Father's Day June 2013

On Father's Day this year, we had our annual Rib Dinner and invited Dad, Joey and Lee. 

After-dinner snuggle with Miss. Gracie.

All the Howsleys in the vicinity.  Love these men!

Joey taught the boys how to do Cartwheels in the backyard after dinner.

Our Daddy.  He's the bestest, handsomest, funniest Daddy in the universe.

Cubscout Bicycle Derby and Tennis Camp

All three boys participated in the bicycle derby at church.  Both David and Stevie got new bikes for Christmas, and even Jakie was out there on his little teensy bike keeping up (or not) with the big boys.

Steven tried something new this summer: Tennis Camp!  He absolutely loved it and both he and David have been taking weekly tennis lessons ever since.  Fingers crossed that they'll be the next sibling duo power tennis team!  (Or that they just develop a love for physical activity...that would be good too).

Look how sweaty this kid is!  I guess if I'd been running around in the 90 degree weather I'd be pretty doused as well.

 

One the last day of camp they enjoyed some nice refreshing watermelon!  Stevie had been talking about the watermelon all week.  

And here's a random adorable picture of little Grace as she strutted across the park bridge. 

First Trip to the Beach of the Summer

Living near the coast definitely has it's bonuses.  One of which is living about 20 minutes away from the beach.  The kids and I took our first trip to the beach in June, visiting a cute little cove called 'El Jardin Beach.'  We joined some friends there and had a lovely time.

Jakie was quite the little fish out there.  He was a little overconfident for my taste.  I had to keep reminding him (and his older brothers) to stay a little closer to shore).

 

Our friends brought a boogie board, and Stevie and Jake has a great time pulling it through the tiny waves (the water was very calm that day).

When he wasn't swimming in the ocean, David spent most of his time digging a gigantic hole in the sand.  I'm not sure why this is so satisfying to kids, but it really is.  I remember doing it at his age too.

Gracie was very suspicious of the water at first, but she warmed up quickly.  By the end of the day she was squealing with joy in the waves and covered head to foot in sand.

So many things to note in this picture: how unfairly thin and gorgeous my friend Kallie, how much dirt and sand has accumulated on Gracie's backside, Jake mooning the camera because his britches were a bit big, etc....

All the little duckies lined up in a row.

Eleven Years and Counting

It definitely doesn't seem like its been eleven whole years since I married this man, but eleven years it's been since May 31st.  We were such adorable babies back then!

Eleven years, two apartments, three houses, 3 boys and 1 little girl later, here we are (better and more idiotic than ever, I might add...)

Our life has been pretty wonderful so far.  Can't wait to see what the next eleven years will bring.

Random End-of-the-School-Year Fun

Steve and David both participated in the school talent show this year.  Steve and his friend Tommy did a riveting routine where Steve played the Mario Brothers theme on the piano and Tommy acted out various scenes from the video game.  Steve was fantastic and played flawlessly!

 

And David participated in an adorable 'bobble-head'  dance routine with some of his friends from class.  The dressed up as characters from the video game "Minecraft" and danced to this crazy song called "Don't Mine at Night."  It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. (David is the Zombie in the blue shirt).

Here's a random cute picture of Jake.  He insisted on doing a photo shoot one day and I of course was happy to oblige.  

Gracie was less willing...

As soon as it was warm enough, we pulled out the old sprinkler for some soggy fun.  (You'll notice its only the youngest three.  Steve has deemed himself 'a little old' for sprinklers.  ~What??!!)

 

One day the kids seemed really excited about a recipe for Banana Pops that they'd read about it school.  It's basically bananas rolled in melted chocolate with sprinkles on top, and put in the freezer for awhile to semi-freeze.  

For some reason we all got really excited about it and took tons of pictures.  

But truth be told, once they'd eaten off all the chocolate, they were noticeably less excited about the semi-frozen banana (and I'll admit, it didn't look as pretty sans chocolate).

But the best of our end-of-school fun was the last day of school.  Jacob and I had a little surprise prepared for the fellas when they got home...

After a family battle of epic proportions, our friends the Greenfields came over to help us celebrate in style...

Gracie got to try on her adorable swim suit for the first time.  My little bathing beauty...

All in all, a great way to start off the summer.  Hooray!

Memorial Day

This Memorial Day, we had an amazing time getting together with friends, including the fantastic Denison family who visited all the way from Utah!!  I absolutely adore Elsje and Jay, and it was so wonderful being able to catch up with them and their sweet family.  It really felt like old times being all together again.

All the ladies sitting around gabbing

Sweet little Gracie proceeded to drench herself in water within the first 15 minutes of arrival.

This sweet little pumpkin is the youngest of the Denison clan.  

Jay and Matt spent the majority of the time organizing complex running games with the kids.

And we've concluded that Gracie likes watermelon...

Pine Wood Derby

The Grundbergs had our very first experience with the famous Pinewood Derby this year in May.  Our very own Steve was competing.. 

With THIS awesome car that his dad helped him build....(notice "ROCK" hand signs, and flaming skull decals)

We were able to make some pretty official looking racing flags---sporting logos such as "Grundbergs Rule" and "Steven Rocks!!"

Stevie raced quite a formidable race.

And ended up placing 2nd in his age division (he's such a champ).

He also received special recognition for having the "best detail," which of course he did.  Way to go, kid!!