Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Mid-summer progress report

Okay, so here it is:
to start the summer off (a little early) we went to NW trek & wildlife park with grandma & pop. we stayed in a hotel the night before & enjoyed the "heated" (ha!) swimming pool.

Grace & Ezra are really starting to enjoy each other, despite the huge age gap! love it!

mark and grace did the zipline obstacle course. they had fun, although, if i'm being perfectly honest, it would have been better had they not been coupled with this wussy mom and her super wussy son who had to be coached (i.e. "you can do this") for 5 minutes prior to every obstacle. i mean the highest part of the whole thing was like 6ft off the ground! somebody needs to get that kid a bunk bed! 


while mark and grace were stuck behind 'scaredy pants' and his mom, the wait was long for ezzy, and pop was growing tired, so he took E on a part of the obstacle course that wasn't in use, despite the signs that prohibited it ;-). he was later told by an 18 year old employee (with a look that said, "you should know better!) to remove the child from the course. like always, pop wasn't the least bit embarrassed, but grandma was.

Gracie's allergies starting acting up near the end of our trek and she felt miserable :-(

2 hours in, Ezzy was tuckered out!

Luca & Mommy :-)

With Gracie asleep and a nice nap under his belt, Ezzy did what any bored kid would do - he tore his socks and shoes off and happily licked his toes!

With Grace out of school, we have had more time to just hang out...

some serious brother bonding - perhaps a little 'plotting'...

little YODA ;-)


who says t.v. prohibits family closeness - they look pretty close to me :-) (totally joking by the way)
 our hang time hasn't just been indoors, either! the weather around here has been phenomenal! so, needless to say, we've been to a few parks...



gracie with her cousin, kaylin (in town from AZ)

also, with such great weather we have really made use of the new trampoline!



Luca can't jump yet, but he likes to watch ;-)

July was BUSY for me!! i hosted 2 parties. the first was a quick throw together with some family & friends on the 4th of july...













lawn twister!

marshmallow catapults



in between the parties, Lu lu turned 7 months old!

the 2nd party was a baby shower i threw for my LONG time friend Audrey...











she's having a girl, in case you couldn't tell ;-)
CRAFT BLOG COMING SOON WITH MORE DETAILS & HOW TO'S ;-)
(I'll keep you posted)

CONGRATULATIONS AUDREY!! 

so, the 2nd half of this summer has the following to look forward to: 
mark's 33rd bday (mini party/bbq)
family road trip to MT
gracies dance classes (she's in hip-hop & acro)
the planning of ezzy's september bday party
some more parks,
definitely more water play on the trampoline
whatever else pops up ;-))))
LOOKING FORWARD TO IT ALL


Saturday, May 17, 2014

no need for spring

who needs spring, when summer is begging to show it's beautiful face early?! we were fortunate enough to get a sweet taste of Vitamin D just a week before our trip to Cali and it felt so good that water play was a must!





An early morning (starting at 4am) of traveling and the kids were excited to finally be off a plane, out of an airport and in the rental car; on our way to Nana's.

"Shouldn't I still be sleeping in my bed at home?"



But first, we needed food!!
we met up with Mark's old mission companion, Wes (Mulligan) and he introduced us to "In N Out"...

Grace gave it 2 thumbs up

and Ez said, "nice try, but I'm definitely NOT wearing this."


With a clean diaper and food in his belly, Ezzy crashed!...


But Grace was a fighter!
She kept those eyelids open the whole time - just too excited to see Nana & Papa... and the pool :-)

Finally, we arrived at Nana's and minutes later we were in the pool!...











Gracie's 1st time at the Cheesecake Factory and it was outside by a flowing river -
 how awesome is that? 



              

We loved playing in the sun all day then showering and enjoying the warm evenings. Here the kiddos are smoochin by the Fountain. *LOVE*


The fun really began once Gracie's cousin, Remedy joined us!

Just kicking back, enjoying Grandma's Popsicles :-)

On Mother's Day I was pampered from the start of the day till the end.
The kiddos surprised me with a nice breakfast...



Then Nana gathered the girls together and they performed a heartfelt skit where they did "The T-shirt girls" rendition of  'You are my sunshine'. so sweet!



Then daddy took care of the boys all day so I could literally lay by the pool for hours. Heaven on earth. BEST mother's day EVER!!


For FHE we took a drive and visited the Newport Temple. Now, we've seen every temple in California within reasonable driving distance from palm Springs!





Always time for a Pedi! 


And whats a vacation without a few random selfies on your camera roll?
Here's a few of Gracie and I being goofy...




Like always, I miss Palm Springs!! 
So glad this spring has jump started Summer early for us - I CAN'T WAIT FOR ALL OF THE FUN IN THE SUN ADVENTURES THAT AWAIT US!!