The American Girl Doll Store!

Grandma and Grandpa Thompsen and Angie and Sydney came to town for Carly's baptism so we decided to include a trip to the American Girl Doll Store.  We had tons of fun!  The girls were so excited. 

After we picked up Angie and Sydney from the airport we headed over to the store.  This is just before entering.  They weren't too thrilled about having to stop for a picture.

We went and ate lunch at the doll cafe.  Fun atmosphere... (food leaves much to be desired.)

Sydney and Lizabeth

Carly and McKenna (she brought McKenna because Kit had already got to go last year.)

Anna and Brianna.  She chose Brianna for the same reason Carly chose McKenna.

Leaving the store!  Great Day!

Happy Birthday Carly!

We got to go to Disneyland for Carly's birthday.  It also happened to be the day we got early-entry to the park because we are season passholders.  We did more in Disneyland in that first hour than we do sometimes in 5 hours.  It was super fun to just walk on every ride.  Carly got her happy birthday pin and then took it off after awhile because she got sick of saying Thank You to people that told her happy birthday.  The Stirlings were there and the kids had tons of fun going on rides together.

 

It was a magical moment when we saw this heart in the sky!

The Disneyland Stroller is the best!  Mac and Brad take naps in it every time we go.

Waiting in Radiator Springs.

Luigi's flying tires.

Grizzly River Run

 

 

 

This was our first time on Radiator Springs Racers.  It is a super fun ride!  McKay had to wait in line for an hour for a fastpass but it was worth it! 
Carly had a great birthday at Disneyland.  She got McKenna's cast and crutches, crackle nail polish, and some new earrings.

Soccer Season Starts!

This was the first day of soccer season!  Mac and Anna are playing this year.  It is the first year for both of them.  McKay is coaching Mac's team.  They both love it!
 

Anna played Lori's team for her first game.  They had fun playing with each other.  Anna was a little nervous because this was her first year and the other girls had all played previously.  She did great though.  Here's to many happy Saturday's at the soccer fields!

Going Solo at Disneyland

I decided to be brave and take the kids to Disneyland by myself.  It was definitely more work but it is still super fun!  We had a great day doing activities together.  The girls didn't want to go on any fast rides alone so we enjoyed lots of inside/shady rides.  Everyone was super good and made the day relatively easy!
 

 

Luckily Disneyland wasn't super crowded that day!

We headed over to California Adventure to check out the new Cars Land.  It was awesome!  We went on Mater's Tractors and got some ice cream at the Cozy Cone. 

 

 

Playing in the irrigation water

One of the best things about going to Grandpa's in the summer is playing in the irrigation water!  This time was really fun until Mac got stung by a wasp and Carly and Sydney both got their feet cut on the sprinklers.  Mac was really worried and didn't want to go outside ever after that.  We did the slip and slide after and had more fun.  Everyone had Popsicles, which made them all feel better, and Anna and Tate won the award for having the most fun.
 

 

Carly gets her ears pierced

While we were in Utah Carly got to get her ears pierced at Icing.  Grandma Thompsen has taken all of the granddaughters when they turn 8.  Such a fun tradition because Grandma McAllister did that for all of her granddaughters. She picked the same studs that Sydney and Anna both picked.  She was a little nervous but has been looking forward to getting her ears pierced for soooo long.  They had to do her right ear twice because as she was showing me how to take care of the earring the back came off and the hole closed up that fast!  She was a trooper and very excited at the end of it all.  Thanks Grandma Thompsen!
 

One happy camper!

Brigham City Pool

We went to the Brigham City pool with the Fishers and Rachel and Brynlie.  It was a perfect hot day to go and the water slide did not disappoint!  Good times were had by all.
 

 

Carly coming down the water slide.

Anna coming down the water slide.  They lost count but I think they went down 30 or 40 times. No joke!

Summer Fun!

We had a fun outing with the Stirlings at Ventura State Beach.  We went and played at the park there and then had a picnic.  The seagulls there are super aggressive.  One seagull took a large bag of Sun Chips that weren't even open.  If you didn't have a couple of people guarding your stuff the seagulls would attack. :) 
 

 

 

After the beach we went ice skating.  The kids had all earned free ice skating passes from doing the summer reading program at the library. I totally remembered pants but not jackets!  So I had to go home and get jackets.  The really lame thing is that I forgot my own jacket again after going home to get jackets!  It was a fun experience to ice skate in August.  :)

 

 

Carly was the most into it from our crew.  She even got good at the arabesque!

Family Pictures

We took some pictures at the park since all of the cousins were in town.  It was quite an adventure!
 

 

 

 

 

The Barlow side is definitely boy-dominated.  Here are the cute girls!

Hallie, Mac, and Bryn are about one month apart.  Such good buddies!

 

This about sums it up!  A bunch of crazies!