First Day of School

I cant believe it is already the first day of school. Summer went by so fast. The girls were very excited to begin school again and to be a year older. Stella is still with her same preschool teacher which she just loves.

Stella ( she calls her shirt the Stella shirt because it has an "s" on it)

Izzy in her first day of school duds. Loves being in the 5th grade. I cant believe my oldest is that old.
Standing in line before school starts.
Briley in her new outfit. She has been one who has always liked school. She can make new friends easily.
Briley has her good friend in her class, so she was very excited about that.

High School Musical

Briley won some free tickets to a "High School Musical" play, from radio Disney. The three girls and I went. It came with dinner and then the musical. Stella was the biggest fan, but we all enjoyed it.

The girls with one of the cheerleaders.
Stella and the cheerleader.
Me and Stella.
Briley and Izzy eating dinner.
Troy, Gabrielle and some fans. (Briley, Izzy and Stella)

Collins Family Reunion

We had a family reunion at Newport Beach. It was fun to get together with everyone. The kids all do so good together and love seeing each other. There was a lot of playing on the beach, bike rides to the pier, and a whole lot of eating.

Stella playing in the sand.
Maicy covered Carter, Stella and Lily with sand. They thought it was pretty cool.
Izzy is trying to surf with Andrews help.
Jude loved the beach. At first he was scared of the water (which was great). Then his dad kept taking him out. By the end of the week we couldn't keep him out.
Riding a wave on the air mattress.

Collins Family Reunion Part #2

The girls loved catching the waves in the air mattress.
Briley and her creatures she found. She hangs out at the rocks all day looking for anything that moves.
Papa and a huge crab.
He put it on his head. By the way the crab did end up pinching him.
Izzy and Maicy covered their feet with sand, so when the water came up they couldn't move. (not sure why the picture didn't turn)

Collins Family Reunion Part #3

Trying to get a picture of all the grandkids. As you can see it is very difficult to get a child happy.
Dad and Jude out on the beach
Hailey and Izzy in yellow.
A family picture on the life guard stand.
Hailey, Izzy, Maicy, Kiley and Briley striking a pose.

4th of July

We were in Cali for the 4th of July. My parents had just arrived the day before we were all together as a family. We went to the beach and ended the day at a firework show that was great.

The family sporting red, white, and blue. Proud to be an American.
This is the Collins family. Brooke, Mom, Ashly, Amy, Dad, Dustin, Erin and Jono.
The kids patiently waiting for the fireworks to start.
Watching fireworks. Jude was not to sure this year if he liked them or not.
Two tired kids with their blankets and paci's. Ready for bed.

Mema and Papa Return

Mema and Papa return home from Moscow Russia. It was a long three years to have them gone. We are so glad to have them home with us again.

Jude waiting with his balloon. He had never met Papa yet and was very excited.
The grandkids all waiting for Mema and Papa.
Izzy making a really cute face.
Mema and Papa just walked off the plane. Don't they look happy.
All the grandkids with their signs they made.

Crawdad Hunting

The John Family invited us on another fishing outing. This time we went to the river (a secret spot) to go crawdad hunting. You have to do it at the perfect time of day. Which is when it gets dark. The kids had a fun time playing in the water and eating.

Rainbow that was visible on our drive to the river. I thought it was a pretty one.
Uncle Ben and Jude.
Aunt Ginger with the three crazy ones. Stella, Mylie, and Kotter
The older bunch. Izzy, Carson, Briley and Paden

Cooking and Sewing

A neighbor freind and me did a sewing class with the girls. We tried to teach them how to sew an apron. I of course could not take it and ended up doing most of it myself. Next time we need to start with something easy like a bag or pillow. Next the girls wore thier aprons and we had a cooking class. We started simple with cookies. It was a fun activity to do during the summer and they really enjoyed it.

The Opfel girls and the Brooks girls.
Briley, Izzy and Stella modeling thier aprons. I did let them pick the fabric.
Stella eating the flour. For some reason she thinks it tastes good. She must not have efficient taste buds.
Briley just added the sugar.
Izzy is trying it out to make sure it tastes good.

Summer Swimteam

I signed the girls up for swimteam this summer. It started with a few days of crying and wanting to quit, but in the end they really liked it. They did a great job.

Izzy just finishing a race.
Izzy with her ribbons.
Briley with her ribbons.
Briley just finishing her race.
Briley swimming the back stroke.