California Part 3

Come back for part 2, it is waiting for pictures on the other computer.

Part 3 is Beach Day!
I'm tired of writing so I'll let pictures speak for themselves.


 

 

 

 

 

 

After all that sand and salty water we had to rinse off in the pool at Uncle Tom and Aunt Christina's house.  Madi went off the diving board for the first time... not at anyone else's suggestion, she just hopped up and said "Watch."  Way to go Madi!  Extra fun about this tid bit is that this is the same pool where I went off the diving board for the first time. Uncle Tommy and Aunt Christina live in the house where my mom and her family grew up... this was a nostalgic return to Grandma's house for me.

And did you catch the sneaky beach picture I threw in there.  The highly unattractive side shot of me?  Yeah, that's me and my little belly I have been meaning to announce.  I'm so excited to tell everyone that we are expecting another baby girl!  I am 20 weeks now and due November 3rd.  We're all really excited and Madi especially couldn't be happier.  We hope she is just like her wonderful sister, with a good healthy mix of her entertaining and highly lovable brother.  We can't wait to welcome her to the family!  (And sorry for the slow announcement.)

California Part 1

Our kids love a lot of things, but near the top of their shared list is dolphins and penguins.  So guess what we did... We went to Sea World!!! Okay, it was as much for me as for anyone, but we all LOVED it!   

We had sooooo much fun.  The kids loved trying to touch the dolphins at the "Interaction" pool and we were amazed as one dolphin came right in front of us and made his dolphin noises, he was close enough to touch but we couldn't touch him because you aren't supposed to when their mouths are open.  So cool though! 

 

We spent most of the day going from show to show and exhibit to exhibit learning and watching and enjoying and then about an hour before the park closed I realized we hadn't done any of the "amusement park" stuff.  Trust me, we were amused and would have gone home happy and satisfied without any of the rides we did, but it was a perfect way to cap off an amazing day.  We laughed and laughed on the kiddie rides and especially got a kick out of the kids on the spinning sea star (tea cups) ride.

 

 

Those genuine smiles are my favorite. It makes all the exhaustion, napless days and late, late nights disappear.  Oh, and it makes 2 years of spending no money on entertainment so very worth it!  You don't have to have fun experiences like this to make you love your family more, but it sure is a fun way to remind yourself how very lucky you are.

Grand Canyon (May)

We're too close to this wonder to not make a trip... 

so we headed to the Grand Canyon for a little hiking and camping

 

(Yep, that's the best picture we got :o)

As soon as we pulled in we went straight to the Visitor's Center to see what we could fit in before dark and then headed out on a hike.

The idea was that the kids would walk the down portion and we would carry them up.  Day one they were pretty good and would go with the plan except when it got to windy or they were tired.  Our hikes were definitely shorter than we expected (the kids are better hikers when we are close to home) but it was still beautiful and we were so glad we made the effort to come.

 

 

 

  

 

 

Day 2 of hiking was not as well received by the kids as day 1... They both wanted Dad and refused to take a step until he picked them up.  Unfortunately this one on the the way up not down, so Kevin got one amazing workout.  (Okay, it wasn't very long that he carried them but in the heat and with both of them... I wouldn't last 100 yards)

Finally Shayne gave in and let me put him on my back and within about 45 seconds fell asleep.  I just had to include this picture so everyone knew I actually went :o)

 

After day 1 I couldn't figure out why I was so  unsatisfied, I didn't feel like we had really seen the Grand Canyon yet.  Turns out I needed to see the river to feel like we had seen it... Well, day 2, river, check.  Time to get in the car and let the kids get some sleep ;o)  They were SOOO tired the whole trip because of the driving and lack of naps, but considering those things they were really good travellers.

Side note:  There was a fire near Vegas shortly before our trip so everything was hazy, but we still got to see the "crack God put in the earth" (according to Madi).  It was magnificent.

 

 In case you are wondering logistic because you are planning on going, we went to the South Rim and stayed at Mather campground.  2 great choices.  The campground was great, well kept and quiet and very close to the visitors center where you go to catch the shuttles (you can even catch the shuttle from the camp entrance.)  We had a great time... and hopefully we can come back when the kids are bigger and we can hike farther and longer.  Fun trip, inexpensive, I highly recommend it.

Some of May

I didn't have my camera with me much lately, but here are a few random pictures.

In May we tried to enjoy the weather a little before it got too hot.  So we spent a morning at one of our old favorites, Sunset park.


The day Kevin finished classwork we went out to dinner with classmates to celebrate Lynn's birthday and finishing the hard part of the school year.

 

The day before the kids birthday we gave them their birthday gift from us, which was a trip to see the dolphins at the Mirage Secret Garden.  The kids LOVED the dolphins!  We all enjoyed seeing the beautiful white tigers and the lions, but the dolphins were definitely the favorite.

 

 

On their birthday we tried to cram too much fun in :o)  That morning we went to Chuck E. Cheese... always fun in their books.

Shayne discovered Ski ball and we realized what a good use of a token it is because it takes about 4 throws to actually get it all the way up.  It was really just a roll and retrieve game for him... but he LOVED it and would have played all day if we let him.

Then after naps we invited some friends over for swimming and cupcakes.

Unfortunately the only friends we have that are boys were sick that day, but Madi and Shayne still loved being with the girls.

Cupcakes were rainbows and baseballs this year... and I promise, they were actually happy about it :o)

Really great month thus far.  One more post for May and I will be nearly caught up.

Finishing April

No surprise here, I am months and TONs of fun behind on the blog.  But we've had so much fun I can't skip over it, so here is the brief version

The kids and I decided last minute to make the drive up to Utah to support Auntie Jenni as she graduated with her Master's from BYU.  We also made it just in time time be at her baby shower.


We were SO glad we made the trip!

On graduation day we were lucky enough to run into our dear friends the Mellings (and most of the rest of the McDonald crew).  We finally got to meet sweet baby William and see how big the kiddos have grown.

A highlight of the trip for Madi was getting to join Kaili for a ballet and tap class.  They were so cute and fun to watch!

Shortly after we got home it was time to celebrate Kevin's birthday.  We enjoyed delicious (although not particularly attractive) Ice cream cake, minus the cake part.  The kids made party hats, we ate one of Dad's favorite dinners and sang Happy Birthday repeatedly throughout the day... Good day.