Legoland

We had to get one more family trip in before this little babe joins our family so off to Cali we went!  Jeff was a trooper.  He knew I wanted to go to California so bad to escape the AZ heat.  We headed out on Thursday morning (Aug. 9th) and went to Legoland on Friday (April and Robert's birthdays!).  

Jeff and I have decided that we are not big "theme park" people.  It is expensive and crowded and you end up waiting in a lot of lines, BUT it is all worth it for the girlies!!  Maylee was the perfect age for Legoland.  She could do most of the rides.  Her favorite was the Dragon Rollercoaster, which surprised me.  I thought it would be a little scary for her, but she went on it several times.  Brooklyn liked the Little Tot village and the splash pad, poor girl couldn't go on too many rides.  

We were there from open to close.  We were one tired family by the end of the day!

So, this picture is so perfect of my kids.  I love this picture!  Compare it to my sister's cute family picture from above- everyone is smiling and looking at the camera.  Here is ours.  Have you noticed my girls do NOT like getting their picture taken?!  It is so painful sometimes.  So this time we just took it, with Maylee off in the distance and Brooklyn refusing to look and smile.  :) 

Zoo in August?

We haven't been to the zoo in awhile.  The zoo in the summer doesn't sound so great, especially being pregnant.  But all of us preggo mommas (seriously, all 4 of us were pregnant!) decided to brave it and hit up the splash pads.  We even saw a few animals.  How cool is this?  This oregantang came right up to the window and stared at them for several minutes.  The kiddos thought it was pretty neat.

Note to self: don't go to the zoo in August if 7 months pregnant!

Build a Bear Birthday Night

For their birthdays, Grandma and Grandpa got Maylee and Halle Build-a-Bear gift cards.  They made a special night of it.  They went to the mall and got some dinner (yummy Mickey-D's, obviously the girls' choice) and then they went to pick out their bears.  Of course they had to go with the PINK Hello Kittys.  I love the outfits they both picked out.  It shows the difference in their personalities.  Too funny.  After they made their bears, they went to Kokomo's for some frozen yogurt.  These girls apparently got every drop out of their bowls!  That's my girl!

Thanks for such a special night Grandma and Grandpa! 

Goodbye Speedracer

Jeff sold his '95 red civic the weekend after the 4th of July.  Jeff had the civic since he was 16.  Lots of memories.  Good times.  I think I was more sad that he was selling it than he was, but I guess I wasn't the one driving it all the time.  It was old, but it was a good car. Now he drives the Rav 4 and I got a VAN- making room for baby #3!!

4th of July

We loved being at the cabin for the 4th of July so much last year, we decided to make it a new tradition!  So we made the drive up to St. George on Sunday, July 1st and then went to the cabin on Monday.  We spent the time doing cabin stuff- fishing, hiking to the creek (which was more of a hike this year since it was so dry), riding the 4-wheelers, relaxing, eating, BB gun shooting, swinging...  it was PERFECT!  The girls were absolutely the best ages- they loved every minute of the cabin and I didn't worry about them falling or getting hurt now that they are "big" girls.  They had a blast. 

For the 4th of July, we went into Panguitch town.  I love that little town.  We grabbed some lunch at a drive in and then went to a park for some little kid games. 

 

 We went to the same picnic spot we went last year.  Unfortunately this year was a dry year so there weren't any pretty wildflowers.  Bummer.  But there was water in the creek, so the girls enjoyed sticking their feet in and having daddy and Poppa help them across.

 Maylee caught her 1st fish this year!  She took a little kiddy fishing pole and caught it on her line!  She seriously stayed out on the boat for HOURS with daddy and Poppa 2 days in a row!  I was shocked she could last that long, I don't think I could last that long!  I guess you don't wanna come in when you're catching fish.

(Bad to the bone... na-na-na-na-na....bbbbb-bad!  These girls think they are hot stuff on the 4-wheelers (or at least apparently Brooklyn does from the looks of this pic!)  They both loved going on rides but Maylee was a pro at getting Grammie to take her on a ride whenever we had some down time.)

Look Who's 4!!

Maylee is now a big four year old!   Jeff was out of town, so we spent the night at grandma and grandpa's house... we started the morning of with some pancakes for breakfast.  Maylee actually prefers cereal most days, but where would we put her birthday candle?!  Thank goodness she likes pancakes too.

We had quite the company for the day- all the Fosters came and even uncle Adam!  Maylee chose to go to a splash pad and then we went to her new favorite restaurant, The Habit.  She also opened a few presents.  Not too bad, huh?! :)

We love you, Maylee!  Happy Birthday our sweet girl!

Party Time!

It is so nice that the girls' birthdays are so close together.  We celebrated both and had one big bash.  Grammie was even in town, which made it even better.  Maylee wanted a Strawberry Shortcake party, so we went with that for the colors and decor (on a small scale!)

We had a great time and are so grateful for the great family that we have to help us celebrate their special days!

We got the girls a trampoline for their birthday.  They were pretty excited. 

 Maylee was so cute blowing out the candles.  She was blowing and blowing, but going right over the flames!  It took her several minutes to get the 4 candles out! She didn't give up though.  :)

My parents got Brooklyn her very own rocking chair since the other one was technically Maylee's.  Yay- no more fighting over who gets to sit in the rocking chair now that they both have their own.  Landon came and kept Brooklyn company as they rocked and chatted on their cell phones! 

Memorial Weekend

What a fun weekend!  Saturday we celebrated Brooklyn's birthday, and then Sunday we set up the tent and watched Tangled in the backyard.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  The girls thought it was the coolest thing ever.  We had tons of snacks and got comfortable on the blow-up mattress with the blankets.

On Monday, for Memorial Day, we got together with the fam and went swimming and had a BBQ at the Fosters!  The water actually was still chilly from the cooler weather but that didn't stop us. 

T.W.O

 This picture captures her personality so much!  She is one goofy girl. :)

Our "baby" Brooklyn is now TWO and boy did she know it!  She was hilarious on her birthday.  She woke up to a door decorated with streamers and balloons and from then on out she knew it was her special day.  We had a yummy breakfast with her favorite banana chocolate chip muffins along with some eggs.  She can pound the eggs like no other!  Then we headed off to the park.  The weather was unusually cool, so we had to take advantage of it.  We opened presents, she took a nap, and then we met up with the cousins for dinner at The Habit.  It was a fun day and she was so happy the whole day.  I was shocked she caught onto the birthday thing so quickly, and would not hesitate that she was now "two"!

Happy Birthday, Brooklyn!  We love you!!!!

Mommy- Daddy Getaway!

 Jeff and I were able to have a getaway the first week of May.  It was fabulous and absolutely perfect!  Jeff was already there for work, so he picked me up from the airport on Tuesday night and we headed  down to Monterey for the night.  Wednesday we stopped by Cannery Row, Pebble Beach, and then made a stop in Carmel before heading down to Big Sur. 

 (The Point Pinos Lighthouse was closed, but I have some kind of fascination with them, so even seeing it just from the outside was fun for me.)

Oh, yes, we made it to Pebble Beach.  We did the 17 mile drive and then some.  Gotta keep the hubby happy! :)  Someday my Jeffrey will play here.

Here is a part of the 17 mile drive.  It is the Lone Cypress.

 

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!  The drive down to our hotel in Big Sur was breathtaking.  The road went right along the coast.  

 We ate dinner at the River Inn in Big Sur.  Food was overpriced and not too impressive, but the environment was great.  After eating, we walked down the property to the river and they had all these chairs and benches in the water. Fun!

 

 We went for a sunset drive along the coast and stopped at a viewpoint.  We heard all these seals barking away.  Jeff gave me a heart attack as he peered over the edge to see the seals.  I couldn't see them so I zoomed in with the camera and just took a pic- we had no idea how many seals were down there!  No wonder it was so loud. :)  If you look hard you will see tons!

McWay Falls

 Yes, this is a real shot that Jeff took.  This hike was incredible.  I guess that is what makes Big Sur so amazing.  One minute you are on the beach and the next you are walking through trees that stretch up as high as you can see.  The sun breaking through the trees makes it even better :) .  The hike followed the river, so of course, this was Jeff's favorite hike of the day.

 

We did another couple of short hikes that went to the coast.  You walked through this tunnel to see a view like this:

 Of course, my handsome hubby made my view even better! :)

 

Nepenthe.  This place went on my top list.  After all that hiking, we were hungry!  We sat on the edge of the cliff overlooking the forest and ocean.  The food was good too (that is always nice)!

Oh, the trolleys.  I love the trolleys!  They are so fun.  I could ride on them all day... but we didn't! :)

 Biking the bridge.  It was more of a workout than I expected, but hey, I was 4 months pregnant!  It was so fun- something I wanted to do when we were in San Fran before but didn't have the chance.

I'm so grateful that we had the chance to take this trip together.  Thank you mom and dad for watching the girls!  We had a blast and enjoyed every minute- especially the quite car rides and dinners! :)