Great America

The week before the kiddos went back to school we took them to Great America in Santa Clara. A little side note about my kids is that they LOVE staying in hotels. They love everything about it... so we went out after church and stayed the night then went to the park the next day. Last time we went the theme was Spongebob and Blues Clues. This time it was the Peanuts Gang. I don't think they can decide what they want. We went on some pretty fun rollercoasters and Ash was tall enough for all the rides. Ethan was a trooper all day too. Good Times.

Is he a Hansen???

I'm just trying to figure out if Ethan looks like one of my kids or not?? What do you think?
Caleb (old school scanned in photo)

Ashlee

Sydney

Ethan

Great Grandma Hansen

I went to see great Grandma Hansen before I left to drive home from Utah and got some cute pictures of her with the kids. I never met my great grandparents and I feel so blessed that my kids have been able to grow up with Great Grandpa and Grandma Hansen.

ZZZzzzz's

The big thing this summer has been to build forts in the new loft that Carl built. They love it and have gotten pretty creative. I'm not going to lie... the mess makes me crazy but I've just had to overlook it. Catching them sleeping makes it worth it. The pics of Caleb and Ethan sleeping were just a bonus. I can't believe how small Calebs bed looks.

She is usually the mastermind behind the chaos in our house.

4th of July

We celebrated the 4th of July in Utah. These are pictures of doing fireworks that night.

I am one lucky lady.....

Carl's Birthday

For Carl's birthday we took the kiddos boating. It was Ethans first time. He LOVED it! Not so much the lifejacket but he was so good. I love the boat. All the kids love it and it is perfect because no one can get grumpy and stomp off. We are stuck together. Good family time. (that's in no way means that I don't get grumpy launching and loading.....not my favorite.)

Caleb is learning to drive because I am not very good at it.

May Dance recital

After several unsuccessful attempts to upload the video of Syd's dance recital that I took on our new HD video camera (any advice from professional bloggers on how to make it work is welcome) I finally gave up and uploaded the one taken from a point and shoot at the back of the auditorium. not the best quality and the head in the shot is awesome but it gives you an idea of how stinkin cute these tap dancers are. She did tap this year instead of ballet and had fun but we are switching back to ballet next year.

Syd, Brooklyn and Dylen

Getting ready for the finale.

Flowers from Daddy.

Syd is the 4th from the end. Her friend Dylen is 6th from the end.

Spring Break 2011 "Monterey, CA"

We took the kiddos and Nanny to Monterey for Spring Break. Our hotel was right on the beach and it was beautiful. For my Utah peeps, beaches in Northern California are beautiful but I've only been a handful of times when it has actually been pretty warm. Even if it's in the 70's the wind is still cold. But the kids don't seem to mind and they even get in the water. We went to the Aquarium and played on the beach. Ethan was so good and slept all night 2 out of the 3 nights we were there. Can't wait to go back.

Caleb didn't appreciate his dad making him put on an apron to play in the water.

This is the view right outside our room.