Vacation!!

Six and a half years. 

Was the last time we went on vacation just the two of us for more than one night. 

A huge thank you to Mom & Dad for gifting us three nights away to have fun. 

We decided to head down to Anaheim, CA.

Day 1, we flew, got settled and met up with Skyler's sister Sasha who lives in L.A.

We went to China town and had authentic Korean bbq. What an experience! Grills right there on the table, sitting on stools and using metal chopsticks and bowls. They were very similar to the ones my mom brought back from her mission in Korean many years ago.

 Day 2, we drove around quite a bit, we visited a few areas of Skyler's mission. Ate at In'N'Out of course. We went to an amazing bakery on Laguna beach where I tasted the best cinnamon danish I've ever had.  It was overcast and breezy but it was still fun to walk in the waves at LAGUNA BEACH! We drove up into the hills there and I just couldn't believe how spectacular the homes and landscaping were. And like people say, the houses are quite literally on top of each other. 

We visited the Newport Beach Temple 

I thought it was SO COOL to see the citrus trees randomly growing in people's yards. 

Day 3, Disneyland!! We got the hopper pass and actually did Disney and California Adventures in one day. Since it was just us, we just rode the rides we wanted to over and over, stopped when we were hungry and kept on going! It.was.awesome. Although the "mom" in me felt a bit guilty that the kids were missing out, especially when we saw the Little Mermaid ride or when Cinderella walked by with a huge line...and the other part of me was like WOooo we don't have to wait in that line! 

The weather was perfect and the park wasn't crowded at all. I totally recommend going mid-week in March. We didn't wait longer then 20min. for any of the rides we went on (with the exception of 1-2).

Day 4, Travel home day. Why does vacation have to end...ever? We bummed around at the pool, went for a drive hoping to run into Long beach but didn't, so we stopped at Chick-fil-A to see what all the hype was about and we were pleasantly surprised. Made our way back to the Long Beach airport, which is so chill, no lines and pretty much all outdoors. 

We came back to two happy little campers that had lots of fun with G&G but also had lots of snuggles to give us. We stayed a couple nights at my parents to celebrate my brother's 30th birthday at Buca di Beppo's. yumm. 

Hobbes points at EVERY airplane. And since my parents live near a small residential airport, they said he'd been pointing quite a bit. 

Jon's Birthday Dinner

The lighting was terrible for pictures which is why they're all b&w. But,  the food was great, and we were happy to be able to celebrate together. 

Happy Birthday's!

7/26/13

Hobbson turned 1!

He is: so funny, incredibly ticklish, strawberry blonde, loves his sister to death and smiles SO big when she enters the room. He's said, Mama, dada, Hayee, Hi, NAN!!, all these a couple times but nothing is super consistent. Except NAN!!! 

(I think that's what he calls me because he yells it right at me when he wants food/drink.)

He's a dang fast crawler and has only taken a couple steps 1-2 times, but not walking. He's got 8 teeth and teething about 8 more, not sure since he doesn't welcome my poking around in there. But his poor gums are swollen and tender. 

(Nevermind my mess of hair...it's so annoying to see a picture with hair in your face, 

you just keep wanting to brush it away) 

Silly boy, wasn't sure what to think of the treat. He did like the whip cream frosting.

A few gifts, Mom and Dad were nice to come visit and celebrate with us. Since we knew they were coming we celebrated a day late. (hence the photo time stamp) 

Naturally this is what he's interested in doing with new toys...

Funny since this is what Hayley did with her toys at about the same age...

(Yes, she is supporting herself, with no help)

7/30/13

Happy Birthday Skyler!!!

This was Skyler's "Golden Birthday" for those unfamiliar...it's when you turn the age of the date you were born. For Skyler it was 30yrs. on July 30th. Double reasons for celebrating since 30 is a big one. 

I'd been planning this for awhile...

I arranged for a sitter, not one we usually use to make it look like I was running out of people to ask, and I said we only had 2 hours for dinner and travel time, since the sitter "had plans" afterwards. :)

In the weeks leading up, I had contacted probably 40 of his fellow co-workers, past friends, mission companions, siblings, scout leaders, anyone and everyone I could think of. Asking for memories, short stories, funny moments and sentiments that they love about Sky. I received quite a few and boy were some funny. It took all my might not to squeal the surprise. 

Day of, I picked up 30 Gold balloons, printed the sentiments and tied one to each balloon. I made some map bunting since decorating for a mans' party isn't easy... a map themed bunting seemed to be a nice medium (and Sky loves maps.)

We got home from dinner and actually everyone was arguing about where to stand, his friends in the front, spouses in the back etc. It was funny. Then they saw us and were like, OH! SURPRISE!! 

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the Birthday boy on his special day, or of all the treats. :)

But I will note, there was Brownies, Homemade shortcakes w/lime-strawberries and cinn. whip, tuille cookies with homemade strawberry/watermelon sorbet and white cantaloup/pineapple sorbet. 

(I was very happy with how everything turned out, and I do take special orders ;) )

Sky was very surprised. At the end of dinner he even asked me, "so what do you want to do when we get home? 

To which I looked down and solemnly replied:

"oh nothing, maybe just put the kids to bed early and watch a show."

8/6/13

Happy Birthday Chelsea!

The day before my actual birthday, Skyler was able to take off work, 

and he let me pick all the activities. 

So we drove up to Heyburn State Park which is about an hour north of Pullman in a town called Plummer. We started with a picnic lunch (that was cut short because the bees this summer are seriously out of control!) then we rode bikes along the lake for awhile. It was beautiful, I hope we can go camping there sometime. 

(Then since it had been hectic before all our birthday's hit, he took me shopping and let me pick out a few new things, including a pretty polka dot dress that I'm super excited about)

The next day on my actual birthday I celebrated by taking the kids to the WSU creamery, Ferdinand's, for my free birthday cone. I'm such a child, I know.

Then if that wasn't enough, Skyler treated me to dinner at Black Cypress. 

And a brownie sundae of course since I'm not crazy about cake. 

I'm so lucky.

So Happy Birthday to all of us, Hayley was a great sport in all of this considering her birthday was back in April. She was sweet. 

We made a slideshow with some pictures from Hayley's first three years. We are celebrating her birthday tomorrow and then in a couple of weeks when Grandparents are here for a weekend visit. Enjoy!

Walk the walk. Talk the talk.

Hayley took her first step, followed by tumbles, at right about 11 months. Even at her young age her strong will pulled her through and is now walking EVERYWHERE!! Still bobbling around, and succumbing to crawling when she gets tired or feels she cant get to wherever she needs to fast enough.Today at church, I took her tights off before they were totally destroyed, and she changed her crawl so her knees don't touch the ground. (Preventing rug burn at this young age!) Thus, her bum is straight in the air, crawling like a little monkey. Pretty funny to watch, I usually just try to help her to stand up the rest of the way.So with progress comes challenges. We're figuring out different ways of baby proofing, moving things and such. It's fascinating to watch Hayley as she learns to express her feelings, frustration, favorites, happiness and curiosity.Some things that make her special:

• The fact that she could and would if it were up to her, survive on grapes alone.

• She'll bring you books to read to her.

• Makes the MM MMM MM sound when she wants my attention while eating.

• She tries to copy us, clapping, waving etc.

• Thinks it's hilarious to jam her thumb up your nose unexpectedly.

• Will take each of the books off the shelf, talk to it for a second and throw it behind her, then turn around and throw them the other way.
• Is fearless and wants to try whatever we're eating.
• Has the most cheerful countenance of any baby or living thing we've ever seen.
  
• Sometimes says "Hi dad" or "hi mom" when we get her in the morning or when we get home from work.
  
• Fascinated by the outdoors, first thing she does is point at the trees waving in the wind.

Happy 1st Birthday Hayley!
April 23, 2009