Fun friends

Night of July 7th - morning of July 8th: Jana and her kids stopped by on their way home to from family vacation. I am so glad that she lives in AZ now - much closer than VA! It was a quick visit, but I will take quick visits any day! Thanks for stopping by Jana! 

Tyson's Birthday: Day 2

On day 2 of Tyson's birthday celebration (a.k.a. July 6th) we went to the Lied Discovery Children's Museum. The library gave our kids free passes for participating in and finishing the Summer reading program (along with rubber duckies and a board book!), so we just had to go! 

I never get tired of this museum and it's kid-friendly activities. They want you to touch and explore all the fun stuff they have. Definitely one of my favorite places in Las Vegas. 

The pictures below show all the fun discovering that went on! It was definitely a hit!! 

The Berenstein Bears house

Aria just relaxing 

There was a camera where you could see yourself - Tyson was stoked :)

Mini-grocery store

Checking out

I am so proud of my kids! They chose all fruits and vegetables  to put in their shopping basket! 

Kade just relaxing 

Reed fixing the car

Eve had to have a turn 

Carter did as well 

In front of Aunt Tifani's pennies

Eve was a good passenger on the airplane

Reed and Vance were good pilots

Aria and Kade had a blast!

The water is a favorite toy

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! I got one with the bubble around her!

The baby area (for kids 18 months and younger)

The whole crew in front of Aunt Tifani's pennies

I call this one the ball sucker

Wind storm 

I love Eve's hair 

That night we had birthday cake for Tyson and Tifani (Her birthday was in June, but she didn't get a cake. She is one of the only ones who really likes cake, so this cake was for her as well.).

This picture was taken by Reed. He loves Aunt Tifani!

All-in-all an extremely fun day! Happy birthday Tyson - for a second day in a row!

Tyson turns 29!

This year Tyson took his birthday off work! We were all super excited to have daddy with us the whole day!    We kind of a 2-day birthday for Tyson because we did fun stuff and had his official birthday cake on July 6th. But, that will come in the next post. 

On his actual birthday (July 5th), we mostly just spend time together as a family. First things first, though, Tyson (and the kids) opened his presents. Yes, I wrapped them in newspaper on purpose. :) The kids did a great job keeping everything a secret and helping daddy open the presents. He got a couple of super exciting things: a cheese cutter (he really likes cheese), a french fry cutter (homemade fries are fun), and the best present of all - a remote control helicopter! He was really excited for that one! I also got him a new work shirt, but it didn't arrive until after his birthday. 

Opening presents

Admiring his new cheese cutter

French fry cutter

Helicopter! Notice the expression on his face. :) 

So, much of the day was spent learning how to fly the helicopter. Reed and Eve were good retrievers when daddy crashed it into stuff. Tyson also had to hop a wall because he flew it into our neighbor's back yard. He tried walking around the block (it was our behind neighbor) and knocking on the front door, but no body was home. So, he ended up hopping the wall and hoping the dogs wouldn't attack him. He got back unscathed.

The helicopter 

The night we had a birthday dinner (adults only) at D.W. Bistro (a Jamaican-inspired restaurant) with the Walker side. It so so yummy! I was a little envious of the fabulous desserts everyone was eating - especially this lemon-lime pudding which is supposed to be amazing! But, I was really pleased with my food and we were happy that we were able to eat there. While we were on our way some alarm went off and they thought they might have to close down for the night, but it ended up being nothing and we were able to eat there! Phew! I definitely, definitely recommend D.W. Bistro! So yummy! Happy Birthday Tyson!

Independence Day

I always love July 4th! It gives me time to think about the amazing freedoms we have and how so many sacrificed and still sacrifice for us to be able to have the freedoms that we enjoy. Thank you to all who have fought and are fighting for our freedoms! 

We spent most of the day at Grandma and Grandpa Walker's home. The most exciting part for Reed was 'helping' them put the pig in the fire pit. Yes, an entire pig. We picked it up from a butcher and then Tyson helped his dad lower the pig into the fire pit that they (Tyson, his dad, Jared, and Adam) built in the back yard. I thought the kids would be grossed out or sad, but no, they thought it was awesome! No vegetarians live in this house, that's for sure. Reed talked for days about how we cooked a whole pig in grandpa's fire pit. They all ate the pig and liked it!

One of the many dreams of Dave Walker came true on July 4, 2012: build a fire pit in the backyard and cook a pig and vegetables the Tongan way. Lots of Zobrist family came plus John and Shauntelle and their girls. We all ate the pig and I tried every vegetable - not all were super good, but most were not bad. 

Before we actually got to eat the pig, it had to cook for about 6 hours in it's underground oven. So, during that time, I made my contributions to the dinner (consisting of dairy- and soy-free rice krispies treats, blueberries, strawberries, and bananas) and the kids played. It ended up raining for a bit, so umbrellas were made into forts outside. Always a good time with umbrellas, right?!  

Thank you, Pintrest for helping me to get creative with mostly fruit!

Kimber was proud of my work :)

So was I! 

The umbrella fort

It was serious work. 

My other dinner contribution - a flag made out of bananas, strawberries, and blueberries. Thanks again, Pintrest!

We also swam (after the rain stopped) and swam and swam until dinner was ready, and then did more swimming after dinner. 

Then, before John and Shauntelle left to go home, we did some sparklers and small fireworks. 

Everyone wanted to do sparklers. 

Reed, Mary, and Evyn showing off their sparklers. 

A tank

Then, we went to Aunt Lori's house for much bigger fireworks. Reed and Eve sported their star headbands that they had made at story time. We had homemade ice cream (well, I had homemade mango sorbet) and Reed has changed his favorite ice cream flavor to vanilla since that night. Reed watched the fireworks from inside grandpa's truck (they are still too loud for him) and Eve and Aria watched from the blankets. It was definitely a fun and tiring day!

Notice the headbands :)

Grandpa out lighting a firework

Daddy and Aria

Vance and Grandpa 

Daddy and Eve

Blurry, but Eve is showing off her sparkler.