Joshua's 12th Birthday

Joshua turned 12 on the 20th of this month.  (He's a young 7th grader as most of his friends/classmates are all 13 or turning 13 this year). 

This year he had a low-key party.  He invited his best friends: JKim, Alex, Bryson, Brendyn,Jashon, Darrell (18), Ryan (16) and later Eric (20+) joined us.  We had a BBQ, the boys swam, played video games, and later headed to Hardwood Palace to play bball and football too!  We got back to our house around 10pm and the boys stayed the night.  It was so much fun for all the boys and a very easy birthday party to plan for!

Joshua has a great group of friends and it was an awesome day/night celebration for him! 

Lake Tahoe Get-Away

On Labor Day weekend, we went to Lake Tahoe over night and stayed at my parent's time share. It was a nice get-away and NO basketball all weekend! The weather was perfect.

We attempted to go crawdad fishing at a spot Lance used to go with his family when he was little. Although there were no crawdads to be found, we all had a great time. The scenery was beautiful and peaceful. Jayden had a blast trying to catch tiny fish with pieces of hotdogs and fishing line. No one thought he'd be able to catch them but he didn't give up.In fact, he actually caught one! It was hilarious!!  

Summer Events...

Summer came and went this year and although we didn't make it back to Hawaii this year, we still managed to keep busy.  I'm a bit behind on blogging so I'll have to catch you all up in one entry to make up for lost time.

In June we hosted our Next Level Summer Basketball camp, and other specialty clinics which was again a postive experience for all involved.

In July, we celebrated Jayden's 9th birthday.  He first said he wanted a party but a few weeks prior to his actual bday, changed his mind and wanted to just go to a special dinner of his choice.  He chose...Olive Garden.  Jayden "scooped" in the gift department, including a sweet pair of black and carolina blue pair of Jordans (from Ami and Papa), a qwerty keyboard cell-phone, dwayne wade headphones, some special Dwayne Wade cards, and some cash.










We FINALLY got to see our friends (Steve,Stacy, Kayla, Andrew and Ry, Annmarie, Toby, and Lia) for a bbq, fun, and good times-(brought along Joshua's buddy, Ja).

Lance and I celebrated our 16th year anniversary! We also celebrated Lance's 41st birthday this summer.

We spent a lot of time in the pool and the boys had a lot of friends over all summer long.  Right before school started, we took a trip to Santa Cruz overnight (see next entry).  This summer went way too fast!! 

A Day Away

From atop the Ferris Wheel. (Dad scared to death...)

Before the kids went back to school, we decided to take an overnight trip to Santa Cruz and the Beach Boardwalk.

We thought it would be a great getaway...and it was.

We stayed overnight at the Scotts Valley Hilton.  Not only was it a great place to stay, but it was only a 10 minute drive to the Boardwalk.



Joshua's "healthy" dinner.



Upon arrival, we checked in and went to eat.  We found our way to the Santa Cruz Diner (featured on "Triple D" TV show).  And ate...well...we ate.  It was definitely a diner...but it was yummy.  They had a MONSTER country fried steak that was great!!!

We made our way back to the hotel, grabbed some dessert and decided to stay in and "catch a flick".  MEGAMIND was the movie of choice.  Dad thought it was funny!

Another pic from atop the ferris wheel.



Joshua eating a deep fried Twinkie



The next day we woke up, had breakfast and checked out and made our way to the Boardwalk.  The weather was great (80's and no breeze), and it wasn't too crowded (it was a Sunday)...so we got to ride some rides and Joshua had his "dream come true"... A DEEP FRIED TWINKIE!!!



Joshua and Jayden at the Wharf



 



Me and my lovely wife!

Jayden on the Ferris Wheel with Dad (Smiling at Dad being scared???)