Tuesday June 28, 2011

my parents backyard

WOW... not even sure when I last blogged... but I know it's been at least 3 months and quite a bit has been going on... hence the lack of blogging. I keep telling myself that I will get a break soon and I will have more time soon and that I will actually be able to finish the millions of things I've started soon... soon has to be coming around one of these days or I just might lose my mind!

Random day spent on the couch with a "hiding place"

It's been so long I'm trying to remember what we've been up to. March, April and May are a bit of a blur... we were very busy with MOPS and the moms group we are in and Chad worked quite a bit of overtime to make up for our summer vacations that were coming up. Between our social lives and duties around the house there really hasn't been much else.

Random afternoon at Hanger 24 with Dad

Cathy, Amber, Chad, Leslie... our first mud run together!

Karlie is walking and running and trying to jump... just can't quite get her little body off the ground yet. She is also saying a few words, mommy, daddy, doggy, snack, juice, flower, whoa, bye bye, no, owie, milk... just to name a few. Hard to remember if Makenna was talking more at this age or not. With Karlie being attached to her pacifier so much I think she's decided to just make sounds instead of words. BUT!!! We have officially put the pacifier on restriction as of 6 days ago and it's going really good! The pacifier DOES NOT leave Karlie's bedroom and is ONLY used when she is in her crib! It takes a little bit longer to calm her down when needed to but she gets there and we are all fine. The true test will be this weekend when Chad heads back to work and to see if I can handle her screams and cries without giving in!

Aunt Sharon with Karlie

Makenna throwing bread for the ducks and Karlie is just excited

Just last night we switched Makenna over to a "big girl" bed and she is no longer sleeping in her tiny little crib. I just can't believe she is already old enough and big enough to be in such a big bed! Time goes by so quickly! We bought Makenna a full size bed and let her pick out her won bedding and she picked out blue flowers... I even like it! Her and Karlie both are so excited over the new bed and they are loving all the space to jump and play on her bed!

She was so happy to throw bread!

Towards the end of May my cousin Linda and her adorable almost 2 year old daughter Rori came to stay with us for a while. My cousin/her sister in law graduated from college so she came out to see that and see family and friends. We were able to go up to Tehachapi where our Aunt lives and visit for a few days. There is a great park with a pond/lake for feeding ducks. It was a big hit! I just love Aunt Sharon! The drive up took three and a half hours and all three girls did really great until the last half hour when there was an epic meltdown from all three. Luckily the drive home was MUCH better and went much quicker! But we had a great visit with everyone!

Pre-flight entertainment at the airport!

June has been a wonderful month for us... and possibly the quickest month ever so far! Saturday June 4th the girls and I flew up to Oregon to stay with Gramma and Papa for a while and Chad drove up Wednesday June 8th after his shift to be with us. We left Oregon for the drive home late Sunday night the 19th and made it home the next afternoon... home for 48 hours and then off again for a 5 day camping trip... and we are home for good now. It was an absolutely wonderful 3 weeks of vacation and at the end it was so nice to be home and in our own home for a while!

One the plane and happy with snacks

Oregon - I've said it before and I'll say it forever... there's nothing like going "home" and being able to be there for a while. 2 weeks was a good amount but I could have stayed longer. It's so beautiful up there and the best part is that's where my family is. A girl can get really lonely being without the ones she loves the most! We were able to meet the two newest nephews and holy cow are they cute!!! Also got to see the other 3 nephews and our niece and all of their mommies and daddies too. I never thought it would be this hard to be so far away from my brothers and sisters... but it is... I want to be a part of their lives and their kids' lives! Vacation time will just have to do... no other options so we just make the best out of it!

While up visiting we were able to do quite a bit and still have enough time to just relax at the house and let the girls explore. We stayed at the coast for a couple days and visited the aquarium... and there my mind goes drawing a blank at everything else! Mommy moment...

LOOK MOMMY!!! BUNNIES!!!

oh we went to Bauman's one morning and took some great pictures and the girls loved playing on the playground and seeing the animals and running around their place having fun. One of the best parts of being at Gramma and Papa's house was just letting the girls play outside and walk around and run and explore without any worries! They both found Papa's shop to be a huge thrill! We were able to watch cousin Tyler play two little league games. We were able to spend a whole morning with just Uncle Jason shopping and driving around... which mommy LOVED just being able to be with him and talk to him! Daddy was able to go fishing one day but never did go catching... just fishing.

The beach view from our beach house... it was wonderful!

Makenna helped daddy mow the back pasture

All in all it was a GREAT trip home and I can't wait to go back... whenever that might be! Only a short 16 hour drive away! Which by the way driving home with the girls was our very first ever family road trip and it couldn't have gone better! We left my parents at 7:15pm sunday night and drove into our driveway at 11:13am Monday! Exactly 15 hours and 58 minutes door to door. Driving thru the night proved to be the best method when traveling with small children. The slept mostly thru the night and into the late morning. And when we stopped for gas and potty breaks they were able to go back to sleep fairly quickly and easily and Chad and I managed to stay awake most of the whole trip. we took turns driving (well I only drove for 2 hours) but I stayed awake most of the time to keep Chad awake. We drank lots of Monster and were good to go. I'm thinking due to budget cuts for us the only way to travel is to drive... four round trip plane tickets vs. a few tanks of gas... cheaper to drive!


Camping... We camped with the Delaney's and the Herbert's at South Carlsbad State Beach here in California. The weather was decent (really really heavy marine layer that never lifted all day every day almost) but not too hot or too cold and we had blast. Our site was right next to the walkway down to the beach which turned out really nice when you have to go up and down six times to carry everything you need for just a few hours at the beach! Turns out Makenna isn't a fan of the sand and preferred to wear her sandals while at the beach or to just not even walk anywhere and just sit on the chair. But finally on day 3 of being at the beach we discovered she is terrified of the seaweed (which was EVERYWHERE). So we were constantly pulling the grass and seaweed out of the area so she could play with us and have a little fun. All the kids had a great time and did really good... no major injures or fights between the three little ones. Our girls slept great in the tent with us and only one morning was Karlie up at 6:15am ready to play while Makenna slept until 7:30 like normal.

Chad and I are seriously contemplating purchasing a very small trailer (most likely a pop-up tent trailer) next year with our tax return if we are able to. We've looked a little bit and you can get a nice used one for fairly cheap and the convenience of having a trailer available vs a tent when camping sounds SO SO SO nice to me!

The month of June was so good to us and I feel so lucky to have been able to do all we did and let the girls experience everything they did. Now for a relaxing slow month of July at home!

Grumpy Makenna... didn't like the sand or seaweed