Happy Birthday Grandpa!

At the Miner house we like to make a big deal out of birthdays, and this week happened to be Grandpa's (Mark's dad) birthday! Marky gets very excited for birthday parties, even if it's not his own. Grandma and I decided to take him to pick out some decorations for the big day. He thought Spiderman would be a good theme, and we had a great time decorating and turning the house into a Spiderman birthday. Marky was so excited that he was up at 6am to start the day. He made breakfast, frosted the cake, and of course both boys helped Grandpa open his presents. It was probably the most exciting birthday Grandpa has had in a long time, and it was fun for everyone! Yeah for birthdays!

Week 1 in Colorado

We have been in Colorado visiting Grandma and Grandpa for the last week, and it's been so fun! The kids have been going to bed about 7:30 since they just run all day long. The other day we went to Build A Bear and each of the boys made a bear. Marky dressed his in a Spiderman costume of course. The bears turned out really cute and the boys had a lot of fun. Then we went over to Jumpin, which is the bounce house. I took Kevin down the big slide a few times, and then he wanted to do it on his own, and he did pretty well! Even Grandma played on the equipment. After a long morning of fun, we hit Chick Fil A (my favorite!) for some lunch and then we all came home and took naps. That's my idea of a good day! We also made pita bread pizzas for dinner one night, and Marky got to pull out the chef uniform and make his own dinner. He had a very large pizza that he ate 2 bites of, but it was fun at least! We've also had a lot of fun visiting various parks and jumping on the trampoline in the back yard. Tomorrow Mark will join us and we will have another fun filled week!

I need help!

I have heard that it's possible to print your blog posts. Is this true? If so, does anyone know how to do it so it looks nice? I want to print them out and make a "scrapbook" of sorts, since this is the only way I have been journaling our family. Anyway, if any of you know how to do this, please let me know!

Kevin's New Favorite Thing

Two Wheel Motion

Marky has reached yet another milestone, again reminding me that he's growing up way too fast. While sitting on a bench eating some amazing shaved ice (my favorite thing in the world!) at the beach, my 4 year old noticed the kids riding their bikes along the sidewalk. He said, "Mom, those kids don't have training wheels on their bikes. I think I'll ride my bike without training wheels now." He went back and asked Daddy to take them off when we got home, and I braced myself for the scraped knees and temper tantrums that usually result from learning to ride a bike. The next day, Mark took off his training wheels and decided to take him for a quick lap around the block, while holding onto the back. They came home and we decided to go to the park, which has a sidewalk all the way around, so he wouldn't fall into the street when he crashed. As soon as we got there, Marky decided he was going to do this on his own and refused to let anyone hold onto him. Then he took off! I was waiting for the wipeout, but it just never happened, and still hasn't. Now we will have to ask Santa for new bikes so we can keep up with him!

Labor Day Weekend

I love 3 day weekends! Saturday morning Mark and Marky went and picked grapes at the vineyard our church owns. They were up and out of the house at 6am! I stayed home with Kevin and packed up for our last trip to the beach for the summer. The boys came home about 9, and we headed out of town to escape the heat. We went to our favorite beach (Avila) and what a perfect day it was! I thought for sure it would be packed, but it was less crowded than normal. The weather was beautiful, only in the low 70's as opposed to the 102 it was in Fresno. The boys had a great time playing in the sand while I sat under my umbrella with my feet in the sand. Mark rented a boogie board again, and had some fun for a couple of hours catching some waves. Marky watched and decided he needed to be in on that action! He did really well as long as Daddy held onto the board until the waves came. Now the child wants his own board of course. I will just add it to the list, along with his requests for a computer, blackberry, and MP3 player. After the beach we headed over to Morro Bay for dinner, and got some really good fish tacos. I love the coast!

Sunday we stayed low key, going to church, and taking a family nap! Then Monday morning we headed over to the Zoo, since we have a family membership that Mark rarely gets to use. They have a pretty fun bird show that is only done in the summer, so Mark finally got to see it! It was nice to spend a couple of hours before lunch, and then leave and get some stuff done. We spent the rest of the day doing errands and playing at the park. Overall, we had a wonderful weekend of family fun! I really hated to see it end!