It's a SAILABRATION!!

On Saturday, June 16th we head down to the Inner Harbor of Baltimore to attend the "Sailabration" event in honor of the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812/Star Spangled Banner. It was a perfect day for being outside and we seemed to be joined by the entire population of Maryland!!

The different boats from all around the world were pretty amazing to view from a distance (they had free tours but you can just imagine how long those lines were!!)

Nolan and Reygan chilled in their riding recliners while the rest of us toured the harbor.

The Three Musketeers eagerly awaiting the highlight of the day...the BLUE ANGELS!!

I have great memories of the Blue Angels visting Grand Junction and they did not disappoint. They were as amazing as ever and it was pretty fun to see them fly and glide in formation all around the boats and water areas.

The kiddos even played "Blue Angels" in between the high flying acts...

Another fun-filled day for the Call Family this summer!!

A Chance of Showers

Landon received a sprinkler head as one of his birthday presents. Both kids have had a great time running through the sprinkers, spraying each other with it, and putting it under the trampoline for some wet, jumping fun!!

It's a great way to keep cool during these hot summer days!!

Four on the 4th!!

Landon celebrated his "golden" birthday this year!! (You know, the once in your lifetime birthday where you turn the same age as the date of your birth...) He had been looking forward to this birthday for months and was eagerly counting down the days until June 4th!!

After an early-morning bike ride with Daddy (Abby and Landon were both up and ready to go at 6 a.m.!!) Landon came home to find his birthday wish list fulfilled (he actually only asked for the lawnmower so good thing we were able to find him that one!!)

(Look at the excitement on that little face!! And please pay no attention to the placement of his hands in this picture....we're working on that one!!)

We spent the morning and early afternoon with Tasha, Coldon and Reygan including a magical visit to the good old "Chuck E Cheese." (It was practically empty so it was like having our own little private party there!)

Then after Jason came home from work, it was time for some presents and cards from grandparents...

After an artery-clogging dinner at "Friendly's" we came home to eat even more sugar!! (I know its a sorry-looking little cake. I was lazy and just bought this cake from Sam's Club. It was surrounded by cupcakes that we had eaten at the baseball game two days before, hence all the missing frosting on the bottom!!)

It took him a few tries, but he finally blew out all four candles...

Two days later we remembered that we had also bought him this little football outfit for his birthday a while ago and had forgotten to give it to him (we could call that a "parent-fail" but we prefer to call it extending his birthday celebration!!)

He loved the uniform and ended up wearing it as his outfit for the rest of the day.

We love our little four-year-old!! He is truly ALL BOY! He runs, kicks, hits, yells right along with the best of them. He can leave me so frustrated one minute and completely in stitches the next (he has quite the humor and personality to match his rambunctious nature!!) He is a great little singer too and has an amazing ability to remember and memorize things. He loves swimming, bike riding, jumping on the trampoline and playing anything with a ball...but he could also watch TV or play the iPadfor hours if I let him (his two favorite shows right now...My Little Pony and He-Man. Go figure!!) He is a very difficult child at times but can also be so sweet, loveable and teachable too!

We can't wait to see all the ways he will learn and grow as a four-year-old!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Little Guy!!

Birthday Pitch

As an early birthday present, we bought the birthday package from the Hagerstown Suns for the game on Saturday, June 2nd which meant that Landon got to throw out the first pitch. He remembers doing it from last year so he seemed like an old pro as he walked out to the field to make his pitching debut that night!!

Daddy went out with him this year and the Sun's mascot, Woolie, was eagerly anticipating the throw as well...

Wow....look at that form!!

Proud Daddy and son walking off the field from his successful first pitch attempt!

The Merrill family joined in our celebration and we had front row seats to all the action that night. Even Woolie stopped by a little later to give our "soon-to-be-birthday-boy" a high-five!

Landon was thrilled with the baseball and two free tickets to another game that Woolie left him!!

It was a wonderful evening for baseball and we got to watch all of the first game and part of the second one before calling it a night (it was a double-header!) Our litle Landon was in sports heaven and it was a great way to prep for his big day two days later!!

Moving on Up!!

From this... 

(August 2011)

To this...

(Last day of Kindergarten, June 2012)

Abby has had an amazing year in kindergarten and we could not be more pleased about her start to formal eduation. She had a great teacher (Ms. Austin) who was tough, but fair and taught her some amazing things this year. She went from being an emergent reader to reading 100 page chapter books by the end of the year!! (I know that did NOT happen when I was in kindergarten. I think all we learned were numbers, the alphabet, shapes and how to color in the lines!!)

It was her idea to wear the same outfit on her last day of school that she wore on her first day. I think you can really tell the difference just 9 months have made in this little girl. She is looking and acting so grown up these days. In some ways it make me really sad to see her growing so fast, but I'm also excited to see the beautiful young lady that she will become.

Now on to a FUN filled summer followed by FIRST GRADE!!!

Of course Landon didn't want to be left out on the picture taking

so here's a few shots of our little man too!!

Daddy's Day!

First there was one...

(Father's Day 2006)

Then one more made two...

(Father's Day 2008)

And now there are three!!

(Father's Day 2012)

I could not ask for a better father for our three wonderful children. He is an amazing dad and husband and we all feel very blessed to have him in our lives. Everyone is so excited to see him when he comes home from work each day and he makes everything just a bit more fun!! We sure do love our Daddy!!

Beating the Heat

A heat wave came over Memorial Day weekend so helped to beat it by dragging out our luxury swimming pool for the first time this year. Landon and Abby loved splashing around in it and when we brought Nolan out, he loved it even more! It’s a bit small when all three are inside of it at the same time, but it works for cooling us off in the heat of the summer when we aren’t at the lake. I’m sure there will be many more pool days for us this summer!!