Going out with a bang!

The summer is nearly over, and we're going out with a bang! This usually seems to happen...ya know, realizing that the summer is almost gone and so we try and pack in all sort of field trips and activities in the last week or two. I'm totally exhausted from it all...but it was worth it! :) Sam starts school on Thursday - yikes - but he seems to be excited whenever we talk about it. I think Tyler will go through withdrawals, and will most likely become even more clingy. Oh bother! But Sam will only be gone for 2.5 hours each morning, which isn't very long at all.

So here is a little recap of some of our fun lately:

A little play date with our favorite next door neighbors from the past...the Piersons! For those of you who don't know this already, these four cuties are like two sets of twins. Sam and Eliza were born on the same day, and Tyler and Tyler (yes, they are both named Tyler) were born on the same day too! Crazy? Yes, but also very fun for the kiddos. They all get along great and we had such a fun time having them over to play! (This picture didn't turn out as I had hoped, but YOU try getting four active children to hold still on a swinging patio bench and smile all at the same time!)
Matt held a recital for some of his kids that he teaches voice lessons to. It was held at the recording studio that Matt worked at for years so that they could not only have a recital, but also record it at the same time. Brilliant idea husband! His students were AMAZING...I think we might have some future American Idol contestants in this bunch! Maybe Season 15??
We took the kids up for a walk at Silver Lake....our own family tradition. We love it up there, and it is the perfect little walk for short legs (the kids, that is). Matt's parents came along too and were amazed at Sam's ability to RUN the entire time (except for when I made him stop so that everyone else could catch up!). I like to say that Sam was "stretching his wings", which he seems to do when we go places like that, or the farm, or the park, or the zoo, etc. etc. The kids loves big open spaces, which is why it can be hard to go places like that without "back-up" help! Love you Sammers!
Is this just not the CUTEST pic of Sam? Pure bliss...
We also had our annual adventure up at This Is The Place Heritage Park with Grandma Deb! There are so many fun things for the kids...but it is always a SUPER bonus that they have a big huge train that goes all the way around the park! But we were pleasantly surprised to find out that they had added a small kid-sized train just this summer. It goes around the little pond up on top of the hill...and the boys LA-LA-LOVED it! I can't help but smile (and chuckle) at this picture of Tyler-roo with his Grandma....he totally has her smile!!
The child-sized houses were a big hit, again, as well as the three large llamas that were stalking us (I swear they were "watching" us the whole time we were over by the little houses). I wanted to yell, "TINA, come eat some ham!" at the biggest of the three, but I was afraid it might come charging after me!
The unexpected highlight of the morning was the mini concert that the boys did for Grandma and I. They got up on the stage and sang (really! Sam actually SANG!) to us! Sam did a great rendition of "Winnie The Pooh" and "Elmo's World". This is his pose at the end of "Elmo's World". (My mom said she dreamed about this that night. It was just amazing to see him do something like this!)
And this is Tyler singing "Life is a Highway" and "ABC's". Rock on!