Happy Birthday Cole

My baby turned 1 yesterday and it makes me so sad that he's not that little baby anymore. I don't know how this past year went so fast, but we loved every minute of having Cole with us. Here's his tribute for this past year:

8 weeks

6 months

9 months

12 months

He reacted the same way Ella did at one year with the cake. Not so interested. He maybe had two bites and was ready for real food. Happy Birthday son! We love you!

First Day of Joyschool

It was time for Ella to get some outside stimulation and her mother to get a break, so I really wanted to do Joyschool this year for Ella. Nobody was doing one already in our ward so I had to organize it myself. Our group is small, but it's perfect. She loves it, and gets excited to wear her backpack.
Ella insisted that I do TWO braids that morning. Although it almost made us late doing two french braids in her hair with her moving all the time, I figured I'd do it so she'd be happy at joyschool.

Swimming at the YMCA

We absolutely LOVE the kid pool area at the YMCA. We go there at least once a week during the summer. It is perfect for my kids with a deep end of 2 feet, and it begins with a shallow fading effect like the beach.

Indy Zoo

We wanted to go to the zoo before our season passes expired. I don't know why but every time we go to the Zoo in the summer we pick the hottest and most humid days.But the kids did well dealing with the heat.

This giraffe was in labor while we were there and you can see one hoof coming out its end. She crouched down a few times in labor position, but then the zoo keepers took her in a gated area for care.

Indiana State Fair

We took Ella to the Indiana State Fair again this year since we got free admission tickts. We're not big fans of the rides, but we take Ella to see the animals.There was this horse parade Scott and Ella took a pic infront of.
Then we saw the World's Largest Boar

Then we saw the sheep and a shearing wool contest on sheep.

Ella wanted to pet all the animals, especially the baby ones.

Scott played a few games, no stuffed animals won.

Indiana Colts Game

We were given free tickets to a pre-season game to see the Colts. If you've ever seen the Lucas Oil stadium, it's HUGE. This $720 million arena seats 63,000 with retractable roof, and has thick padded seats. We have a friend of the family playing and it was fun to see him catch a few plays.

Camping at Michigan Lake

We went camping at Michigan Lake with a bunch of friends. It really was super fun hanging out with our good friends, but the camping part, raining all night long and cold windy beach part I'd leave out for next year.

The kids didn't seem to mind the wind.

El Dorado Hills, CA Water Park

Since it was high 90's all week long we took our kids to the community park with water features a few times. They had a blast.

Cole went right in the middle where the water was constantly hitting him. He liked it at first then he looked at me like, "get me outta here!"

Jenna and her girls Brynlee and Tayla

Ella would not look at the camera for me, stinker!

Cole loved playing here

Watch the video of them playing in the water!