Family Photo Shoot...

Here is the Patriotic Taylor family....we are missing my baby sister Nikki and my sister's husband Brad.
Oh how I love pregnant pictures!

Carter showing off one of his many battle wounds!
Our Little Carter Monkey!

Santa Cruz Beach BoardWalk!

Not much better then an amusement park on the beach! Carter and Sammie waiting patiently for the Happy Shamu ride!

Carter and Bronwin flying high!
The Green Dragon! This was a small roller coaster that went around the same track twice. After the first time I told Carter we got to go again he started screaming...."No I am done! Only one time!"
Clear the roads!
The two year olds did not get naps and Sammie had had enough! My sister has GREAT kids, so it is nice to see that they have melt downs once in awhile....still the cutest little thing!

The kids seemed to perk right up with Cotton Candy. Mom of the year....cotton candy at 10 o'clock at night! Honestly!As if my child needs weapons...grandma bought light swords for all the kids! No wonder they thing she is awesome! Carter and Sammie Lou fightin it out! We had to pull them apart to make sure there were no major injuries!The light sword is the first thing Carter wants in the morning....I have a feeling it might "accidentally" disappear!

Monterey

We went to Monterey to the Tide Pools this past week! Carter was a little nervous about the whole thing of looking for crabs and starfish. His favorite part was finding rocks and trying to throw them in the little ponds.
Cole was always so cute and when he found something would come and bring it to Carter and show him. He found a cool baby starfish!
My cute sister and her little Cole.

Carter and Sammie Lou having a little rock throwing competition.
Looking for crabs! Sammie Lou has no fear of bugs or creepy crawlies. I actually felt bad for some of the little crabs sometimes!
Carter just liked to point at them, not pick them. He would find them and then Lou would get them!
Carter did win the rock throwing competition!
Relaxing on the beach after a fun morning at the Tide Pools!

Pajaro Dunes!

Every other year since I can remember we have a huge Taylor Reunion at Pajaro Dunes! It is always guaranteed fun! My dad is the oldest of 8 kids who are all married and have kids of their own, and now their kids have kids.....which equals 80 plus Taylors in one place! And Carter was ready to jump right in a join the fun!
The kid LIVED in the sand for 4 days, he dug holes, built sand castles, threw sand, played with cousins and roped in all the older cousins to play beach baseball with them! Carter has such great cousins, they were always willing to play with him!
The Taylors are all big tennis players so there was also lots of time spent down at courts! Since Carter has not really been introduced to that sport he thought it was great to throw tennis balls all over the court and chase them. (I know crazy outfit, he was in his PJ's!)
This is my Grandpa and Grandma Taylor, Carter's great grandparents! They truly are amazing people! They just got home from a 2 1/2 week trip all over Africa! It is so rare to have such a big family and have so many different personalities and have everyone enjoy each other! The siblings all love to see each other and so do the spouses and cousins! They have done a great job of keeping the family close and raising great kids! They truly are inspirational! We love you and thank you for all that you do for our family! We are so blessed to be part of yours!

More beach time for Carter!
My parents trying to help Carter keep up! He would just like to sit on the ground and play in the sand! He thought it would be great just to sleep in the beach!
Ahhh...nothing better then rolling around in the sand with a cousin! Carter and Sammie Lou always seem to have to one-up each other! If one did something, the other would only "better"! They are what we have started calling FRIEN-EMIES aka Friends/Enemies!
I think Sammie won this one though! She is the cutest! We love you Lou!
I am so grateful for my family and all that they do for me and my little family! As I have gotten older I am so thankful for all of the support and help that I have! Thank you for everything! We love you guys!

Cole Turns 8!

Eight is GREAT! My little nephew Cole turned 8 on June 28th so we went over in the morning for breakfast and presents! Carter loves Cole and Cole is so cute with Carter! I hope that when Carter is 8 he can be just as great as Cole!

Cole among other great gifts got a new long board and a new BMX bike! Carter loved the skateboard! My sisters kids have the BEST bedhead in the morning!
Is he not so cute! Not to mention he has got he best hair I have ever seen! Total California boy!
Carter was so excited to bring over the presents in the morning but was not so excited that none of them were for him! Let's just say there were plenty of tears! We love you Cole and are so excited for you to get baptised in a week!

Yikes....It's a SISTER!

I forgot to tell you....I am having a baby SISTER! Yikes....I keeping telling mom that I will teach her football, basketball, baseball, soccer, & golf! I am not really sure what I am getting into though!

SF Zoo!

On Saturday we went to the San Fransisco Zoo....it was a blistering 78 degrees so the animals were all dying of the heat! SF is never that warm! But we were loving it....much better then the 113 at home! Here Carter and Sammie in front of the Penguin exhibit, Carter's favorite animal of the moment. Notice the nice tight grip on Sammie's neck!

Carter trying to sneak some of mommy's Diet Coke! Not so discretely!
With Grandma and Grandpa checking out the monkeys. There were two baby monkeys that were wrestling and fighting and Carter said "Look cousins, like Lou!"
Their favorite thing at the zoo was not the animals but running up and down a little hill screaming their heads off and waving their hands around! Crazy kids!