Mason's 5th birthday

Hard to believe our little boy turned 5 on July 14th!!! Seems like it was just July 14, 2004. They always say that your kids grow up too fast, and we are definitely experiencing that, especially with Mason! (Mallory on the other hand, can grow up quickly for a little while and skip these terrible twos that i think are upon us *S* )

Here they are right before we were leaving the house on his birthday morning for the birthday party in the park with some of his friends.

Mason wanted a 'Roy car' cake for his birthday this year, and I gladly accepted that, as I had made a guitar cake for the last two birthdays, so it was time for something new. A little background on the 'Roy car' name. When Mason was younger, he couldn't say 'Troy' (one of Tony's brothers) . It would always come out 'Corey', which is the name of Tony's other brother. So we decided to shorten Troy to 'Roy'. Well, for Mason's 2nd birthday, Uncle 'Roy' gave him his motorized Lightening McQueen car and since that day, we have been calling it the 'Roy car'. Even though he knows its lightening mcqueen, he still calls it roy car. I don't think he fully grasps the reasoning behind 'Roy car', but its too cute to change so forever 'Roy car' it will be!!

A few random photos of the kiddos that came out...

After we ate and had some cake, we went over to the splash area in this park in Ames. Course I didn't think to get a photo of them before they went swimming, so I got one in their swimsuits! We had quite the crowd and Mason had a ball!!!

So for Mason's birthday supper, we went to Hickory Park. What better place to take a

year old than to a place where they sing to you AND give you a free ice cream cone!!

Looks like we will have to be going their for Mallory's next birthday too!!

We ended up having Mason's family birthday party on Sunday at my parents pond. We had another 'Roy car' cake (note to self.. don't make two of the same cake in less than a week) and some homemade ice cream!!

My dad, Pa, as Mason calls him, also has a July birthday, so we put his candles in the cake and sang happy birthday too him too!!!

Mason got a lot of cool 'boy' things for his birthday....(not sure why I didn't get more photos of him opening his packages... but this doesn't even put a dent in what he ended up getting.. guess he must be loved *S* )

Here is Mallory using the new bat and ball... I think I have a future Hawkeye softball player on my hands .. and might even be a switch hitter as she hasn't taken favors for either hand yet

AND also doing what she does best.. boy are the teenage years gonna be fun

SO I think I've finally caught up on the last couple months!! Mason will start Pre K the middle of August and he is so looking forward to it. I know he will love it, and sister will miss him, but I look forward to seeing him learn and grow. Getting out of this summer sleep schedule will be the hardest.. no more kids going to bed at 9 and getting up at 8... gonna have to push all that back so Mason can be to school by 8!!! I'm sure the kids won't mind the adjustment once we get there, but I think I will have a hard time with it!!

Summer isn't over yet.. still have to make a trip to Adventureland, go to the Iowa State Fair, AND the biggest news of all.. attend a wedding!! My Aunt LeaAnn is getting married!!!!!! We are so excited for them and look forward to all the planning that will go on the next four weeks!! This is a first marriage for both of them. LeaAnn didn't want a big to do, but we told her you only get married once and we are gonna make it special! So she conceded and decided NOT to just get married at the Justice of the Peace but have a small family wedding at the farm!!! Nothing too extravegant, yet a little more intimate than the court house! Can't wait!!! Dress shopping with her this weekend... should be fun!!

July 4th week cont...

The beginning of July my dad's cousins came to Iowa for their yearly get together. They have some kids, so Mason again had some entertainment, as did Mallory. For some reason I didn't get many photos, but then again, we really didn't see them as much this year as we usually do. Fred and Norma were married on Saturday July 4th, so that was partly the reason for them not hanging out at the pond longer, and most of them didn't stay more than 5 days. We had a great time and it always goes too fast....
Mason got Anna to go out in the canoe with him

Ryan and Mason in the paddle boat. Funny story. Ryan is 10 I believe and they were out there paddling around I think Ryan was ready to be done with it and he had asked Mason if it was ok if he got out. Mason said sure. So they went close to the shoreline and Ryan gets out. So this leaves Mason and the fishing poles in the paddle boat. Mason has no idea how to steer this thing let alone paddle it by himself. When Ryan was asked why he got out, he said 'Mason said it was Ok'. Needless to say, he got back in and paddled back to the dock.

My serious boys

Mallory just being Mallory... look what i can do for Aunt Kristin... an 'OH' face

Fred and Norma got married on July 4th. Course the weather had been perfect up til that day, and then it decides to rain off and on all day long.. til about 6pm.. when it cleared up, blue skies and perfect for an evening of fireworks. Their wedding theme was Hawaiian and they said to wear some Hawaiian attire. This isn't something we have in our wardrobes, so I went and picked up a couple outfits from the consignment store that were perfect for the occassion! So before we headed to Green Castle where they were getting married, I figured I'd better get some photos of the kids before they got all wet and dirty and weren't 'pretty' anymore!! Here is basically the sequence that took place next....

Somehow when Mallory decided to leave the photo shoot, Mason decided it was time to pose. So he brought out the senior picture poses... can't wait to compare these to the actual ones in 13 years!!! He's quite the ham

This was the first time I've attempted to paint Mallory's toe nails, and she sat still for me. Nothing like little piggies all painted up

Well, getting a family photo wasn't easy either! As you can tell in this one, Mallory is crying. She wanted nothing to do with the camera

BUT let me get down and play and I'll be all smiles

This is a picture of my dad (on the far right) and his siblings and their cousins.. in age order. My grandma and their mother were sisters and all of them basically grew up doing things together.

This is a picture of all the 1st cousins that were at the wedding

Here is the original Randall family...

Now add in some spoues and some kids....

Now add in my dad's brother and sisters and their spouses... and you got almost the whole Randall side of the family (cousin Amy couldn't make it, and I have no idea where Grandpa was)

Here is the Bride and Groom AFTER the actual wedding, when the rain had stopped. They had made a 'beach' of sorts outside, but since it rained, they didn't get to stand out there for their ceremony. It was still a great day!!!

It wouldn't be the 4th of July without some fireworks...

And some sparklers...

July 4th week

June somehow came and went. Mason had swimming lessons for 50 minutes for two weeks. This was the first time to take them and he loved them. He isn't as afraid of the water and doesn't mind going underwater now. He passed on to level two, which i'm sure will be more teaching of strokes and not just going underwater for toys and holding his breath! The weather wasn't the best, but it was never canceled, just a little cold a few of the days but the water was heated so he didn' t mind.

The last week in June my Aunt Mary and Uncle Marley came up from South Carolina for 11 day stay, so the kids and i packed our bags and headed for the farm to stay out there, since they were staying with my sister. Mason had a great time entertaining them and of course fishing!!

Mason goes in spurts as to whether he will sit and fish or if he wants to play. Some days he won't keep his line in the water more than 10 seconds and he gets bored cause the fish aren't biting! But not this day.. he was all about fishing, especially since Granny A was right by his side to help him take the fish off. He thinks he is big enough to do it and would probably try, but i can just see him putting that hook thru his finger, so we will let the grownups do that for now!!

Mallory of course had to get in on the action too!!

Wasn't long and then she thought she needed a pole too! So we put a bobber on the end of Mason's old kid pole and she had a great time!!

He thought the fish were biting better on this side

Marley and Pete were out on the pond for a couple hours.. pretty successful

Course Mason didn't do too bad himself on the dock...

Then the kiddos 'helped' them clean the fish!! This was the first time we have had a fish fry from the fish in the pond. We usually throw them back, but this time they decided it was time to start keeping the bigger ones and enjoy them! And boy were they good, and this is coming from a girl who doesn't like fish!!!