Family Reunion in Fullerton, CA

*Giant post ahead...you've been warned.

We had such a fun week! We usually all stay in a cabin here in Utah for our family reunion, but this year we stayed at my folks' house in Fullerton, CA and they offered to take us to a bunch of things down there. Sadly, Jordan's family wasn't able to make it since they were moving to Texas that week. We missed you guys!

On the road again // Penny entertaining herself in the car

On the way down, we stopped in Vegas to see our cousin Erin and her family. It had been too long!

Me, Erin and Lana with our baby girls // All the kidlets: Violet, Elsa, Penny, Max, Ethan, Brooke and Kevin

The day we arrived we just relaxed at the house...

My dad with the grandkids // Penny on my dad's lap while he's on the ham radio
*I remember doing the exact same thing with my dad when I was little...some things never change. :)

On Sunday we took a walk after dinner to our favorite Acacia Park...

Love this pic of my mom and Penny // Elsa and my dad on the slide

On Monday us girls got pedicures (one of my FAVORITE things ever) and that night we went to Medieval Times! I don't know why I enjoy this place so much, it's so cheesy and fun.

The whole crew.

Thanks for the light toys, Grandma! Penny is still playing with hers.

 

King Max + Queen Penny. Huzzah!

 

Go red and yellow! // Waiting for the show to start

All the actors, I mean, knights lined up // Violet wasn't much impressed by the show

And the next day was the main event - Disneyland! I was a bit anxious about having to take two young kids to Disneyland for the first time, but it was actually really fun! Yes, it was hot and crowded, and sometimes the kids got whiny but we brought lots of snacks and water, re-applied sunscreen every hour and they were all right. We took turns staying off rides with Violet if she was asleep in her stroller, and my parents even watched the kids so us four adults could go on Tower of Terror since the line was so short. Penny was afraid of a few of the rides when they got "too scah-wee!" or "too darrrk!" but other than that I think she enjoyed her first Disneyland experience!

It was so busy and fun all day that I only took two pics. I know, what's wrong with me?? But it was nice to just enjoy it all, and not worry about documenting every little thing.

One pic in California Adventure...

And one pic in Disneyland. But these two are good enough, right?

The kids stayed until 6:00pm or so, and then we brought them home, fed them dinner, and we got to come back with Lana and Kris for a few more hours until the park closed at midnight. It was a fun little date all to ourselves! It felt just like when Lana and I had annual passes in high school and we'd go for a few hours after our homework was done. So fun!

The next day was beach day. Penny's doesn't really enjoy cold water or getting dirty, so she wasn't a big fan. She kind of got upset each time a wave came in, I mean, really, how rude of the ocean.

But she did enjoy sitting under an umbrella playing with toys and a bucket of water. We all find our niche, you know?

I just sat and took care of Violet and read magazines. That was my niche at the beach and I liked it.

On Thursday we got to meet up with our friend, Heather! It was fun to chat and catch up, and watch our kiddos play together.

Me and Heather // Max, Violet, Harvey, Elsa, Wendy
*Penny refused to come out of the toy room for the group picture, ha

Later that day, a quick snapshot of my high school // And lunch at my favorite Fullerton restaurant

For our last day we went to Irvine Regional Park, and there was a bunch of fun things to do there...

We rode a cute train around the park.

And took the toddlers on a pony ride, which they all LOVED. I thought Penny would be scared, but she was totally into it the whole time, waving each time she passed by us. It was so cute!

The petting zoo was next, Penny loved chasing the goats around and combing their fur.

Paul and Penny on a paddle boat to end the day.

And the next day we drove home. And that's it! You made it through the longest blog post ever!

Thanks mom and dad for such a fun week!

A Day Trip to Logan

So we just celebrated our 7 year anniversary on August 6th and that night Paul's parents watched the girls and we went to dinner and a movie. But we wanted to do a little day trip too, and what better place to go than where we met and spent our first few years of married life - good ol' Logan, Utah! We packed up the girls and drove down in the morning on the following Friday and had a grand time.

First stop was lunch at our favorite restaurant in Logan, a Thai place called Kaiman. We probably ate there twice a month or something and we were really poor as newly weds (ahem, still are) so that's saying something. Then our next obvious stop was Aggie Ice Cream, where I posed with the girls. (I'm looking a little rosy in the cheeks because it was a billion degrees outside.)


Next we headed to Utah State, where we met as English majors (Paul later changed to Public Relations). My favorite part of the day was just wandering around campus. They were getting ready for classes to start in a couple weeks so everything looked really pretty and well manicured. Below is a pic of the quad with Old Main in the background with the big A on top.

Strolling down the main hallway in the student center. Memories!

Sneaking a peek in the student bookstore, looking at the piles of books organized by class for the students.

Of course we had to take some pictures on the "A" where many, many amorous college students have climbed on top and kissed at midnight in order to become a "True Aggie." (Yes, I went with my roommates once on one of the full moon True Aggie nights. No, I never became a True Aggie because I was waaay too embarrassed.)

Posing with Mr. Lincoln. We're really funny.

Daddy and daughter walking outside the student center.

A quick stop at Old Farm Apartments where we lived while we were dating. I lived in the S building on the left, and Paul lived in the T building on the right. It was meant to be! Thanks Old Farm!

And the reason we chose that weekend to visit Logan - the Cache County Fair! We used to go every year and it was so fun. We walked around, got BBQ for dinner, and saw a lot of farm animals. Penny liked the cows.

Hey sheep. I'm really sorry you have plastic things punched through your ears. But you look like you're a nice sheep.

County fair food! So healthy!

Our seven-year anniversary self portrait // A quick shot of the valley as we drove home.

We were exhausted by the end of the day but it was so fun! It was nice to take a tour around Logan and reminisce. I'm sure we'll visit again someday, it's kind of a special place for us. Here's to more fun years ahead!

4 months!

  
Some things about 4-month old Violet...

- Weighs 15 lbs 4 oz (80th %), is 25 ½” long (80th %), and her head is 42cm around (75th %)
- Sleeps from 9pm to 6am, and then after a nursing, a few hours more. So nice!
 - Loves to suck on her little hands all.the.time.
- Discovered her feet a week ago and loves to grab and tug on them, especially when I’m changing her diaper.
- Holds her head up pretty well during tummy time.
- Can roll from her back to her side, but not all the way over onto her tummy yet.
- Smiling and babbling all the time. Has a pretty loud screech when she's bored or tired.
- Just started to reach for toys, and she automatically sticks them in her mouth.
- Ticklish under her armpits and on her belly.

This little girl is so fun! She is such a happy baby and doesn't fuss too much. I'm constantly mugging on her squishy cheeks and smelling her sweet baby smell, trying to savor every last moment before I blink and she's not a baby anymore. Penny is so good with her. She loves to come in with me in the morning to get Violet from her crib. She sticks her little arms through the bars and grabs Violet's hand and says "G'mornin' baby sister!" So cute. These 4 months have flown by and we're so happy to have baby girl in our lives!

june/july instagrams

Just some snippets of our summer...

 

Staying cool by the AC vent // Violet with a little smile

 

Penny's pretty pink nails // Miss Violet all ready for church

 

Penny playing in our kiddie pool // While baby sister watches

 

Library // Ikea

 

Baby muscles! // Saddlin' up at Snowbird

 

All tuckered out after the fireworks // Mackin' on cupcakes at the bowling alley

 

First time in the Bumbo // Penny wanted to sit in it, too

 

Wide awake // Fast asleep

 

Playing with her train // Playing with baby sister

 

Cat onesie! // Hi Elsa!

 

Waiting to see "Brave" // Reading with Dolly

 

Pool party // Coloring

 

Happy // Kisses!

Posing at Cabela's // Penny with the fishies

Love this pic of my Penny in front of the Salt Lake temple // Paul in front of a pioneer statue on Pioneer Day

Hope you're all having a lovely summer!

Utah Museum of Natural History

And here's another outing we did while Paul's brother's family was in town...the Utah Museum of Natural History! I love museums. Apparently we have a lot of dinosaur bones in Utah so all the skeletons in the museum are from Utah. Pretty neat. Thank goodness for my trusty iPhone that captures these outings when I forget my real camera.

 

Grandma Debbie, Paul with Violet and Grandpa Glade. // Cousin Evan, Penny and Grandpa Glade walking in a line. 

 

Penny doing a little fishing. // And some excavating. 

(Those girls behind Penny were being little stinkers and throwing sand all over the place - and they were like 8 years old!)

 

Cousin Makayla laying in a dino footprint. // So Penny wanted to do it, too.

Dino skulls. // Human skulls.

The end.

snowbird

Paul's brother and his family came up to Utah a couple weeks ago, and one of the things we did was head up to Snowbird and ride the tram to the top of the mountain. The ride up was so pretty I forgot to take pictures!
(It was also a little scary and I may or may not have concentrated on breathing the whole time...)

Here's some pictures we took at the top:

L to R: Grandma Debbie, Paul's brother, Wes, with his kids Evan and Makayla, Grandpa Glade with Penny, and Paul with Violet.

Both of our girls were being camera shy that day.

 

A fire in Heber looking like a volcano. (So glad for all this rain lately to keep the fires away!)

Overlooking the smokey valley.

 

Sunglasses trio.

 

Hi Evan!

Waiting for the tram ride back down.