San Diego Wild Animal Park

We went with Becky and her kids to the San Diego Wild Animal Park and it was a fun place. They had a ferris wheel with all sorts of different wild animals to ride on, and the kids rode a few times. Of course they had to change the animal they were on every time, and Asher wasn't too sure what to make of it at first but decided he really liked it after a few times. We thought the lion exhibit was pretty cool too with the lion that was sleeping on top of the safari jeep. We took a train around the park and it was a lot like and African safari with the animals just roaming around out in the open doing their thing. Kind of a nice change from the little enclosures you find at the zoo. It was pretty warm walking around so we let the kids play in the little splash park they had there, and of course the kids were soaked when we got done. They thought it was a lot of fun and it definitely cooled them off. There was a play area that the kids played in for a little while and Rhyan loved the elephant and the car with the animals she could pretend to drive. She is such a cutie. She was giving the elephant kisses before she left. These pots the kids were in were up by the Dinosaur Mountain adventure we went through, and they thought that they were just perfect for climbing on, of course! The petting zoo was a hit too. The kids got to feed the deer some food and all the animals were quite friendly. Asher wasn't sure what to make of the deer... he was very curious as to what it was. He was also pretty impressed with the kimono dragon and was just standing there staring at it. The last picture you can see all the kids intrigued by this big, blue crested pigeon. He was really pretty and all the kids were impressed!

The Beach

The kids absolutely loved the beach. We went twice while we were there because they requested we go back again, and these pictures are from the first trip. Becky's mom and sisters met us out there with their kids so there were plenty of people there with lots of babies for Asher to hang out with. Kaleb and Mayson took the boogie boards out with Michael and Gunnar and looked like they fit right in with the California folk. Even Asher took an interest in the boogie board and decided to hop on to try it out. Maybe we have a serious future surfer on our hands! Even Rhyan was getting in on the action and hauling her boogie board up and down the beach. She looked so cute draggin it around... a little mini surfer girl!

California Here We Come

Next stop on our trip was sunny California. We drove out to see Becky, JJ and the kids and we were all so excited to see them. I can't tell you how many time my kids asked when we were going to see Michael and Gunnar. This was the first leg of our trip that I drove by myself, and as luck would have it, as we were leaving the Salt Lake valley and my kids were asking for a movie, turns out my DVD player had died. This did not help my mood or make the drive any easier, but I have to say that the kids did really well anyway. Needless to say getting to the Toyota dealer and getting the DVD player fixed were tops on the priority list in CA. The drive took longer than panned and we got there late, but it was great to see everyone. The kids had a great time and it was good to get to hang out with Becky for a week. We really miss having them around to hang out with all the time.

As you can see, Asher already thinks he should be able to use the bike ramp. We caught a great video of him falling off the bike ramp, so if I can get it to load I'll put it on.

Father's Day

We spent father's day with Opa, and though we really missed Larry and wish he had been with us, we did have fun with everyone. We had turkey for dinner which was great, and then we just hung out and talked while the kids played. You can see that dad/Opa was the star of the day. He was in quite a few wrestling/tickling matches with all of the kids that night. They all love being around him and playing with him bacause he can be such a kid himself!

Hangin' with YaYa

Here are just a couple of pictures of hanging out with YaYa and Grandpa Mark. We had a barbecue with them on Saturday to celebrate father's day since we were spending Sunday at my dads. It was cold and rainy so we ended up inside. In this top one mom was hanging out on the steps because Asher insisted on climbing up and trying to come back down them over and over!
Here is Kaleb and Grandpa Mark in the middle of an intense game of chess. This is serious stuff!
And last but not least we have Asher trying to stick his head in a bucket. Yeah, I don't even know what to follow that with!

Salt Lake Children's Museum

e went to the Salt Lake Children's Museum with Oma and Opa while we were there. Quinn got to go with us and the kids had a lot of fun together. In this first picture Asher was trying to put the balls down the tube and was doing a really good job of it. He was just fascinated that they suddenly disappeared and kept doing it over and over.Here Opa and Kaleb were building with some blocks. They spent a quite a bit of time on the upper floor building with all of the different blocks and things.
Oma got stuck in the car for a quite a while with all the girls. They were having great fun driving and filling it up with gas.
Rhyan was pretty impressed with these flowers that were in the flower box of the little house because she could pick them. Her and Mayson kept picking bouquets of flowers a Rhyan was hauling them around with her for a while.

The picture above shows the mouse hole that they had in the wall of the Children's Museum, and below you can see Rhyan and Quinn lying on the floor staring into the hole. They thought it was pretty neat.
And of course, Asher had to get a good look too!
Here is Rhyan hiding out in the little stick hut. She had a lot of fun running around in this room which was set up specifically for younger children.

Oma & Opa's House

We spent our first week of our trip at Oma & Opa's house. We had a great time & everyone felt right at home. The kids loved Oma's gardens and insisted on pretending they were a jungle and following the path. They were hanging out on the rocks and I thought they looked cute. The other picture is of the kids hide out at the house. My dad rolled out carpet and put the couches out so the kids had somewhere to hang out. They thought it was so cool, and on the night we took the picture Quinn was over camping out with them.

Beez Game

Adam got us free tickets to go to the Beez Game in SLC, so off we went with Opa in tow. It also turned out to be free kids meal night, so not only did we get in the game free but everyone also got free hot dogs, chips & drinks while we were there. We all had fun, and how can you beat a free night out?

Trip to Utah

We left for Utah the middle of June. These pictures were taken up at my mom and Marks house when we all went up for dinner. In this first one you can see that the kids are taking full advantage of having Grandpa Mark around to be at their beck and call. They thought the wheel barrel was great fun. Later in the week my mom and Mark took the kids out to Antelope Island while Lacey & I went up to Park City to the outlets.After roasting their hotdogs and seeing the antelope and buffalo, they came home singing at the top of their lungs their newly learned ballad, "Home on the Range."Here are Lacey and I hanging out on the rocks watching everyone running around playing. It's nice to just sit and chat when it's not over the phone!

Here you see Uncle Jared getting broken in by the kids. Nothing like a little baptism by fire. He got the special treat of getting to eat some of the kids Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans that Tia gave them. Apparently they were pretty bad, because he voluntarily followed the vomit flavored bean with two soap flavored ones to cover the taste. Ummm, yummy! The kids got a lot of laughs out of trying to get everyone to eat their beans!
And here are the guys just hanging out. Larry only got to spend two days with us after we drove here because he had to get back for his residency. We really miss him and wish he could have stayed longer. I'm sure we will have excessive pictures up of our trip because we are posting a bunch so that Larry can see what's been going on. So, everyone else will have to bear with us.

Asher's 1st Birthday

I cannot believe he is really one. It seems like just yesterday when he was brand new, and now my baby is not such a baby anymore. He loves to eat... everything he can get his hands on, and is weighing in about 24 lbs. He loves to talk to you and all day he is spouting off gibberish to anyone around. He is always smiling and happy and is such a blessing in our family. The kids love having a baby brother to dote on, and if you ask Larry he says I am totally smitten with him. He is so snugly and cuddly that he almost always is up after bedtime at night because he is sitting up on the couch snuggling with me and I don't have it in me to put him to bed. He is such a lover! For his birthday we had the Johnsons over for a barbecue and cupcakes. We had a good time and Asher now has the traditional Kalke house 1st birthday bank. The kids all knew he would be getting one and the question leading up to it was "what kind of animal is it?" There was much speculation, and everyone approved of the alligator after he got it. I think the hit birthday present was his very own set of keys he got from the Johnsons. Maybe he'll quit trying to steal mine!

Blast Off Into Summer

The school district does their blast off into summer event right after school lets out each year. Kaleb went to scout camp for the day and I took the other three kids to this. They had hot dogs, drink & popcorn, a live band, face painting, etc... But, the highlight of the day was definitely the rocket car. It is a pretty fancy car that they use for nothing other than to give kids rides in the summer. After five years in Cleveland we have finally ridden the rocket car and the girls definitely thought it was cool.

Field Day

The kids had field day at school their last week & I got to go help in the morning. I got to help with Mayson's class and it was fun to watch the kids run around! Turns out Mayson is one of the fastest kids in her class as she won a few of the races. That's my girl!! You can tell by looking at her that she takes this stuff serious. It fell on Kaleb's birthday, so after I got done Larry met us at the school and we took him out to lunch. It was a fun day for all.