Birthday Boy

"Is my birthday here?" This is what Matthew wondered this morning when he woke up to blue streamers in his doorway and Fruitloops on the kitchen table. We love this guy and had a fun time singing to him and telling him why we love him so much. Matthew is the life of the party around here. It is hilarious (most of the time) to hear him repeating all that we say and coming up with some pretty fun sayings of his own. He is loveable, sweet, tough, competely potty trained (yes, I count this as one of the traits I love about him), my helper in the kitchen, a great prayer, not a huge mess maker, loves anything with wheels and has a great imagination. We all feel so blessed that he his part of our family. Happy third birthday buddy!! He'd been looking forward to blowing out his candles all afternoon.

The superhero costumes were as much a present for Mark as they were for Matthew. I don't think Mark liked coming home from work and seeing Matthew running around in Emma's old Snow White dress. Obviously Matthew loves the superhero look too!

Everyone wanted to help Matthew out with his new toys.

Disneyland (With a Camera)

Make way for Emma and Mark!

We love going to Disneyland and have really gotten our money's worth from our passes this year. We don't, however, like to bring our camera. It's too big and fancy and we can't leave it in the stroller, or put it in our pocket (please tell Mark I want a small camera for Christmas) so it stays at home. Yesterday we figured it had to come along. We needed at least a little documentation. Big bummer for me though because we forgot to take any of the very necessary family pictures in front of the castle, or the big Mickey flower thing in front, or the main street cuteness. So, I am afraid that the camera will have to join us ONE MORE time (probably). But for now, here are a few of the shots that we did manage to take at the Magic Kingdom.

Waiting for the train around the world.

The line for Autopia was a little long. I thought taking pictures would help pass the time.

Matthew LOVES the rockets.

You've gotta love how Matthew poses for a picture.

So, this may be all you ever see of the Rowen family at Disneyland this year. But, who knows, maybe I will muster up the strength to bring the camera along next time--and actually use it too.

Easy as PIE

After returning home from Cousin's Camp Abbie felt inspired to learn how to bake a pie. She did it all! She made and rolled out the crusts, cut, peeled and prepared the apple filling (no canned fillings is this house) and baked it to perfection. Look at that beautiful pie crust. She did it all by herself.

Cousin's Camp 2010

Cousin's Camp is BY FAR the most looked forward to event in my kid's lives. Yes, Christmas takes a back seat to Cousin's Camp. Every summer all of my family gets together at Don and Monica's barn to celebrate being a family. The kids swim, do archery, trampoline, play the ukeleli, earn awards for having traits like ancestors (do you call grandparents ancestors?), put on a play, do crafts, listen to aunts' daily devotionals and an uncle's fireside, have cousin buddies, roast marshmallows... Are you understanding why Christmas is sitting in the back? Cousin's Camp is wonderful, and who am I kidding, we adults look forward to it too. Here are some highlights from this weekend's camp. The "Crazy Bunch of Cousins" This year there were 21 campers.

Emma, Ruthie and Madi jamming on the Uke.

Sarah painted the backdrop for the play. This year the cousins re-enacted the love stories of all of the aunts and uncles.

Swimming time. It got hot this weekend, thank goodness for the pool.

Matthew took everything he learned at camp very seriously.

Monica helping Danny, Emma and Evan with archery. "Fire at Will!"