father/son campout

Kevin took Brandon and Tyler to the Father/Son campout, along with their good friends Ethan and Max whose dad was out of town for work that weekend.  I didn't get too many details, but apparently the 4 boys slept in the big tent and Kevin slept in the small tent by himself.  Not much sleep happened, but that is normal.  Kevin was just happy to attend and not be in charge of it like he was for 4 years.

Here are the pictures he took:

And what would a Father/Son campout be without an injury?  Tyler learned the hard way that brushing up again a hot gas lantern burns your leg.  Thankfully he's a really tough kid and apparently no tears were even shed.

carlson family reunion

My brother Eric announced that their family would most likely be moving back to China later this year so we decided a Carlson family reunion needed to happen sooner rather than later.  So with only a few months notice, we planned it for Santa Barbara, California which is about as close to centrally located for everyone as we could make it.  We missed Ryan who is on his mission, but other than that we were all together for a few days!  The house we rented was great, the weather was perfect, everyone got along well, and we had plenty of food, so we considered it a success!

We celebrated Tyler and Sean's birthdays the first night (since that day was actually Sean's birthday and Tyler's birthday was 4 days before).  Three year old cousin Matthew loved hanging out with the big boys!

We spent the next day at the beach which was a short walking distance away.  A Thursday in the middle of March meant we pretty much had the whole beach to ourselves!

I personally think Santa Barbara is one of the prettiest places in California.

Looking at Eva (almost 2 now), it's hard to believe she was born less than 4 pounds and spent the first 5 months of her life in the NICU.  She is perfectly healthy, is a true miracle baby, and is as cute as can be!

 

What I wish I had a picture of was the 2+ hours of clean up after the beach scraping tar off all 16 people's feet, shoes (and then subsequently the patio) with vegetable oil and soap.  It was definitely NOT the highlight of the reunion.

There were plenty of games played.  The favorite was Reverse Charades.  The girls beat the boys both times!

 

Outside play in the beautiful yard!

The next day we went to the Old Mission Santa Barbara.  The kids probably didn't enjoy it as much as the adults did, but Carlson tradition is to visit old historic stuff so we pretty much had to, right?

  

Along with old historic stuff, Carlsons also must do museums so that afternoon we went to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.  My camera lens broke so the only picture I have is this one my sister took.

The following morning everyone headed back to their respective homes.  Our family decided to spend a few more hours in Santa Barbara before heading down to Huntington Beach for a night.  We visited the Sea Center out on the wharf. 

It was a fun hour of touch tanks and a few exhibits, but not much more than that.

We decided it would be fun to take the scenic drive down Pacific Coast Highway all the way back to Huntington Beach, but after more than an hour of bumper to bumper traffic (it was a freakishly hot Saturday so the beaches were packed), we finally gave up and took the freeway. 

When we got to Huntington Beach, we were surprised by a visit from my other nephew Jared, who we haven't seen for about 9 years, then dinner at my favorite restaurant Las Barcas.  We drove home the next day after church.

tyler's birthday party!

With all the house stuff and moving going on in January and February, I told Tyler his birthday party would have to be something very simple for us to host this year.  Thankfully he is an easy-going kid and he happily complied with my suggestion of just having it at our neighborhood park with some Minute To Win It games.  The weather cooperated and it was great!

I got the boys interested in a few of the Minute To Win It games, but that didn't last too long. They were perfectly happy just running around the park, digging in the sand, or throwing a ball.

Tyler cared more about what food we served and since he made the whole party so easy for me, I told him we could serve whatever he wanted.  He chose pizza and gatorade for dinner with donuts for dessert!  I didn't even have to make anything!

Tyler, Brandon, Max, Donnie, Micah, Sean, and Dayne

Happy 10th Birthday Tyler!

tyler's 10th birthday

Somewhere in the midst of all the house stuff, Tyler turned 10!  This boy brings so much joy and fun to our house.  Even though he's a bit crazy at times, he is actually a peacemaker and our most easy-going kid. 

As always, here are his answers to the birthday interview questions:

Favorite Color: blue

Favorite Number: 10

Favorite Drink: Mr. Pibb
 
Favorite Food: Mexican pizza

Favorite Game: Bohanza (the bean game)

Favorite Animal: cat

Favorite TV Show: Uncle Grandpa

I feel sad when: I get hurt

I feel mad when: when the cat scratches me

I like it when my friends: play basketball with me

I like it when my teacher: gives us no homework

I wish I could: have unlimited money

Who is your best friend? Micah

Why? because he gives me a free chocolate milk every day at school

What makes you laugh? jokes

What is your favorite movie? Indiana Jones

What are you afraid of? the dark
 
What is your favorite song? I don't like music

What is your favorite thing to do? play video games

If you were parent for a day, which rule would you get rid of? limited video game time

What do you want to be when you grow up? an inventor

Do you think it would be hard to be a mom or a dad? yes

Why? because you have to pay taxes

If you could have a magical power, what would you choose? flying

What three things are you are good at? video games, eating, and running

What is the best thing about turning 10? double digits!

I am special because: I am awesome!

Yes Tyler, you ARE awesome and we are so glad you're a part of our family.  We love you!

lego fest

Each month Kevin and I do something one-on-one with one of our kids.  Something special that only they might be interested in or need to do (such as clothes or shoe shopping), or something that might be expensive to take all 5 of us to do.  The Nutcracker ballet, Cinderella movie, or Build-a-Bear for Natalie, temple baptisms or a PG-13 movie for Brandon, or eating at a restaurant that only that kid likes.  It's been fun to have special time with each kid and they love suggesting ideas of what we can do.

When I saw that a Lego Fest exhibit was coming to Phoenix, I knew it would be something Tyler would be interested in and it would have been very expensive to take all 3 kids.  It's basically Legoland without the rides. You buy a ticket for a 4 1/2 hour timeslot.  Kevin went with him so I don't know all the details but Tyler had a great time.

One of his favorite parts was building with monochromatic colors and bricks that were all exactly the same size.

He got to watch master builders, create vehicles and race them, and of course there were several life-size displays!

The kids could climb in a humongous pile of bricks.  Can you spot Tyler?  (he's in the middle of the photo)

 And he got to control a Lego Mindstorm robot.

It was pretty much the perfect day for Tyler!