Pump It Up

The kids have been dying to go to Pump It Up and last week we tried to go, but there was a group there that had the pop in play time closed. They were devastated!! We went to Crazy Clyde's but it isn't as fun for them. Yes, they are basically the same thing, but mine prefer Pump It Up.

Today, they got a little brave and decided to use the little mats to go down the slide faster. They LOVED IT! It was so funny to watch their faces as they came down going so fast. Ashton was the one that got it started, but Maddie quickly followed. As you can see, it was a hit and they did it over and over for almost an hour. Hopefully, it was enough to help them sleep REALLY good tonight!

Where did June go?

June has come and gone fast around the Perry house. The kids and I have been staying busy with all kinds of fun stuff. We signed up for the summer reading program at our library. The kids have loved the shows they have had and ask almost every day if we are going to the library today. I think the magic/balloon show was probably their favorite, but the ventriloquist had them pretty intrigued too. I've been surprised at how well they have done sitting quietly and how much information they have absorbed during our time there. I'm amazed at the amount of "replay" Ashton can give Alex when he comes home from work. It is cute!!

We have also caught a couple of movies at the Providence movie theater and been doing a LOT of swimming to keep cool. All and all it has been a fun month and we looking forward to seeing what all we can get in to during July.

Pool Time

Alex took Ashton to the pool yesterday while Maddie and I were at my sister's baby shower and he had some much fun. After church today, he asked if we could go. Unfortunately it was raining and we couldn't go. He and Maddie proceeded to ask constantly and finally when the rain had stopped, we loaded up and went.

As you can see, Ashton was just a little excited and couldn't wait.

He loves standing under the "showering" mushroom.

Neither one of them were too thrilled with the lifeguard break time. They tried to sit patiently at the edge and wait, but that 10 minutes seemed to last days for them. LOL

Dax's Baby Shower

My sister, Casey and her husband, Brandon are having another child. Daxton Kyle will be here before we know it. As you can see, Addison is really excited to be getting a little brother!

Yesterday, we had a baby shower for Casey and Addison LOVED helping with her baby brother's presents.

I'm not sure if she knew what half of the stuff was, but it was still cute to watch how excited she got about almost everything she opened!

I actually think that pacifiers and bottles topped it all! How odd is that?!?!?!?

Learning the value of our OWN money

Alex and I have decided that we want to start teaching out kids the value of money. For a while we have given them "coinees" (as they kids call them) for doing little things to help out around the house without being asked. They have slowly graduated to getting dollars from time to time. Well, here lately we have been offering Maddie dollars for every time she wakes up dry, since that has been a struggle for her. Ashton, however, has earned his in all kinds of different ways.

Well, a couple of days ago, I had to run to Target to pick up a handful of things and Ashton and Maddie decided they wanted to carry their wallets and pick out something to buy with their money. Ashton has been our very frugile child that doesn't like to spend any of his money, therefore having a decent amount and Maddie is our child that has a dime and it will be burning a whole in her pocket. So, I knew going in that Maddie wouldn't be able to get much of anything and Ashton would. A problem!!! I thought I could do some damage control before we went in to save myself, so I explained to Maddie that she didn't have as much as Ashton and so she'd probably need to look for something little in the dollar zone at the front of the store. She was fine with it, but couldn't find anything she wanted to buy. We headed off to start tackling my list and she spotted a microphone in the party supply section and we had a winner. YAY! One child down and happy, now just one left. Boy, did I have my hands full with that one. Ashton is so tight with his money that we literally spent more time looking in the isles of toys than I spent collecting ALL the items I needed to get on my list. He was being so picky trying to find the perfect toy that would allow him to have a "great" toy, but yet not spend too much of his money. WOW, it was a process and I was beginning to loose patience. FINALLY he chose a truck pulling a trailered four-wheeler and we were headed for the checkout. I decided that they needed to get the full experience, so I made them pay for their toys each on their own and put their change back inside their wallets. The man at the checkout was very patient with us and the kids felt so big doing it. What I got the biggest kick out of was that they both wanted to keep their receipts! How odd?!?!?! After we got home, they were talking over lunch and I heard Maddie ask Ashton why they had to keep their receipts because threw hers in the trash. LOL I love these two kids and I hope that one day, this process of teaching them about money will pay off.

Memorial Day Weekend

Our Memorial Day weekend was a nice and mostly relaxing time. Saturday, Ashton had his final tee ball game for his first season of playing. He did a great job and managed to hit the ball out of the in field for both his times at bat. We were really happy for him and he was beaming. Ashton got his first trophy for the season. He is very proud of it! He couldn't wait to get home and put it on the shelf with his game ball in his room.

After Ashton's game, we went to a friends house for a get together. John and Laurie are getting settled in their new house and so it was a great time to visit, check out the new place and have some holiday festivities. There was tons of poeple there and we all had a great time!! The kids were so worn out when we left, they managed to get out that they couldn't wait to go back to their house and then they were both asleep.

The rest of our weekend was spent just relaxing and spending some time as a family. We hadn't been back from our trip long and it was the perfect LONG weekend to get back in the swing of things at our house. The kids weren't ready for Alex to go back to work when it was all over with. We'd enjoyed our time together!!

California Trip

Alex and I started last year taking a summer trip, just the two of us, to spend some time together without the distraction of the kids. It was really nice and we both looked forward to doing it again. This year we decided to stay a little closer to home since Casey is getting pretty far along in her pregnancy and she is our primary care giver when we go. (Thanks Casey!!!) However, as time got closer, she started having some issues with her pregnancy and we had to mix up the plan a little and we ended up with several helpers. The kids started with Alex's parents for a few days, then went and stayed with some of our friends, The Reed's for the weekend, and then ended the trip with Casey and my Dad. They had a great time, but were definitely ready for us to come home. Maddie doesn't care for us to ever go on another trip! LOL

California was our destination for this summer. We started out in La Jolla, in the San Diego area. We did a lot of driving around checking out all the local sites and suggested places. We did a bicyle tour on our own on this double bicyle as you can see. It was definitely an interesting adventure. Alex swears he did all the work, but I can tell you that it wasn't all easy for me either.

We did look really cool though and NO ONE could tell we were tourists! LOL

This is an area at the La Jolla Cove where all the seals sunbathed. I thought it was neat just how close you could get to them. We had planned a kayaking trip of the coves, but the day we were going the tide got too high and we couldn't go. I was bummed because that was one of the things I really wanted to do while I was there and it just didn't happen. :(

After five days in San Diego, we hopped on a plane and headed over to San Francisco to wrap up our trip. I have always wanted to go there. Alex has already been before but couldn't wait to show me around himself.


We did a tour of Alcatraz Island, which I have to admit, I had NO desire to do, but went. I was pleasantly surprised!! It was really neat and a lot of interesting history there. I really enjoyed it.

We got to see almost the entire facility. I couldn't believe just how small the cells where. It was unbelievable. And then the isolation cells where even worse. WOW! I took so many pictures and looking back, they just don't do justice to actually being there. It is something I would recommend you check out if you ever get the opportunity.

We did so many things while we were there, that I can't get them all in, but I wanted to hit some of the high points. We went to the Fishermans Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, wine country, and Chinatown.

I got to ride on a cable car, which I have never done and thought would be so cool.

It was a fun trip, but I think we were both ready to be back home with the kids! We missed them!!!!