This post is way late oh well! Here's what happened last Saturday (the 19th):
Dave was on an overnight scout camp out so the girl's and I mooched off of Antelope Stake's Pioneer Day festivities. Dave's parents were there making the pancakes and my parents were there eating them. We didn't stay long but Mayce was feeling the pioneer spirit in her dress. My mom made that a few years ago for Fallyn. When I showed it to Mayce her eyes lit up, no joke. She is definitely my girliest girl!

After the pioneer party we headed out to catch the end of the Eppie's race. My brother participated in all three legs this year. I am totally naive to the lingo of these kind of things but some of the things I heard were that his time was 2 hours 16 minutes and I believe it was much better than he had expected. (Robby, leave a comment if I'm way off with that.) It has semi-motivated me. If my little brother can do it, so can I! Who knows how long that will last but it looked like fun (to someone who didn't spend over 2 hours working my body until it would work no more!) I'm so proud of him, and there he his with his 2 boys and Payton and Fallyn.
Here's Mayce hanging out in the stroller. She loved that thing. They had an entire kids area in the park after the race. They had inflatable toys, face painting (that my girls would absolutely not do), and little carnival games. Along with free popcorn and cotton candy! Yum! I think next year we'll go just for the fun of it. They had a live band and bunch of different vendors, it was quite the event.

So there's last Saturday. We haven't done much since then. We'll see what I can pull together for tomorrow.

(Disclaimer: Sorry I couldn't get this to rotate. I tried saving it rotated in my photo program but when I saved it, it saved it into still pictures. So, those of you who know more than me feel free to clue me in. Thanks, and sorry!)

Here's a clip from Dave's softball game last night. We had a lot of fun. The game was at 7:30 so the weather was nice. Almost sweatshirt weather (I love sweatshirt weather!) and his team won so it was a great night. So Dave's been a little bummed about his season so far. They're only allowed single walled bats and apparently he's never hit with that kind before. His hitting (in his opinion) has been less than stellar. He usually gets on base, and has even hit one out, but most of the time he's racing the throw to first. But here's a good clip because it summarizes Dave well. He is willing to sacrifice his body for any sport. He usually pays for it the next day, like he is today with multiple open wounds and the inability to move body parts, but he knows no other way than 110%. So this clip is for Cami, it's not a real game if Dave doesn't end up the dirtiest player on the team.

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to go to Lake Tahoe with friends from our ward. Mindy and Bruce came with us so we had a car full. The girls had fun but I think the beach house in North Carolina has spoiled them. They played for an hour and then ate and probably expected a break in a house for a while and then out to the beach again when they were ready. Sorry ladies, this is the way most people go the the beach. We still haven't taken them to the Pacific Ocean yet, we probably should to bring them back to West Coast reality. But they had a great time and are still talking about it. It was nice to get away from the smoke that is still invading our air. I'm trying not to be the paranoid mom who doesn't let their kids play outside right now, but when the smoke is as thick as fog I have a hard time encouraging outside play. So here are the girls at Lake Tahoe!

Here's the girl's posing for me. Fallyn with the hand on the hip is funny. And apparently this is what Payton thinks of when she's told to pose. I guess we need to work on her creativity. I think she gets the lack there of from me. Whenever I was told to do a funny pose after a team picture I always looked lost. I was still trying to think of something funny while they took the picture. Maybe I should have Dave work with her.

The water was pretty cold but they all got all the way in. We have some water girls!

This was taken right after Mayce put her face in the water. She was fearless once she got in. She spent the beginning of the day just sitting in a chair eating gold fish crackers. I kept asking her if she wanted to swim but she like hanging out with the adults.

Here's the group picture. Look at all those boys! We are definitely outnumbered. It's a big change from Redding where there were lots of girls their ages. It's nice though because at this age they don't really realize the difference. And they spend a lot of time with their cousin Owen so boys aren't too foreign to them.
We had a great time and are looking forward to another outing to the lake. Thanks for the invite!

We had a pretty mellow 4th of July this year. We went to out to breakfast, then to Roseville's parade, home for naps, Grandpa & Grandma Corbridge's for swimming and dinner, and then we watched the fireworks. It was nice and relaxing.



Here's Dave and our ladies (well, two of them are being ladies) on the sidewalk waiting for the parade to pass by. We viewed at the end of the route this year but are planning on going earlier next year so we can watch from the beginning. It's a pretty long route for some to walk so toward the end their enthusiasm for participating has wained. The space between the "floats" also gets a little spread out. With our crowd we need it coming constantly. And, they had jump houses and slides set up in Royer Park, which was not on our agenda for the day. We spent most of our time telling them, "no." Not fun! Dave and I are firm believers in keeping our kids in the dark when it comes to fun things they will not be doing. Next year, to the front!

Here's a view from the spot where we watched the fireworks. As per tradition, we sit illegally on a median of grass in the intersection of Arden, Alta Arden, etc. and watch Cal Expo's firework display for free. This started when there were no kids. This year we had four, ages 5 and under. (Happy to have cousin Bruce in town now!) Not so safe and sane. Every year we talk about paying the money and watching from the stands, I know we're missing more of the show from a mile away, but we never go inside. And I don't know if my ladies even know we can do fireworks ourselves. Although that may fall into the "keeping the kids in the dark" category. I grew up celebrating the evening of the 4th at my parents with friends and homemade ice cream. Not to mention the dad's letting bottle rockets go from between their teeth and the firemen showing up after having calls about illegal firecrackers, those were the days! Seriously, don't mention that to Dave because he would totally try it.

Here's Payton and Fallyn with their glow necklaces. (Thanks Brittany, they loved them!)

My sister Kelsey surprised us with a visit. Mayce loves having her here. You can tell because Mayce's actually letting Kelsey hold her even though I'm within eye sight. (Boy, I sure wish Kelsey's husband Tommy would let them move out to California. Utah is no place for a California Girl!)

Grandma Corbridge made glow light accessories for Mayce's hair. And here she is with her infamous SMILE! I'm going to have to start practicing smiling with her in the mirror. I know as a teenager she'll give me a hard time about taking so many pictures with her smiling like that. Sorry, it cracks me up.

So, those were the highlights from our holiday this year. We're bummed we weren't able to make it to the annual BBQ in Nevada City, especially since I heard there's a permanent soft serve machine on the deck now, but we'll be there next year. It's so nice having our families so close by and being able to celebrate with the Corbridge's and Walker's together. We are truly blessed. We're also blessed to be touched by so many family and friends who have served and continue to serve in the various armed forces. With out them, and others like them, we would not have the freedoms we enjoy. I honestly cannot tell you how in awe I am of them and their choices to serve. They, along with their families, are in our prayers daily. Thank you!

It was a pretty quiet week for us. I think we've finally recovered from our traveling so here are a few silly pictures of the girls just because!

Here's Mayce in Fallyn's raincoat and shoes. Why does she have a raincoat in the middle of summer in fire crazy California? Because she wanted it. It's just that simple with her. I'm getting weaker in my momminess as I become outnumbered. And the shoes, Mayce is a shoe lover. We are in trouble. She loves every one's shoes and usually needs to be wearing a pair at all times.

Who says the Mr. Potato Head parts are just for him? Not my girls. The parts are usually on them before the potato.

Here they are being "burritos." It cracks me up how much Mayce needs to do what they do. That girl is way ahead of her 17 months. (Yea! Nursery in one more month!) Today she was chasing Fallyn around the island in the kitchen and she'd change directions every time Fallyn did to head her off. Fallyn's comment, "Man, she's good." Ha! They make me laugh so much!