Baltimore

We had a wonderful labor day weekend. We had Tyson ALL day on Saturday, which has not happened in a very long time. We went to the pool, cleaned the cars, Tyson took the kiddos for smoothies, and then we ended the night with a barbeque and rock band with the Woods' and Bateman's. It was a great day! Saturday night we decided, last minute obviously, to just go somewhere and have a little getaway. So we got on priceline, (which if you've never done before, I highly recommend! We got hooked up at the hilton for way cheapo!) and bid on a hotel room in the inner harbor in Baltimore. Our low ball offer was miraculously accepted, so we packed up Sunday after church and headed up there. I know it doesn't seem like much of a getaway, being only over an hour away, but it was much needed and so much fun!

Monday morning we headed to the acquarium, which was within walking distance from our hotel. Lexi thought this fish was so funny cause it was kissing the glass.

Bubble tanks were a hit

Shark Bait

After the acquarium we ended our little trip with lunch at the Cheesecake Factory! mmmm, dulce de leche cheesecake, so good!

And here is Tyson enjoying not being at work...which didn't last long since we dropped him off at the office on our way back to town. But we had such a fun weekend!

Lately...

I still cannot wrap my brain around the fact that Lexi is starting school next week...WHAT?!?! Since I know it's going to come whether I like it or not, we've been having a lot of playtime before we start in on the craziness of starting school. Ok, I know it's not going to be crazy, but we've never really had a routine before and quite honestly, I'm not looking forward to waking up early every day for the next 20+ years. I'm am excited for all the new things Lexi will be learning and the new friends she will be making...it's still weird though!

So in the meantime, we took a trip to the zoo with the Allen's
Jace, Abby, Lexi, Zach, Russell

Last weekend we went into DC for the Glenn Beck Restoring Honor Rally

We went and had a movie night with the Bohn's for Family night, which was great until Jace slipped and split his eyebrow open on the coffee table. Took him to the ER for some stitches, however, will be getting a nice bill for some super glue.

We did the family night at Bohn's to watch Night at the Museum and then thought it would be fun to go to the Natural History Museum within the next few days...so we did just that.

Jace holding the humungus grasshopper

And this is my big kindergardener right before we went to meet her teacher and see her classroom. She's so excited to start school and she apologized to me today for continuing to grow up...she just can't help it :-)

Home

After a month of being gone, we have made it home safely. I'm not gonna lie, I am glad to be back in my own bed, but we do miss everyone and had such a great time!

In other news, I've hit the third trimester mark! whoohoo! We are still deciding on a name, so if you have any suggestions, we are open.

Today is our 7 year anniversary and I feel so blessed to have Tyson in my life!

Scroll down for all of our adventures!

Cali

On July 29, the kiddos and I headed to Cali for a little vacation time with the Crane family. Tyson flew in the next night and the kids, and myself, were so happy to see him, since we spent almost 3 weeks in WA.

We started the trip off with a tour of Tehema and Los Melinos, which is where Tyson's grandparents grew up. It was so fun to see these tiny little towns...I'm talkin' half the size of Ephrata here...tiny! This picture was taken outside of Germp's school house...just this one building, and 3 rooms for grades k-8.

This was outside of the ranch house where Germ spent a lot of her growing up days. It was beautiful! Not a house in sight and rolling hills all over the place.

The next day we headed to Shasta lake for some good ol' fashion camping. I just had to put this picture in of my cute little Lexter

One day we found this sweet waterfall.

Lexi, and Jace, were tube masters. This tube ride with aunt Merce lasted a good 20 min.

Unfortunately, we had to cut the trip a day early. As you can see by Burn's face, he had a slight problem. The first day we got there, he'd been out cutting away at some brush to make some tent spots. First off, he got stung by wasps in about 8 places, which started swelling up pretty fast and lasted a few days. When the swelling went down from that, he had gotten poison oak all over himself...if you can't tell, he had quite the allergic reaction and we in need of some medical attention. Don't be alarmed, he is back to normal and yes, still available!

And here are just some cute videos. I had to bribe Lexi with a new barbie to get her to wakeboard with daddy, but hey, she did it!

Baby James

While in Washington visiting my family, we had an unexpected arrival. Baby James Benjamin Center decided it was time to come 8 weeks early. He weighed 4 lbs 1 ounce and after being born in Moses Lake, was life flighted to Spokane, where he will be for probably another month. He is doing as well as can be expected and we are all so very grateful for modern technology! I was lucky enough to go and see him before the kids and I took off to California. What a sweet little boy he is. When I got there I asked the nurse if I could touch him and since he was only a few days old, she said that only the parents were allowed to touch him. I looked at her and said "Does it matter if I won't get to see him for a year?"...her response, "why do you have to say things like that?" (My next move would have been to start crying :-) Needless to say, I got to touch this sweet, tiny little infant. For pictures and updates you can visit their blog: centerfamily06.blogspot.com.