called- he was back! So we went to the airport and picked him up - he had to return his rental car to the airport.

It was a fantastic weekend- and I think it reflects us and the place we are now- we love our kids and enjoy spending time with them! I love you, Al, and am excited to see what adventures the future anniversaries hold for us!!