Spring Break in San Diego: Day One

It's not often that we go somewhere for Spring Break.  In fact, I think the last time we went it was because of the same reason...we had free nights at Holiday Inn.  We had 5 free nights this time and I've really been wanting to go to San Diego for awhile now.  I've never been and thought this was the perfect chance to go.

We drove to San Diego on Friday.  It was a half day for the older kids at school so I opted to not send them and drive the whole way in one day instead.  We pulled into our hotel a "lovely" 13 hours later.  I'm grateful our kids are pretty good travellers.  We've made three 12+ hour road trips in the last 9 months and they've all gone pretty smoothly.  When we got there, the kids immediately headed for the pool.

I'm going to call Saturday "Day One."  I decided to not do the San Diego Zoo on Saturday because I thought it was going to be crazy on a weekend.  That decision later came back to kick me in the butt but oh well.  I'll explain on Day 4.

Saturday was overcast, but still pleasant. It was perfect jacket weather. We drove up to Children's Beach in La Jolla. Rob's mom had told us about the seals on the beach so was that our first stop.

Apparently Tangled is a scary movie for T.  This is when Mother Gothel is telling Rapunzel that she will never leave the tower.  You have to admit, that part is a little scary!

We went down on one part of the beach and there was a lonely seal hanging out in its own.

Then we headed over to another side of the beach where there were quite a few seals laying out.  It was fun to watch them come in and out of the water and flop along on the beach to get where they wanted to go.

Hmmm, something funny?  Guess you had to be there...


When Rob's parents were here a few years ago, there were animal rights activists preventing people from going on the beach.  I guess there was some law passed so now there is a full time park ranger there to keep the people from getting too close to the seals, but you are allowed to go down on the beach. 

Then we headed to the Old Point Loma Lighthouse.

Three of the kids on the staircase up to the top of the lighthouse.  Brynlee was in a grumpy mood (this is SO booorrrinng) and didn't go into the lighthouse with the rest of us.

Rob found her outside and tried to get a picture of her but she didn't want to look at the camera or smile.

We headed back to the car and realized at the bottom of the trail to the parking lot that Brynlee wasn't with us.  We thought she had gone ahead of us and would be waiting at the car, but she wasn't.  Rob went back up to find her and convinced her to go inside the lighthouse.

Then they walked over to the Cabrillo National Monument while I fed Olivia in the car.  Stand like a statue...

We went to Point Loma Seafoods for lunch, went back to the hotel to change rooms to a bigger one that became available after our first night there so Landon and Trevor wouldn't have to sleep on the floor, and then headed to the beach.

Brynlee finally declared "This is the best vacation!"  Apparently, all she needs is space to run free!  The kids had so much fun trying to outrun the water and eventually conceded.

Typical Trevor pose with one hand on hip, the other waving around as he explains something that just happened.  Pretty sure it had something to do with a wave getting the best of him...

Biggest and littlest sisters snuggling on the blanket...

 Rob braved the cold water while Olivia and I hung out on the beach...

 
Good night, San Diego...

Olivia at 6 months

Yikes, it's been too long since I've blogged!  I need to play catch up and I'll start off with Miss Olivia.  I'm going to back track to 5 months old since I didn't get some pictures of her on here that I finally downloaded from the camera last week. Olivia always has something in her mouth. Yes, it's mostly due to the fact that babies this age do that. Not only does she still suck her fingers and occasionally her thumb, but she has also added toes to the mix. She grabs everything in her reach and it goes straight to her mouth.

Five months also brought her first taste of solid food. Can't say she was a huge fan, but she's slowly adjusting as we've added green beans, carrots, and sweet potatoes.

More interested in stuffing the bib in her mouth...

Cute, messy face!

I really need someone to teach me how to take pictures (angles, lighting, etc.) but when you're taking pictures of such a cute baby, who cares about that stuff, right?  One Sunday it was a beautiful spring day and she got to wear one of her springy dresses to church...complete with a giant white flower  :)

She is now 6 months old!  Time is going by way too fast.   She had her well-child checkup today and her stats are 16 lbs. 9 oz. (60%) and 27 inches (88%). She has slowed down on her weight gain but the doctor wasn't concerned since she is still slightly above average. Once again, he declared she was perfect. She is sitting up for short periods of time before slowly bending in half or leaning to the side and falling over. She continues to be a really happy baby!

We were in San Diego last week so here are some 6 month pictures of her on the beach.  It was overcast and breezy so Olivia and I hung out on the sand while the others braved the ocean.

 

She loved the sand! Luckily none made it into her mouth.

Up next...Spring Break in San Diego.  We loved it!  Hopefully it doesn't take me a couple of months to blog about it!

Love is in the Air

Valentines Day...

I wanted to have a fun, special Valentines day so of course I turned to Pinterest for some ideas. The problem with that place is sometimes it can be overwhelming with so many ideas! I decided to do both a special breakfast and dinner.

Breakfast was heart-shaped french toast, strawberries, whipped cream and oj. I am not a huge breakfast maker...well, at least not at breakfast time. It's usually cold cereal before school (or the girls will make oatmeal for themselves).   I love to do breakfast for dinner, though, and we probably have it at least 4 times a month. I bought Valentines paper products from the dollar store and made these cute love birds at a craft night last month.

We had a fancy little dinner with steak, baked potatoes, asparagus, and chocolate dipped strawberries. Oh and we can't forget the bubbly...afterall, you can't have a fancy dinner without a little Martinelli's. I made cute owl Valentines for the kids complete with cheesy sayings...

For Ashlee...

For Brynlee...

For Landon...

And for Trevor...

Ashlee had just walked in the door from ballet when dinner was ready.  Pinkies up...

A friend of mine posted a picture on Facebook of her daughter licking her elbow.  Apparently, most people can't do it. (go ahead and try...I know you want to)  I was telling the kids about it so of course they all tried and couldn't.  Then Brynlee said, "I can't lick my elbow but I can lick my armpit!"  And yes, she showed us and yes, I got a picture...

I guess we know which one was paying attention at the Manners Tea earlier that day at school.

One thing I found on Pinterest was this idea of little gifts for the hubster. The idea was to do 14 days of Valentines but who thinks of those things 14 days before. Okay, so actually I did think of it but just didn't put that thinking into action (plus he was gone to Atlanta the week before so I would have really had to be sneaky and put them in his already overpacked suitcase)  I used a few of the ideas and put together a basket for him. Again, complete with cheesy sayings...

Rob got me some flowers and a frame with a picture of us from our trip to Hawaii five years ago. Sweet, simple, and thoughtful.

We can't forget about this little love bug.  She even knows how to "say" I love you...

When I was making dinner, the kids were in the other room sorting through their Valentines with Olivia on the floor by them. Every 30 seconds or so, Landon would yell out "Ellie rolled over!" He would roll her back onto her back and again I would hear "Ellie rolled over again!"  Evidently, she did it five times!  But by the time I came in with the camera, she was done performing.

She also likes the Bumbo.  Not a fan of the bouncy seat though.  She always tries to roll over when she is in it so she prefers the ground or the Bumbo.

Anyone else agree that besides the fact that she is the youngest, she will pretty much be getting anything she wants with those big, blue, puppy dog eyes...



Olivia - 4 months old

Olivia had her 4 month check up today and after checking her over, the doctor again confirmed she is perfect (he really does say that!) She weighs 15 lbs. 2 oz. and is 25 1/2 inches long. She is perfectly proportionate....about the 85th percentile for weight, height and head circumference.

She has rolled over 3 times...the first two times she was on the bed so I think it helped having a soft surface and another body (me the first time and Brynlee second time) that she rolled toward. Yesterday, I put her down on her back in the living room and went into the kitchen. A few minutes later Rob asked me if I had put her down on her tummy. Little sneaky girl!

She is a very happy baby and still smiles and squeals when you talk to her. She loves all the attention she gets...even from strangers in the store that tell her how cute she is.

I didn't get it on camera the first time it happened during this little photo shoot but unfortunately she's been doing it often...

Little stinker kept putting her hands in her mouth...

Ah, I'll just hang out here for a moment...

Yep, too cool.

She still does this quite often....

But also does this...

She even does a pinky/ring finger combo. Luckily, when the binky gets put in, she'll take that as well.

(p.s. she even sleeps through the night...yep, like 10-12 hours every night.  i. am. spoiled.)

Ashlee's 11th Birthday

Eleven years ago I became what I had always dreamed of being.  A mother.  My chubby-cheeked baby has grown into a beautiful 11 year old!

We celebrated on Wednesday since she had ballet on the night of her birthday. She chose to go to Texas Roadhouse for her birthday dinner. There were quite a few people in the restaurant celebrating birthdays as well and Ashlee said "I am NOT sitting on the saddle." So we mentioned to the waitress that it was her birthday and lo, and behold, at the end of our meal, they brought over the saddle with her ice cream. The waitress said "Come on, girl! Come get on the saddle." She very hesitantly got on it but was so cute and all smiles. Then when she got off she said, "THAT was EMBARRASSING!"

Two Thumbs Up

Guess who decided he didn't want to suck his thumb anymore?!  Yep, this guy...

The other day we were reading scriptures before bed, and Trevor was sitting next to me and laying his head on me. He started nodding off, and I thought it was strange that he wasn't sucking his thumb. I pointed it out to Rob and he said he noticed one time that he wasn't sucking his thumb at a time that he normally would be. When Rob put him to bed the next day, Trevor just snuggled up in his covers and didn't suck his thumb. It's been a few days so I wanted to see if it was just a fluke that he hasn't been doing it. This morning I asked him if he sucks his thumb. "Nope," was his reply. I asked him why not and he said, "I just don't want to anymore." Okay, we'll roll with that.

Nine years ago...

this sweet, beautiful, little (only 6 lbs. 14 oz. and 18 inches) red-headed baby joined our family...

 Yep, still sweet, beautiful, and red-headed!

(but not so little...in fact, she is about a head taller than most of her friends!)

I am so thankful for Brynlee.  She is my little mommy.  She is the first to get Olivia when she is crying, loves to play with and entertain Trevor, and loves her dolls.  She really is sweet and very thoughtful (and also very stubborn...let's not forget the color of her hair!).  Last night when I asked her if she wanted me to bring in a treat for her class for her birthday at lunch or at the end of school, she said at lunch so she could play with Trevor at recess.  When we walked in the cafeteria, she ran up to Trevor and scooped him up in a big hug.  How cute is that?!  And it's also pretty normal for her.  Those two have a special bond.  She loves to play school with him and teaches him letter sounds and addition.  Then they come to me to show me what Trevor has learned and she is so excited that he is so smart!  When we are with extended family, you can usually find Brynlee playing with the little ones.  It's no wonder that the two things she wants to be when she grows up are a teacher and a mom.

Happy 9th Birthday, Brynlee!