student council.

Beginning in 4th grade, students have the opportunity to be selected to be one of two classroom representatives for student council. Lincoln ran...and won! Congrats, bud. Below, he is proudly displaying his Student Council t-shirt.

first day of school 2015.

With us having year-round school here in Chandler, the kids started the new school year in July. Here the are on their first day!

knitting.

While Grandma was here visiting in June, she took some time to begin teaching Lincoln how to knit! There was all sorts of knitting lingo being thrown around. I have no idea what they were talking about, but they really enjoyed themselves.

Lincoln proudly displaying his first finished project: a dish cloth.
Way to go! 

happy father's day.

Father's Day was a bit low-key this year as we had just gotten home from vacation in California the day before. Dad chilled out at home, we swam in the pool, and ate in. It was a nice, relaxing day.

Here is Matt with his two little people. 

Oceanside, CA.

In mid-June, we drove about 5 1/2 hours to Oceanside, CA for a week's vacation. Escaping Arizona's 100+ degree temperatures was a welcome change. Temps in Oceanside were in the 70s. 

We had several cloudy days, which felt different for us as the sun is nearly always shining in Phoenix. It seemed as though the days started with cloud cover and, on most days, the clouds would burn off by mid-afternoon, which was great. 

I've posted more of our pictures here for those who'd like to see more than the handful below. 

During our stay, we visited Legoland, the San Diego Zoo, and took in a San Diego Padres game. We also took many walks along the beach, played in the sand, boogie boarded in the ocean, and stopped at a number of craft beer places for Matt's enjoyment. It was a great week!

A view of the pier from the balcony of our condo. 

The kids first walk on the beach.
This is the first time either of them has been to the ocean.
Lincoln absolutely loved it. Boogie boarding was his favorite part of the trip.
Cassidy enjoyed the beach and the water, but didn't much care for any seaweed or creatures that we encountered. 

Father and son boogie boarding. 

Cassidy riding a small wave into the shore. 

Legoland California! 

The Gough's with Buddy, the Lego guy.

Drenched Gough's.
This is us after going on two different water rides.
As I kid, I loved the water rides at Cedar Point and didn't much mind getting soaked and walking around the park all day with wet clothes. Fast forward about 30 years and it's a totally different feeling. The water is freezing and walking around in wet clothes holds absolutely no appeal. But, we must do these things so OUR kids can experience the "fun". 

Matt, Cassidy, Lincoln, and Grandma at Petco Park, where the San Diego Padres play.
This was a really nice open-air park with views of the city, views of the ocean, an impressive craft beer selection, and some nice grassy areas to run around on or to picnic on. There was even a little league field on the premises. 

Cassidy, Julie, and Lincoln at the entrance of the San Diego Zoo. 

nine.

Lincoln just turned nine...the last year before "double digits", which he's pretty excited about. 

This year, we celebrated his birthday with a pool party. He invited a few close friends from school to come over to swim and, hopefully, have a Nerf gun battle. Unfortunately, a couple of his buddies were sick at party time and couldn't make it, but his closest friend, Caden, came and the boys had a blast. 

Caden brought the perfect gift for Lincoln -- a Mega Nerf blaster.

Matt & Cassidy teamed up against Lincoln and Caden in a Nerf gun battle. I'm not sure who ended up winning, but there were Nerf things flying all about the house!

Matt ready to shoot from upstairs. 

This girl is serious when she plays. 

When the Nerf battle ended, the kids headed outside for fun with water balloons. 

She may look sweet and innocent, but watch out, she'll get you when you least expect it!

Linc got slammed over the head!

When the water balloons were all broken, we all headed for some fun in the pool. 

Finally, we had pizza and cake and ice cream.
Per usual, Lincoln chose a chocolate cake with mint frosting.
This year, we found one at the grocery store and it was very tasty. 

On Lincoln's wishlist this year were several video games, some books, and lots of sports gear (he can't wait to head to Sports Authority to spend his gift card money). 

Here, he is posing with his Magic 8 Ball, which holds the answer to all questions. 

He's thrilled to have some new Detroit sports gear.

Big bro received a new Spiderman game as well as some rainbow loom bands (in Lions colors) from little sis. 

This boy has always loved his pillow and his two favorite pillowcases are getting really worn on the corners from Lincoln rubbing them so much. I indulged this 9-year-old's love for his pillow by getting him a personalized pillowcase. Lincoln is working on breaking in the corners on this one. 

Father and son with some new sports video games...and a new Lions baseball hat. 

 

Linc with his new baseball net. 

 

Happy Birthday, bud!

Sea ThisLife Aquarium, Tempe, AZ.

While Matt was in Michigan enjoying his annual "guys weekend", I took the kids to a local aquarium, where we enjoyed exploring life under the sea.

Look at those adorable fish lips.
(He's wearing a frog hat from our lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, by the way)

Cassidy chose not to put her hand in the Touch Tank. It took Lincoln some time to gear up for it. I went ahead and showed them that it wouldn't hurt to touch a starfish! My goodness, our kids are sometimes so apprehensive about things. 

There were several of these bubble windows where kids could pop their heads up and feel like they were right in the aquarium swimming with the fish. Pretty neat. 

My favorite: the stingrays.

Lincoln's favorite: this small shark. I can't remember what kind it is.  

Big bro and little sis making gestures at the camera lady (me).

They're being eaten by a shark! 

Cuties swimming with Dory.

This was a neat area called the 360-degree ocean tunnel where you could literally watch sea life swim over you, beside you, and under your feet.