California Vacation and Matt's Wedding

My brother, Matt, got married in July so we headed to California for the wedding!  We decided to make a family vacation out of it and spent our first few days in California at Disneyland and California Adventure, then spent a day at the beach before heading to Temecula for the wedding.  We spent our last day back at the beach.

We had a great time at Disneyland and California Adventure.  The lines weren't too bad considering we were there in the middle of summer vacation.  Of course, I am comparing it to Disney World when we went over spring break a few years ago (those lines were crazy).  The kids loved the beach and trying out the boogie boards.  We all enjoyed the pool and hot tub at our rental house in Anaheim.  Ryan learned to jump off the diving board and swim to the side without his floatie and Drew and Kayley learned how to dive in from the diving board so it was a productive vacation!  Matt and Janelle's wedding was beautiful and we had a lot of fun catching up with some of our family that were able to make the trip to Temecula for the wedding.  It was a very memorable trip!

Patiently waiting to board

Finally on the plane

Ryan was very excited to fly

First ride at Disneyland

Warming up with some kiddie rides

Waiting for It's a Small World

We did not plan girls in black and boys in red

Family Picture

Ryan wasn't tall enough for the Indiana
Jones ride so we entertained ourselves
in the tree house

Such a cheese

Beach time

Happy boy in the sand

Getting tired

They loved the ocean

Aunt Sharon's house in Temecula - VERY NICE!

Family picture before the rehearsal

Grandparents and kids waiting for the
rehearsal to begin

Ryan and Jeremy practicing their part

Ryan was very hot and very tired at
the rehearsal brunch

He was done.  Time to go back to
the house and swim.

Mom and her three big kids!

Mom, Matt and me

Handsome boys

Kayley's ready

Waiting for the wedding to start

Matt, Drew and Nick

Ryan coming down the aisle

Drew with the rings

Matt and Janelle

Mom and Dad

Another family picture...happy Ryan

I kept seeing security everywhere so
I was waiting for a celebrity guest to arrive!

Sitting patiently

All smiles

Andy and Drew

Boys playing bags

Ryan was a little happier in this one, but not much

One last trip to the beach

Summer Fun

Our summers consist mostly of baseball, softball and t-ball.  At least the first half of the summer anyway.  We got to the pool when we could, but most of our time was at the ball field.  

I don't have as many pictures from their games.  I mostly took video of Kayley and Ryan batting, but I am having trouble uploading videos to this site.  Hopefully my IT mom or IT husband can help me out!  I have more pictures of Drew because we have some awesome moms and grandparents on his team that take tons of pictures for the rest of us!

Drew's team won the Bronze bracket of the Brad Wallin Tournament.  It is a huge tournament with teams from all over Illinois and some from surrounding states that is held in memory of a young boy who died of cancer when he was about Drew's age.  The tournament raises a lot of money for St. Jude.  Great tournament for a great cause.  Drew's team last year got third place in the Gold bracket so it was disappointing for them to find themselves in the Bronze bracket, but they battled back and won.

The Brad Wallin Tournament tired this boy out...hours of playing in the dirt!

 Drew's team got things really going in mid June when they won a tournament with some very good competition.  Drew ended up pitching the championship game and this momma was NERVOUS, but he and his team did really well!

Kayley's favorite position in softball is catcher.  She hated it last year, but loved it this year.  Next year she moves to kid pitch.  She told me she wants nothing to do with pitching!

A day off...

Ryan usually got extra attention from his coaches.  Not sure why?!

Happy birthday, Grandpa!!

Andy had to take over head coaching duties for the last part of the season and they won the first tournament they were in under him.  I was really nervous at this tournament!  Andy's dad was here for this tournament so it was great for him to see his son coach and see his grandson win a tournament.

Ryan and some of his teammates with their participation trophies!  :-)  

And a picture with his biggest fans.

A day off so we were at the pool!

Drew batting in his last tournament of the year.