My Chaos -

We went on our first family campout with Joshua’s Tiger Den. He was very adamant about it being HIS campout and not Bryan’s. He’s been tagging along on all of Bryan scouting activities for years and it was finally his turn. It was a lot of fun – we love the camp grounds at Dinosaur Valley. The kids got to “dig” for fossils and learned a lot about how to identify them. And what a great place for exploring and running and climbing! The weather was perfect, even though it was pretty cold overnight. It just added to the whole experience. And we loved trying out our new tent! (which I didn't get a pic of, grrrr!) Love, love, love this photo of Bryan and his buddy! I can’t forget to mention that the older brothers who’re now Boy Scouts were fantastic! They were ready to help anytime we needed them to and we did rely on their help a few times!

A little wobbly, a little unsteady, not too sure he even wanted to skate... He ended up having a great time, falls and all at the 6th grade 80's skate party!

We go to Owens Farm every year to take part in their pseudo pumpkin patch. No, we don’t pick pumpkins, yes they are pretty much just scattered around an empty field… But the kids love it and because they love it, I love it. I get to take some really fun shots and it’s kinda cool to go back and see photos of the boys over the years and how much they’re growing. This was the first time Grammy and Papi were here in town and able to go with us. The boys really enjoyed sharing our yearly tradition with them. I also had the chance to get some great pics of them with the boys. Can you tell which boy is attached to which grandparent? LOL ! I love the bond they have with Grammy and Papi and can’t express how grateful I am that they have them in their lives!

Joshua waited for a year for his turn to go on a big trip! He was super excited about flying on an airplane. He has been on an airplane before, but not that he remembered. Plus, he was getting to go to Washington D.C. thank you very much! As I’ve done before with Bryan, I let him pretty much dictate our touristing. He HAD to do the following: National Air and Space Museum, the National Zoo, the President’s house and the Washington Monument. Our first day there, we went to the Iwo Jima Memorial, Arlington Cemetery and to the Women in Military Service for America Memorial. That was very cool. He enjoyed the ginormous Marines and strolling through the cemetery. We paid our respects to the veterans who had passed on and he and Grammy placed stones on some of the Jewish headstones. He loved looking at the photos, flags and uniforms in the museum while Papi and I looked for a specific person in the records of the first women in the Marine Corps. We even had the opportunity to chat for a good