White Coat Ceremony

Last weekend, Alex had his White Coat Ceremony. The ceremony is a ritual among schools that mark the transition into the medical profession and clinical setting. Many of the student's family and friends come, but it was just me and the kids cheering on our favorite guy!

I strategically sat in the back corner with the kids, brought tons of snacks, toys, and even the iPad to keep them occupied so I could enjoy the ceremony the best I could.
But I guess this goes without saying... I was wrestling alligators the whole time.

We had to wait a little bit until it was time for Alex to go up and receive his coat.
But it was finally his turn!!

That white coat suits him well, no?

I'm so proud of him for working so hard to get to this point! The road only gets longer and harder from  here, but I couldn't be more excited for him and in his pursuit of his dream!

Lucy is Three!!

While we were camping, we celebrated Lucy's 3rd birthday (Aug 4th). I can't believe my little girl is already three!! I can't even begin to express the amount of joy she has brought to our family in these three short years. She's pretty much the sweetest, most huggable, kissable, squishable little girl!

We brought her to the back of the car to reveal to her the big birthday surprise...

She couldn't believe what she found!!

A new bike!!! Basket, bell, and all!!

 She was pretty thrilled!

We improvised a birthday cake with a chocolate breakfast muffin. 

I'm sure she wished for a life time of Dora, riding her bike, and chocolate milk. 

Oh, the life of a three year old.

For the rest of our camping trip, she was non stop talking about her birthday and her new bike. She would see a stranger, yell for their attention, and when she got it she'd say something along the lines of "It's my birthday! I got my birthday bike!"
To this day, she still mentions her birthday to anyone she talks to. When they ask her how old she is, she goes into a long monologue of how she is three and that she got a bike for her birthday, went camping, something about the beach, ect. Her prayers even consist of being thankful for cousins, camping at the beach, cousins again, and of course her bike.

Happy Birthday Gooseberry!! We love you!

Family Reunion

We packed up our camping gear and headed to beautiful California this last weekend! Every year, the Westbrook side of Alex's family gets together for a huge family reunion. I think there were 175 people there this year! Usually, the reunions happen in Arizona, but this year everyone came and camped near the beach. We spent a majority of the time soaking in some rays and listening to the soothing sounds of waves crashing. 

And you know your daughter loves chocolate milk when she sees the water washing up on shore and exclaims, "Look, Mom! Chocolate milk!!" 

Del Mar Fair

Back in June, we went to the Del Mar Fair for the first time together. I had been a few times growing up, but it has been years since I have gone. My dad came and joined us a little later that day as well.
Probably the most amount of people I've ever seen in one place at one time. I don't know how many shoulders grazed mine...

There were pig races, art exhibits, rides, laughter, dust, barbecues, livestock, competitions, every fried food imaginable, icecream, and, well, you get the idea.

Until next time...

What We've Been Up To

*Along with Alex getting in to the U of A medical school, I got accepted to the U of A School of Art!! I'll be finishing up my degree in Studio Art, emphasizing in photography. When Alex got accepted, I only had about two days to pull together a portfolio and submit it. It was a total long shot for me, so when I got accepted I was shocked but soooo excited! U of A's art program is amazing!

*Lucy is potty trained! Finally! Sound the trumpets! Throw the confetti!

*We found a couple of bike seats for the kids to attach to our bikes at a thrift store. We've had so much fun going out in the evening on a family bike ride. The kids love it!! And it seems the rest of Tucson comes out in the evening as well to get some fresh air from being inside all day, escaping the heat.

*Todd, being the boy that he is, has already fallen and bashed in his front tooth. Blood everywhere. What are we going to do with this kid? No matter the precautions we take, he always finds some way to hurt himself.

*We've been really enjoying this month of not having much to do (aside from getting situated in our new place). We're taking advantage of it the best we can before the craziness of school starts for both of us.

Memorial Day Concert

I'm slowly catching up here...

We went to a free Memorial Day concert in Kansas City while my parents were in town. It was out in front of Union Station and there were tons and tons of people there! The Kansas City Symphony put on the concert. Truly amazing! After the concert, there was a spectacular fireworks show in which the Symphony performed during it. People had been camping out all day waiting for the show to start. We got there about halfway through the concert... the only place for us to sit was in a "NO SEATING" area. We pretty much got the best seat in town. I felt guilty for a little bit, especially because the people behind us had been waiting there for hours. We made sure to stay low to the ground and out of their way the best we could. :)

A great way to end our chapter in Kansas City.