Here and There

The Quigleys are moving to Utah! We are so sad to see them go! Of course they aren't bringing their little john boat so they gave us a good deal and voile! we are boat owners! The kids enjoy taking it out for a little spin on the lake.

This sassafras girl loves adoring herself in the mirror, especially when she's wearing her Minnie jewelry.

It's always a fight for the middle when we are just coming home from grandma's house.

Following in the footsteps of her brother, we have a lizard catcher on our hands!

We've got our own little pool right in the backyard! It is sometimes just what we need for a short bit in the mornings or afternoons. 

Love our time at Wild Florida and love getting our gator demonstration on!

Jackson and Porter have been begging for a sleep-over and their wishes came true!! Love these boys!

So pretty in her new dress that Grandma Vicky made her!

We spend a lot of our time at the pool. Like, a lot a lot. Why wouldn't we? We absolutely love it and it's so dang hot already!! Makes for the most wonderful summers ever! How about these action shots!!??

We've been doing a little "school work" this summer! I love watching him write, it's hilarious. 

We went berry picking again! So fun and so delicious!

This kid had a little run in with the rocks around the slide at the pool. Ouch!!

Hitting up the beach means tuckered kids on the drive home.

The size of the pool doesn't matter for this diving fool!!

Getting fancy with her jumps!

Here is Ivy with her little buddy, Aubrey. They've become best friends since their older brothers go to school together. 

And I'm sure much more to come!

Pico and Cocoa

I'm sure anyone that knows us, knows that we love our 2 little chihuahuas, Pico and Cocoa. We brought Pico home from Mexico over 9 years ago when he was the tiniest puppy without any teeth and we bottle fed him! Cocoa joined our family just 4 months later when I went back to work and we thought Pico could use a  buddy.  They became our babies. And we loved them so!!! But here we are, 9 years later, with 2 children and 2 dogs that don't really like children! It was okay at first... when Jackson was a baby, he didn't bother them too much. And once he started  getting older and a little more handsy Pico and Cocoa started spending more and more time outside. Especially when Ivy came along... there was no time for the dogs and the kids... they became too much work and then they became outside dogs. Well... once they were outside all the time, they started digging. Digging up under our fence and going out everywhere all over the neighborhood. We tolerated that until... Pico bit a neighborhood child. Eek!! So then they were under house arrest. Literally. Out to pee in the morning, in their room all day, out to pee at night and in their room for bed. So sad a life for our little, once beloved, once our own children before children puppers. So we decided to look into adopting them out. It took several months but the right people came along and here they are:

Never been to a groomer a day in their life and now groomed to perfection and beloved once again! So glad they are getting the love and attention they deserve because they really are sweet, loving good little dogs. We miss you Pico and Cocoa but are so glad you are happy! 

In the meantime, Sandy is doing just fine and it well taken care of by the kids... here, Jackson is sharing his beloved blankie with her. 

Happy Father's Day

When we got home from California Daniel made sure to spend lots of time with his kiddos. He took Jackson out one night and then took Ivy out, just the two of them, the next. He sent me pictures of their daddy/daughter date along the way and they were just too cute. This man, he is a gem of a dad and we are so lucky he is ours!

 For Father's day I got Daniel a night out! Sam watched the kiddos for us and we enjoyed a mini getaway!

 Always love the picture text updates of the kids in forts and having lots of fun! They love their uncle Sam!

 Here is the main man on Father's day... can't help but stop when he sees a snake in the road. Nope, this isn't the first one folks and won't be the last. Love our outdoorsy, snake catching, hunting, fun-loving, handsome dad!

California!

We went to California for almost 2 weeks the beginning of this month. It was our best trip out! I hardly know where to start... I thought the flight out was going to be a disaster (as you would think below) but it wasn't!! Once we took off and got settled in our seats the kids were great!  

Jackson and Ivy didn't miss a beat getting reacquainted with their cousins. And we spent just about every day with them. Here, we were able to go to Jake, Hallee and Baylee's school carnival!

We spent lots and lots of time in the pool of course.

We were able to watch 3 of Jake's baseball games! His team made it all the way to the championship game! It was so fun watching him pitch and bat... he is was the cutest boy out there!

All the little rug-rats enjoying treats at Nate & |Dara's.

One of the days we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific with my mom and Jeff and Hannah. We took Baylee along with us as well. It was very neat, with lots of hands on things. Jackson will say his favorite part was petting the sharks but he also spent a lot of time with the jellyfish as well. I love how Baylee is posing in this picture and how Ivy way trying to copy her. 

Feeding the birds was a hit as well.

We were able to drive down to Fallbrook for a day to see my Grandma Gerry, my aunt Sue, my cousin Rachel and her darling little girl, Taylor. It was so nice to spend time with them and see my Grandma. This is one of the reason I wish we were just a little closer! So we could visit more often. 

I snuck out to a movie one night with these two lovebirds. I've never enjoyed being the 3rd wheel more!

We had a campout in my brother's backyard one of the nights. They set up their big screen and the kids watched a movie while they were in the pool. We set up tents and everyone stayed the night outside! Ivy and I were in a tent, Jackson, Baylee and Jake shared a tent, Nate, Dara and Hallee were together and Jeff and Hannah. It was pretty fun. The kids tent was a little lopsided and Charlie (Nate and Dara's dog) was sitting on Jackson's head at one point. Around 11:00 Ivy was yelling back and forth with Nate through the tent... so besides my kids being totally sleep deprived it was a total success!

We spent a day at the LA Zoo! And I think we picked the hottest day of our trip to go. But we enjoyed ourselves and seeing the animals and being with our family. 

The flight home had the potential to be a nightmare. It was completely full... overbooked even... so we were totally squished, but the kids were dreamy and did great! I need to stop stressing about these flights!!

I really can't say enough how nice this trip was. We stayed with my mom so we were able to spend a lot of time with her. We spent a few days swimming at my dads and visiting with him. They both almost always joined us over at Nate and Dara's where we were most of the time. It's so nice to see my kids get so attached so quickly and makes my heart hurt a little when they ask for Grandpa or Grandma or Uncle Nate. I just know we will make California a standing tradition each year so when they are older they will have fond memories of their summers in California visiting my family.

We were also able to visit with GG and Gramps while we were there. I took the kids over one day and then visited with them just by myself on Sunday afternoon. My grandpa had recently had a procedure done and wasn't in the best of spirits but by the time I came by on Sunday he seemed back to his old self again, which was really encouraging. I'm already looking forward to our next trip out!