Alex and Brady with the neighbor kid. Alex was a cheerleader and Brady was Batman.
Brady could barely see out of the eye holes of the mask. It was really funny because he kept running into things.
Trick-or-treating at the mall.
One of our Halloween activities on dad's day
Yes, I need to figure out how to turn the picture around so just work with me here.
Brady in front of his school.
Alex and Brady...he's so excited to be going to school just like his big sis!
Again, Alex and Brady on our deck. 
Alex in front of the school sign. Alex has her outfits planned out for the next 2 weeks. She is quite the fashion diva. She has done as far as having the hair style picked out with the outfit. I was kind of upset that this school didn't require uniforms because uniforms made my life easier last year in kindergarten. But so far it has been OK.
Alex with mommy and Brady. There was no crying from mom, but I was very sad to see her go.
So, I have no idea how to rotate this picture so, please.....just rotate your head.
Not the best picture but you get the idea...
June 26th we left Bakersfield, CA and headed to Las Vegas, NV. That was a 4 hour drive getting us to Vegas early enough to check into our hotel and hit the pool. What a hotel and pool. We stayed off the strip in the Northwest part of Las Vegas in a new hotel called The Aliante Station. We love Vegas. Most people don't but we do. It was the first place we owned a house, I got my first "real job" as a special education teacher and our daughter was born. Vegas has a lot of meaning to us. But we stayed in Vegas for a day and a half, hung out with grandpa and played in the pool. What fun. 
Just a cute picture...
June 28th we drove straight to Burley, Idaho. That drive was 600 miles and took about 10-11 hours. We have friends in Idaho that we were visiting. Plus, Joe and I have fond memories of Idaho. Burley was the first place we lived together as a married couple. This was our first house (duplex). We paid $325.00 a month. What a bargain even though we could barley afford it back then. I bet you could rent the same place today and still pay $325.00 a month. That was 12 years ago and Burley has not changed one bit.
This is Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho. The Falls are so beautiful. The kids loved seeing this. There's nothing like it.
It was a full capacity flow over the Falls. 
On June 30th, we left Idaho traveling to Rawlins, Wyoming. Along the way we stopped in Evanston, Wyoming where my Great grandparents were born, raised and buried. My grandmother was also born there and my uncle was buried there. It was nice to go and visit their resting place. 
On July 1 we traveled to North Platte, Nebraska and stayed the night. This was one of the first places that actually had a place to shop...a wal-mart. So much land everywhere and no civilization. I am such a city girl. I love having convience down the street.
We arrived in Cleveland, Ohio early day July 4. I really liked Cleveland, Ohio. It was very pretty. Actually our hotel was in West lake, Ohio right outside of Cleveland, So, West lake was pretty. We ate dinner at the cheesecake factory and watched fireworks. That was neat. I am sorry to hear that Monterey didn't do fireworks.
We did have fun in the pool...
July 5 we took a day off to relax in Cleveland and spend the day celebrating Brady's birthday. I know I said relaxing but believe it or not it was. It was a great day. We went to the Cleveland zoo, looked at all the animals, had a camel ride and touched a snake, swam in the hotel 
Brady got a spider-man mask and cape for his birthday. He has been wearing it all around. He especially loves to wear it around the hotels we stay at because people think it's cute...
We went to Red Robin for dinner and after dinner a few waiters and waitresses came over to sing him happy birthday. Oh and he also got a free and all to himself ice cream sundae.
He also got a dinosaur puzzle for his birthday. He loves puzzles. This one was brand new and he completed the puzzle in less than 5 minutes. I think that is pretty impressive.
We went swimming in the hotel pool. The kids love swimming in all the pools of the hotels we've stayed. It's a great way to end the evening. Get them all tired and ready for bed.
Of course this was the first event of the day...the Cleveland, Ohio Zoo. They have a dinosaur exhibit. Brady loved all the dinosaurs.... 
Brady and Alexandria also got a camel ride at the zoo. That was probably the best part of the zoo for the kids. It was pretty neat. Brady's words were, "this is awesome, so cool." He has grown up so much. I remember when he could barely say mom. 
This was my least favorite part about the zoo...if you know me then you know that I hate snakes...I am terrified of them. But my kids are not and they wanted to touch it. I had to take a picture because well it is cool. It's the only time that I would ever want them to touch a snake...at the zoo in the hands of an expert.
One last picture of all of us. We had a great day of fun and exhaustion. At this point we are near the east coast on east coast time with only 400 miles left to go.
THIS PICTURE IS HARD TO SEE BUT YES, IT'S JOE. JOE HAD MANY SLEEPLESS NIGHTS STUDYING, MANY LONG WEEKENDS STUDYING AND MANY HOURS PUT INTO A 120 PAGE THESIS...SERIOUSLY, WHAT DEDICATION. I AM SO PROUD OF HIM.
THE FAMILY
THIS IS FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHO CAME TO THE CEREMONY AND THEN LUNCH AT GIANNI'S...JOE'S FAVORITE RESTAURANT IN ALL OF MONTEREY.
JOE'S FRIENDS FROM THE CLASS OF 1996 AT THE CALIFORNIA MARITIME ACADEMY IN VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA.
HERE ARE ALL THE KIDS...BRADY IS THE ONLY BOY, 1 BOY AND 7 GIRLS.
Brady had a spider-man pinata at his party...the kids loved getting all the candy.
This is the jumpy house and Cambria. Brady and Cambria's birthdays are only 1 week apart, so we did a double party. What fun, The jumpy house made the party until...
We had problems with the jumpy house. The kids are lined up waiting for it to be fixed so they can jump.
This is Brady with a few of his friends and his sister with the bunny ears.
The jumpy house stopped working with kids on it...a little scary but everyone was fine and it was fixed pretty quick thanks to dad (and Clint)...
He had a great birthday especially in sharing it with his cute little friend, Cambria. I can't really say "little." Brady says he's not little anymore, he's a "big boy." It was an early birthday party for both kids because we are moving and will be on the rode on his real birthday. But thanks to all our friends who came especially Cambria and her family and sharing this day with Brady.
I got some really cute pictures especially the picture of the awesome volcanco cake I made with transformers on top. I even had dry ice coming out the top. It was awesome and turned out great but I will post pictures ASAP.
Brady says, I am 4 years old
Alex says, I am 40 years old.
Alexandria wanted a salon chair for her dolls.
And a horse shaped cake. I think I did a great job, especially for me because I am not too creative. 
Alex blowing out her candles tonight.
5 years old
4 years old
3 years old
2 years old
And of course, 1 year old 
1 year old again...she was such a chunk :)
They also made binoculars for searching for bugs. Brady painted his blue. 
Alex wanted a butterfly on both cheeks.
Brady wanted spider man but that one was the entire face and I knew that would cause problems for me...I already had the small amount of paint on my shirt so, Brady got his spider of his face. 
Alex had Hello Kitty Dye and stickers.
Brady had transformer dye and stickers.
On Easter Sunday, we made a bunny cake. This has become a family tradition for Easter. We did it last year and what a cake. I let the kids go crazy and boy did they...sprinkles everywhere.
We also did a family egg hunt. I did have 2 golden eggs, really one gold and one silver...same difference. this was the bigger prize inside...$5.00. They were excited.
