First

School snuck up on us this year.  Summer was glorious and we had a fun/relaxing time daily.  I was thankful for a summer such as this because last summer I thought I may pull all of my hair out.  I'm chalking it up to having a 6 month old and 2 crazies (they're still crazy, but T is older).  This summer was a summer like I remember summers.  Straight FUN.

August 1st we had to set our alarm clocks to wake us hours before we were used to.  The boys were excited and we were ready.

 

We rode bikes to Oshyn's school first and found out who his teacher was (I was thrilled--just who I wanted).  After we dropped the big kid off in 2nd grade, we rode home and hopped in the car to head off to Grace.  Cruz was excited/skeptic.  It was nice to have his loving sweet teachers there to greet Mr. Not-so-sure-of-change.  By the time I picked him up he was one happy guy, but they informed me he refused to be in the back to school picture.  Not surprised. :)

FYI

13 posts in one day if any one is interested... I back date them so you may never have known unless I told you :)
I'm just a bit proud of my catch up skills and think I may have only 3 or 40 to go.

Summer isn't over yet!

Although school started early (Aug. 1st), we're not letting that tell us when "summer" is really over.  Cruz has really become a confident swimming this summer which has been so much fun (and after our last session, Tyce doesn't seem too far behind!)  I finally got out our underwater camera last week and you can tell we had just a bit of fun with it!  Double thanks to the Sroufe's for letting us swim so much.  All of the Nobmann's are sprouting gills!

Karate Kid

In front of Target one day, some kids from a local karate (or tae kwon do...aikido...) place asked if the kids wanted to take a free class.  They were pumped and ready to chop.
The next week I told the boys it was time and Cruz quickly ran into his room.  He told me, "I need to put my karate shirt on!"  I couldn't wait to see what he though his 'karate shirt' was.

A Superman robe.  Awesome.

On the way there Cruz said, "I wonder who my Sensei (先生) is going to be?"  He wore his robe karate gear the ENTIRE time--that's quite hot for summer attire!  It was so fun to watch and the teachers were great.  I love hearing little people say, "YES SIR!"

At the end they presented Cruz with a white belt to have.  He was just a little excited and wore it for days after.

DC Girls

As my birthday pressie from my sweet Grandma, I was flown out to the east coast to spend some nice quality time with the "girls".  This was our first time doing this and we had a ball!  We're hoping to make it an annual affair...

We cruised the Potomac river to see a bit of DC.

Stopped for a nice little lunch!

Gotta silly with some karaoke!

And I even got lucky to see my brother Chad!

I loved the cobblestone streets 

and I was so blessed to see the newest little Zulabelle (along with Olive, Lacey and Grandma Annie).  What a wonderful mini vacation!!

Compost Kids

Happy Birthday to Me!

A few days before my birthday (and the start of school) we decided to meet the Panttaja's at the beach.  It took quite a bit of time to get there because they decided to close a bridge in San Fran, but when I heard Tyce say "WA-DA!!" I knew it was going to be worth every minute (and that we were DEFINITELY related!).  And it was.  We had a fabulous time getting sand between our toes, listening to the waves crash and taking in all of the smells of the salty sea.  All of the kids were in heaven, which easily made us elated too.

Lodi Lake-n it

We had a great time today.  We decided to head to Lodi Lake & instead of swimming, the boys wanted to get some paddle boats...actually Oshyn decided he wanted to get his own kayak and the rest of us got a paddle/peddle? boat.  I wish I had a picture of the pure joy and accomplishment on his face when he was able to maneuver that kayak all by himself without any trouble.  It was great!  We met up in the middle and followed each other around.  Beau would've been proud of me as I let the boys jump in the water to cool off (no swimming allowed in that section :) Lodi Lake was an attracter for us to move to Lodi and has proven to be a good time many times!

Drive-in

There's nothing like watching a movie in the back of your truck, in your pjs, way past your bedtime.  We had a plethora of treats and a crazy toddler on our hands.  We count ourselves lucky to still have a drive-in movie theatre within driving distance and for being able introduce our kids to the "old days". Ha!