summer of 2010 highlights

Well, obviously summer was a long time ago and I am way behind in my blogging, so this is going to be an extremely long post. But I need to document so here we go:

SUMMER 2010!!


Walk for Crohn's Disease and Colitis at soldier field~



we did this walk back in May, I'm sure a lot of you remember me begging you for money! It was such a great experience and a cause that is definitely dear to my heart! My awesome brother Danny designed our shirts, and I think they were pretty great!


They fed us all kinds of free treats, and as you can see, Araleigh was a little excited about this little bite of cotton candy...


It was such a gorgeous walk along the lake, and it was the most beautiful day! It was really a great time! We plan to do it again this year, so be warned that I will be asking for donations again!!! And anyone is welcome to join us!


Our little Ballerina!~


Araleigh was in her 1st ballet recital this year. I was so excited! She loves ballet and she did such a great job! Well, as great a job as any 3 year old ballerina can do! :)


They were fairy princesses - her teacher really knew how to cater to these cute girls! Araleigh was thrilled that she was in a pink costume and she got to wear "real makeup" :)

Preschool graduation~


Well even though Araleigh has another year of preschool, we were able to enjoy her graduation! It was very cute and exciting, as all preschool graduations are!


Girl power! Araleigh with her friend Sabreen - they were the only girls in a class full of boys, so these 2 really had to stick together! They are still best friends!

Jaxon turns 8!~



Jaxon's birthday -he was so excited to open presents that he didn't wait for Dave and I to wake up, he just brought the party to our bedroom! Jax has never been one for patience... he is hilarious! We sure love this kid!


His birthday cake is gummy bears swimming in a pool - not my most complex cake, but when Jax saw it he exclaimed, "that's exactly what I wanted it to look like!" Score. :)

Jaxon's Baptism Day!~

Jaxon's baptism was an awesome event! We were so blessed to have most of our family attend, by some very miraculous flight experiences! He was surrounded by people who love him and it was such a special day! He was very excited, and very ready to make this commitment!

Summer vacation #1- Chicago and Nauvoo


After the baptism, we were lucky to be able to spend a little extra time with our families, and we decided to head to the Field Museum for the 1st time! It was a really cool place, and the kids had a great time! Then we headed to Nauvoo for a few days, another 1st time experience. It was really a great place and we learned so much about the early members of our church and all they went through. We also had a little taste of what life was like 150 + yrs ago!

1st stop, the Nauvoo temple. What a beautiful building!


This is one of the original stones from the original temple.


Traeden was ready and willing to drive his siblings across the plains! Just give the kid a horse team and he's ready to go!


Araleigh had no trouble working the kitchen as a little pioneer girl!


The kids had fun meeting with the cast of one of the plays they did there. The boys showed them their newly learned pioneer game skills. The cast was extremely impressed. :)


The kids loved learning how the pioneers made bread in a chimney.


And how they made bricks!


They played authentic pioneer games! (Traeden won - poor Jax is just too darn skinny!)


The 3 of them made a rope, which they were able to keep as a souvenir.

We really enjoyed the tours of all the houses, learning the history of all the amazing things that happened there. Next we headed to Carthage Jail.


It's amazing that this building has been preserved for all these years. It was really neat to be able to see what it was like, and to imagine the events that took place here.


The window that Joseph Smith jumped out of as he was shot. It was a pretty powerful moment, especially for my sensitive Traeden.


The group, standing under that same window.

I am so glad that I was able to have this experience! I'm grateful that my mom was so diligent in making it happen. It was really amazing.

Traeden turns 10!!!~


yes, that's right, my son is now in the double-digits. He's such an amazing kid! I'm so grateful for my Traeden!


since Traeden was so lucky to share his big day with all the fathers in the world, we had an awesome BBQ with our friends the Serbinskis and enjoyed cake over there! Check out my awesome guitar cake. Oh yeah.

4th of July~

One crazy day!!!


This year we spent our Nation's birthday in our Nation's capital - well, 5 hours of it, at least!


We joined our friends, the Ellsworths, on some wide-open flights to DC. With our combined 7 kids, we were literally a traveling circus! But it was SO MUCH FUN!!! We love these guys!


We caught glimpses of the parade, but it was extremely hot so eventually we just made our way to the Smithsonian to enjoy a little A/C.


We spent a few hours in the Air and Space Museum, which was really cool (literally)! The kids had such a blast!


Then it was back to the airport, for a quick flight back to Chicago! It was crazy but so fun!

Araleigh turns 4!!~


This year Araleigh really wanted a Dora birthday party, and since I've never had a party for her, we decided to go with it.

Araleigh with 2 of her best friends, Claire and Emmelina!

The kids had to go on an adventure to find the pinata that Swiper swiped. First they had to play a game to get themselves across Crocodile Lake. Next they had to use their flashlights to make it through the Deep Dark Cave. And then they finally found the pinata!

Then they were able to enjoy their delicious cupcakes :)

After the party, the girls got all dressed up and we took them to a local production of Beauty and the Beast. The girls were in heaven!

Especially when they were able to meet Belle and the rest of the cast after it was over! They were so cute!

Our little fairy princess! Now a big 4 year old!

One of Araleigh's presents was a lovely swimming pool - and since it was about 100 degrees, all 3 kids had a blast crowding into it all day! She had so much fun playing with her awesome brothers!!

Summer vacation #2~ Saugatuck, MI!

Another great highlight of our summer was spending a long weekend at Saugatuck, MI with the Serbinskis! It was a cute little family camp! We stayed in these cute little cabins overlooking Lake Michigan. It was such a great place!

Our first night there, the boys were able to do a little archery! They both did great!

They look like pro's :)

Dave even took a turn :)

Of course we had a lot of fun at the beach, riding the waves on an inflatable lobster :)

Danielle, Jaxon, and I decided to conquer the great Mount Baldy, a "mountain" of sand. What a hike. There is nothing like hiking a sand dune. It's like walking up the down escalator! What a workout!

But we did it! And we were able to enjoy a beautiful view of the town while emptying the massive amounts of sand out of our shoes. Then we literally ran down the mountain at full speed while screaming at the top of our lungs and flailing our arms about. Apparently it's a tradition. :)

Summer vacation #3~ SLC and DELTA!!!

Everyone who knows me well knows that Delta is pretty much my favorite place in the entire world, and a summer just wouldn't be complete without a trip there! This year Traeden was finally brave enough to get out on the lake! Unfortunately we didn't have a wakeboard small enough for him, so he gave knee boarding a try! He was a natural, and had such a blast doing it!

Araleigh out on the dock. I swear I didn't photo shop this picture, because those clouds look fake! What a gorgeous day!

Daddy took the kids for a little tour in the paddle boat, which I'm sure was one of the highlights of their trip! I'm so glad flights worked out and he was able to be there!

Summer vacation #4~ Laguna Beach!

Laguna beach is a very nostalgic location to the Smith clan, they have been vacationing there for many, many years! It is also where Dave took me for our honeymoon! We haven't been there since Traeden was about 6 weeks old, so it was great to be able to revisit this beautiful beach! The kids had such a fun time! The boys became awesome boogie-boarders!

Grandma Liz bought them some little army men, and they created very elaborate war scenes! They had fun with these little toys for hours!

Araleigh loved making this picture in the sand. I don't know what it is (maybe a lobster??) but she re-created it over and over and over, which slowed down our walk on the beach significantly! :)

One of the coolest parts of the trip, while exploring the tide pools at low tide, the kids discovered all kinds of sea creatures, including fish, sea urchins, tons of little crabs, and even an octopus!!

This pretty much wraps up our summer! Next up...Fall highlights! Maybe I'll get to them by next year!! :)

Back to Spring...

Just some quick photos of the boys' baseball parade, because it was a really fun experience for them. This is Traeden's team - he is #11 - he was too busy dancing to notice me so I don't have a good shot of his face >:(


There was an official flag ceremony, then they dedicated the new baseball park. The highschool band and colorguard were there, which the kids were excited about, because they know some of the highschool students.

There's Jaxon. What a little stud.

this is how we do parades in Glenview. Nothing says "play ball" like a lizard dude in a Ferrari.

Disneyworld...finally!

This post has been in the works for months, but I usually get kicked off the internet or frustrated with my incredibly slow computer, so I never finish it. But today I was bound and determined to post!

Back in April, we were able to take the kids to Disneyworld! It was such a fun experience! The kids really lived it up and had a great day, every day!

Day one: check out this hotel!!!

This is the courtyard outside our room. Lots of wishes were made in this fountain :)

Check out this bathtub! We all fit!

The kids were very anxious to explore the hotel. But Araleigh was even more anxious to hit the pool!

Ready to swim!!! She was a girl on a mission! :)

Ahhh, the pool!

It was just a little one :)

After a nice dip in the pool, we headed over to Downtown Disney, where we went to DisneyQuest, which is an awesome indoor virtual reality theme park. It was like a giant arcade, full of virtual rides! Our favorite was the Pirates of the Carribbean, where you go into a room surrounded by screens, and you are on a "boat" - one person steers the ship and everyone else shoots cannons at the other pirate ships. It was a lot of fun and the kids did a great job! There was also a fun river raft ride where you had oars with sensors on them and the screen responded to your paddling, so you could choose your course. It was definitely a cool place!

Day 2: The Magic Kingdom

despite the fact that the weather was crappy and it rained all day, the Magic Kingdom was definitely our favorite place! We got there as soon as it opened, and were suprised that the kids never ran out of steam - we stayed til it closed at midnight! But they were so good and happy, so it was fine!

We started with Pirates of the Carribbean, which the kids liked, but it wasn't really exciting enough for Traeden! So the next stop was Splash Mountain! Jaxon was excited about it until we got on the ride, then he started having second thoughts. Araleigh had no idea what we were getting her into. They were both pretty mad at us after the ride, and I think this picture says it all! So cute!

Thankfully, by the time we got in line for the Haunted Mansion, they had fully recovered!

Next, we decided to go for a little drive. Traeden was very happy to be tall enough to drive alone, while Jax went with Dave and Araleigh drove me.

Araleigh was a very careful driver :) Kept her hands at 10 and 2 the whole time!

The rain continued all day, but it didn't stop Araleigh from enjoying the castle and the wishing well!

Make a wish!!!

Yes, Dave and Jaxon are rockin the garbage bags... I was against it the whole time. But Dave did not want to spend $12 on a plastic poncho, so he raided the custodian cart instead :) But, hey, at least they were dry! They didn't mind!

And of course, what would Disney World be without the big man himself,

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E! The kids got to be the first ones in the room, which meant a personal escort by Mickey and Minnie themselves! They felt pretty special!

Last ride of the night was the teacups! The park closed at midnight, and we were very surprised that our kids all wanted to stay right til the end, and weren't even tired or cranky! They put in a good 14 hours of damp fun, and were ready to go again bright and early the next morning!

Day 3: Hollywood studios

The first ride we enjoyed at Hollywood Studios was the Buzz and Woody Midway Games, an interactive ride where you get to play virtual ring toss and other midway games while riding around. It was a lot of fun, probably one of our favorites in the trip!

The boys got pulled out of the crowd by the army guys, and went through some drills. It was very fun, and the guys were really funny and cute with the kids.

Other highlights of Hollywood Studios included The Tower of Terror - which Jaxon was so excited to ride until it was time to get on, then he was not so excited anymore! We took poor, unexpecting Araleigh on it too, and she still hasn't forgiven us! But hey, Traeden liked it!

We also did Aerosmith - which happens to be Jax's favorite band - thankfully it is completely indoors so we didn't know what the ride would be like, because if Jaxon had known that it went 60 mph, did all kinds of loops and corkscrews, in nearly complete darkness, he would have never ridden it in a million years! But he didn't know, and went on the ride, and lo and behold, he LIKED it!!! He wouldn't do it a second time, but at least he came out happy!

Day 4: Epcot

The first ride we hit at Epcot was the new Test Track, which Jaxon was a bit nervous about, but the boys all ended up enjoying it! It was a little fast for Araleigh, but she wasn't too freaked out!

Next we went to the Finding Nemo ride, which was cute, but our favorite part was after the ride, when we went to the "Talking with Crush" attraction, which was awesome! We went into a room with a large screen that looked like an underwater viewing window. The kids all sat on the floor in the front of the room, and Crush swam up to the screen and "talked" to the kids! He let them ask him questions (and even called on them himself, knowing what they were wearing or what they looked like) and then he asked the kids some questions about human life. It was the cutest thing ever, to see these kids talk to him. And he was very funny, encouraging all the kids to use the word "dude" more often :)

We then headed over to Tinkerbell's garden, which was full of butterflies and "fairies" :) Araleigh was very excited about this!

Last, we took a tour of the world, which is always a lot of fun!

First, stop, Canada!

Bet you didn't know Bambi lives there, but Araleigh was delighted to see him!

In Paris now, where we were lucky to meet some famous locals:

I don't remember this kitty's name at the moment... But she's cute and Araleigh was happy to see her!

And Belle lives in Paris, of course. Araleigh told Belle that she is "daddy's favorite princess" (it's because she is smart, likes to read, doesn't want to marry the meathead, stands up for her daddy, and doesn't have love at first sight. He is not a big fan of Ariel, understandably)

And Araleigh's favorite princess, Sleeping Beauty!! The boys are too cool to get their pictures taken with the princesses now.

Dave made me get in a picture, so I guess now I can prove I was really there.

I think this was Italy...can't really remember though. Anyone know?

In China the kids became very interested in the puppets, hoping for a souvenir.

But the Chinese acrobats caught their attention, they were really amazing!

So our trip ended with Epcot, we flew home the next morning. It was such a fun trip, of course it ended way too soon! But it was so fun to be together in the most magical place!!!