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!

1st Year of School Complete!

Jackson finished his first year of school on May 29th! He said that he liked school but doesn't want to go back next year (oh boy). He enjoyed his teachers and classmates... I think it was good for him. Here he is with his friends Gavin and Bryce. 

Captiva Island

We took a family vacation to Captiva Island on the gulf coast and it was HEAVEN!! 5 days and 4 nights of fun, relaxing, family time at the beach and pool. Really, it was so dreamy.

The four hour car ride wasn't the best but it was well worth it and our kids were pretty decent travelers.

The bayside view from our 1 bedroom room. It was a pretty perfect set-up. Daniel and I had our own room and bathroom, there was a full kitchen, Ivy had a little crib and Jackson slept on a Murphy bed. 

 We brought our own breakfast and lunch but then ate at a different restaurant each night. One of the nights there was a big gathering right at the beach and we went to see what all the fuss was about... oh, just the sunset! I guess that location is famous for the sunset. It was pretty spectacular! 

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We rented bikes and they were perfect! We would bike to dinner in the evenings, to the pool, around the resort. The kids took turns in the seat and trailer. It was so fun! And a good way to work off our dinner!

 

I bought all kinds of treats and junk for the trip. Just dunking some oreos in our milk here before bed one night. Or snacking on pop tarts! It was the good life for these kids.

 These two cuties.

We stayed on the south end of the resort but their large pools are on the north end. They have trolleys running every few minutes or so. We would often bike but we took the trolley a few times and kids loved it. 

The pools were so dreamy! They had 3 large pools at the north end of the resort but then every section of the resort had its own. We spent the majority of our time at the main pools but we often had "good night swim nights"(as Jackson called them) at our own pool. I love how you can see the ocean just beyond the pool. 

After we had some pool time, we'd hit the beach! The kids loved finding shells and playing in the sand. We took walks and swam, fished and saw manatees!

 This little catch did some damage on one of our afternoons when it stuck Jackson with its barb right in his hand. He was a super sad kids, but very brave. Nothing a good night swim night couldn't fix!

 

 Here is the wounded soldier.

Poor little tuckered Ives!! We tried to get naps in each day but sometimes that bike ride back to our room was a little too long.

 The resort gave Jackson free ice cream vouchers after he hurt his hand. We enjoyed them!

We took a lot of photos here... it was one of Ivy's favorite spots.  

Mother's Day

I had a perfect Mother's Day. Breakfast in bed with all my favorite peeps. Cute homemade gifts from the kids... Being smothered with hugs and kisses all day. Watching my sunbeam sing at church. All that wonderfulness!!

 Lucky for these two. I'm so happy to be their mom!

 I glanced down at  my purse during church and smiled inside seeing the snacks and bottle peeking out. I really love being a mom!!

Back in Business!

Our computer battery bit the dust. That in combination of being really busy and traveling = no blogging. But we are back in the swing of things at home and Amazon delivered our new battery yesterday so today is the day I'm going to try and get caught up! Stay tuned...