"First" Friday Fun this summer

Another fun thing we did this summer was going to First Friday events. As you may have guessed, First Friday is an event that takes place in my neighborhood on the first Friday of every month. The stores stay open late, there's usually entertainment or art on display and sometimes free food - like desserts, appetizers and kid drinks. It's very family friendly and a great opportunity to meet up with neighbors, support the local stores and restaurants and just do a little something different with the family.

MAY First Friday was so much fun! We started out at Eat, Play, Grow, a fun childrens play area and cafe but the boys quickly heard the music thumping a few doors down. Even though their friends were there playing they wanted to leave and check out what was happening with the music. We walked a few doors down to find a youth dance group rocking out. The boys LOVED it to say the least. Annabelle just loved being held by her Daddy.


After standing on the sidelines watching for a bit they couldn't help but start grooving themselves. Our boys have got some moves - check them out!



Not sure about this dance stance but they had some serious moves going on.



After dancing in the circle they ended up getting some private dance lessons. They boys were such good students!

Check out this guy. He was one of the main dancers. He had some CRAZY moves and then of course the boys couldn't just watch - they had to join in.


We finally pried them away from dancing to get some fresh air. Those boys would have danced the night away had we let them. Thankfully, the big red bus was a pretty good trade for them.




JUNE was much more low key. We casually walked along the street popping into a few art exhibits and we even got to see the Long Beach Roller Derby girls do a couple of spins. We ended the evening riding the big red bus. We had the whole back section to ourselves and as you can see, the boys made themselves quite comfortable. They really enjoyed just quietly looking out the windows. It seems that everything looks different after your bed time.


The boys were so sweet, just watching the world they rarely see at the hour. It was only 8ish but we are never out that late with the kids.


SEPTEMBER was completely dedicated to the kids. We spent our evening at Eat, Play, Grow watching and listening to a special performance by Birdies Playhouse. There was barely anyone there so the kids there got all her attention while the parents got to sit back and relax a bit. We opted to make it an early night and not ride the bus this month. It was still a fun night out.

Annabelle and Ben were super cute playing together



If you live in the local Long Beach area and haven't checked out a First Friday yet, I encourage you to try and come next month. It's a fun, relatively free family night out.

Our summer garden

Now that Summer is officially over and I have completely neglected our family blog I wanted to try and get a bit caught up on some of the great things that happened over the summer.

One fun new thing this summer was our garden. It all started back in May when we were gifted these super cool watering cans from our good friend Mary. Thank you again Mary!

Of course the boys wanted to use them right away and somehow watering turned into "gardening" and before I knew it my three boys were planting our summer garden. It consisted of cucumber and tomatoes. Not sure exactly how those two were chosen but the boys were VERY excited about their project.

*FYI - Branden had been cleaning out the garage - see all the "stuff" being sorted in the background but was quickly recruited to garden with the boys.

There was lots of great concentration and team work going on

and then of course - the watering!! Watering became a fun daily ritual.

Doesn't everyone garden in their cowboy boots?

And after only a few weeks, the pots looked like this! The seed packets took off like wild fire

The Topsy turvey was doing pretty well too.

The first strawberry! This was a very proud moment.

They were pretty small, but they were juicy. Each morning the boys would go out and look for newly ripened strawberries to eat. They loved being able to eat them right off of the plant without mommy having to wash them.

The tomatoes before they ripened

So many cherry tomatoes! These have been great for snacking and for salads each day.

Picking the first cucumbers

We put together a nice little cucumber salad


Although it wasn't a huge harvest it was a great start. We have all enjoyed having fresh fruits and veggies each day to snack on. The cherry tomatoes are still ripening daily and Benjamin LOVES going out and picking them for the nights salad.

We now have Brussel sprouts, squash and green beans growing in a Topsy turvey. I look forward to see what they will produce.

Pictures full of love

Being away from our boys when Annabelle is in the hospital is very difficult. Clearly it's not that "break" we sometimes want or need. However, knowing they are with my Mom makes it so much easier. Thank you Mom!

We received these picture texts from the boys yesterday when we were at the hospital.

Jack's picture

Benjamin's picture

Those boys sure know how to make us smile!

Pillow case reminder!

Just a reminder that I will need to get the pillow cases from anyone who wanted to donate to this super awesome cause. PLEASE contact me so we can make arrangements to get any completed pillow cases you have by end of day Monday, September 13th.

Here's a link to my original post with the craft donation details and a basic pillow case pattern. This is about this great opportunity for you to make a difference in the life of a critically ill child. Please consider helping out if you can.

http://summerspartyof4.blogspot.com/2010/07/will-you-join-me-in-helping-to-make.html

27 fun pillowcases have been hand made with love so far and will be donated to Miller Children's Hospital next week. Can you help me reach my goal 35 pillow cases?



Wow, 27 pillow cases your thinking - yep, and they were ALL made by my children's Grammy, my Mom Joyce. What an awesome Grandmother you are. Thank you for being so generous and loving. We are so proud of you and are so excited to donate these really great pillow cases to these children. I am confident that your had work will put a smile on their faces.

Ok, friends, if one grandma can make 27 pillow cases can you make just one? I challenge you to make one pillow case this weekend and we can arrange to meet up on Monday to get it. Think how proud you will be of yourself. Can you help me meet or exceed my goal of 35 pillow cases?