Summer 2009: Update

Our latest adventures: Battle Creek Falls. On a whim we decided to take a family Sunday hike. Jer found this waterfall online and decided to check it out. It was a short hike (1 mile round trip), perfect weather (hot), and really cool. There was a ton of water splashing down. I guess the 3 weeks of rain did something good...



13th Anniversary: Here is some pictures of the first fire of the season. Perfect that we did it on our 13th anniversary (June 12th) and got to celebrate with our little family. It is the day we started that family after all. The kids love doing this...and so do I. Thanks to Jeremy for all his hard work so we can enjoy great quality family time.

Gallivan Center Field Trip: The kids went down a blow up waterslide, got sprayed with a fire hose, jumped in a bounce house, make a art craft, ate 2 creamies, got a fake tattoo, and took a train ride. And it was perfect weather...unlike the last 3 weeks of rain we've had!

Cabela's Field Trip
Well, our second field trip to write about was quite cheap but very fun. We rode our bikes down to Cabela's, ate lunch in their restaurant, looked at all the animals and toys and treats, played the shooting game then rode home. It was a great time!! Here are some pics:

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I'm trying something new. I want to write about everything we do this summer in one blog post. So I'll start it now and when a Summer 2009 blog worthy idea comes up I'll just edit the existing post. We'll see how it works.

I'll start with our calendar of events. A couple years back I decided to dedicate a certain activity to a certain day so we can get in all the fun we need in a 3 month span. One year I didn't do half of the stuff I wanted to with the kids before summer was over. That's when I decided to get organized and map out our plans before hand. This year looks like this:

• Monday: cleaning day (yes, it's not all fun and games)
• Tuesday: Gymnastics lessons and field trip
• Wednesday: craft day and friends
• Thursday: swim day
• Friday: 'Kids in the Kitchen' (where I let the kids make a recipe from their cookbook)
• Saturday: friends day
• Sunday: family day (Both Jer and I are home and we spend the day as a family. Sometimes just doing nothing together is fun.)

So the start of the summer is turning out just fine. We've cleaned, organized and rearranged the playroom and we de-junked their rooms for a "fresh" start.

First Sleepover: At Nana's and Papa's with Azzie

Azzie wanted Papa to read her a bedtime story, but Belle wanted to do it instead. She is our little reader. She is so good and loves to do it. Papa said she "blew him away" with her reading skills. I'd like to take credit, but I can't. She just picked it up on her own.

Hill AFB Air Show

First field trip: The movie Up at Jordan Commons

Up was such a good movie. I cried (of course) because it was touching but funny. After we played on the concrete snakes outside of the Mayan.

First craft: Cork Sailboats

Birthday Bash(es)

In true Smith/Fuhriman/Perry fashion, Tre's birthday called for many parties. Here are the pictures and a brief description of each (So I can look back years down the road and know what was going on when Tre turned the big ten-oh).

First we start with a party at Nana and Papa's on the Sunday before his birthday. I made a cake and cupcakes and brought creamies. We were supposed to go to the park and have lunch there so Danny, Staci and Bridger could come by and visit but it was rainy and cold and Bridger wasn't doing too well. So we went to Nana and Papa's and had a good time anyway:

Blowing out sparkler candles on his awesome cake. Wonder who made it?

Tre (almost 10) Belle (6)
Tre opening presents. Many, many Tech Decks were given this day (and he LOVED it!)

Legos were also the present of the year. Tre is quite the Lego master these days.

Yep, he's still as goofy as usual!

Rowan (1) LOVED my cupcakes :)

Then there was the birthday morning. We were up at 6am to celebrate before Dad had to go to work. Tre got a new skateboard, new skate shoes, legos and......-drumroll-....a CELL PHONE. He texts, calls and plays constantly with that phone. But I feel better knowing he has one in an emergency situation or when I need to get a hold of him. He's so big!:

Then there is dinner at Sweet Tomatoes and night swimming at Grandmas:

Dinner at Sweet Tomatoes

Tre on his new Rip Stick. It took a while to get used to it, but he eventually could ride it.

Playing with legos...again

This is Tre salivating over his requested Chocolate Mint Oreo Cake. I made up the recipe and it turned out fantastic. He loved it!

Opening presents Tre (10), Belle (6), Grandma (??)

The highlight was probably the friend Slip N' Slide party. Complete with fruit smoothies, water guns, water balloons, cupcakes, Creamies, and friends this party was a "blast". Pun intended:

Trampoline fun. All the kids loved playing on that tramp...especially me!! CJ is doing a backflip in this pic.


Give boys (and a girl) a cooler full of water and thier own water gun and you've set yourself up for a down pour. Here is everyone posing for a perfect picture to sum up the party. Cj, Tim, Belle, Tre, Ciao, and Noah


Slip N' Slide. We had the water going for over two hours and it turned our backyard into a lake. At least everyone had fun playing in it! Caio, Tim, Belle, Tre, CJ


Tre (10) Tim (10) and Belle (6) taking a small break for a cupcake


Tim (10) and Tre (10) Ready, aim, FIRE!


Tre is quite pleased. The gifts included legos, Tech Decks, and Hot Wheels. Pretty much all three of his favs :) Shown: CJ (12), Tre (10), Caio (10)


Ha! This was so funny. Tre climbed into the cooler full of water to use as a barricade against the other "team" that was hiding out in the playset. Then he told everyone he peed in the water so they couldn't fill up their guns once they were empty. Little punk!
Noah (10) and Tre (10)


Big bucket of water balloons that took me an hour to fill......

....two minutes and 15 seconds later. Empty.