Mid-Winter Escape

 In both 2013 and 2014 we made a February trek down to San Diego to visit U-Nate and A-Megan and family.  This year we thought we'd try to stick out the "winter" here at home.  But about a week and a half before our kids' mid-winter break, Tadd decided he just couldn't let the opportunity of some time away from  home pass him by.  So--last minute tickets were purchased and plans were laid.  We hopped on a jet plane and left sunny and 63 Seattle and landed in sunny and 73 Long Beach.  Mt. Rainier was visible in all her glory on Tadd, Ezra and Nora's side of the plane.

 After landing we wrangled approximately 52 pieces of luggage, car seats and kids over to the rental center and picked up our mini-van....and then--we were off! 

 Our first stop a couple hours later was a real necessity.  We had been dreaming of In-n-Out all day. 

Hamburgers and shakes--yum!

 Henry relished the opportunity to be out of the carseat and off the plane.  He also relished himself some ketchup.  He had screamed the whole two hours since we had left the airport, so he needed something soothing for his throat.

 Tattooed with In-n-Out stickers and loaded up with a milkshake for the drive, we headed off away from the sunset...

 out to the desert.
Ahhhh.....In the desert we found some true heat.  Mid-80's in February--what's not to love?  The kids spent hoooooouuuuuurrrs in the pool.  The first morning we headed out to the pools at about 9:15 with no plans for the day.  We made a few trips  back to the room for necessities and to bring out a picnic lunch.  But other than that--we didn't leave until 6:00 pm.  A day with that much swimming is a dream come true for the kids.

 Ezra made sure to spend some time relaxing with a book in the shade to balance out the sunshine and swimming.  A true red head--he knows how to protect himself.

 Mineral water pools are so much easier on the hair and skin.  I loved that I didn't have to worry about combing out frizzy, plastic feeling hair for the girls and I each night.  And if they fell asleep without showering first I didn't panic.

 Henry enjoyed swimming.  But he also enjoyed running all over the grounds.  He thought it was great fun to explore and play chase with Mommy.

 He took an occasional break for selfies with Dad.

 Unfortunately, the girls ended the day with fierce sunburns.  We were all exhausted from so much relaxing--so after a delicious dinner at South of the Border we called it a night without any more swimming under the stars.

To Be Continued :)  

One and a Half

A couple weeks after the Stink Pot turned five, this Monkey turned 18 months.  One and a half--that's pretty old!  So hard to believe.

 He's boy, all boy.  Except for those luscious lips.  And the curls--oh, the curls.

 Like most toddlers, he loves to dip his food.  I think he ate that whole tub of catsup with one lone french fry.  He has all his teeth other than his two year molars which I think are on the way.  He's not light or short--but not our biggest kid for this age.

 

Henry is mostly motor--but he's got his mouth going a bit now too.  His words are:  uh-oh, daddy, mommy, mama, baby, Bible, apple, up, ball, owie, hot, hat, hi, bye, Addee (the neighbor girl).  He talks non-stop--we just can't understand anything other than those words.  He uses grunts and points to get the idea across.  And he won't stop grunting and pointing until we figure out and vocalize what he's saying.  He runs like the wind.  He jumps on the trampoline.  He climbs everything.  Everything.  He hangs from the monkey bars.  He jumps off the top of the monkey bars--and expects that I will always be there to catch him.  He tries to stick scissors into electrical outlets.  He tries to eat cleaning supplies.  He adores his siblings.  He asks for Daddy all.  day.  long.  He escapes the house and runs down the street to the neighbors house--and if their door is open he walks in.  He tries standing on skate boards.  He uses baseballs to target practice ANYTHING that looks breakable up on my kitchen counter.  He loves the sound of shattering glass.  He sucks up all of my energy and uses it for himself

 

He loves to play "baby" and pat the baby, hug the baby, feed the baby.  Then he spikes the baby like a football and laughs.  He gives the most amazing hugs--squeezes our guts out.  And if I leave him for a bit and then come back he says "mama, mama, mama" and kisses me again and again while holding on for dear life.  He brings me to the end of my rope several times a day and even more times each night.  But I sure do love him.  Especially right now--because he (and all the others) are asleep....for the time being. 

This Little Stinker Turned FIVE

This little gal went and turned five on us.

 We sure do love her and all her spunkiness.  She brings the effervescence to our life.  She bottles up more energy than I can conceive.  She's always been our tiniest as far as size goes--but our loudest noise maker.  If she can learn to channel her energies in the right direction she will accomplish great things.

 This year she asked for a U-Dub birthday party--but we still had to inject a few hearts into our Valentine. 

 The kids and I had a ton of fun using royal icing to decorate these heart shaped lemon sugar cookies.  And the icing looked and tasted extra good in these darling little bowls my mother-in-law sent us for Christmas.

 The birthday girl is very sports-minded.  She asked for a jump rope, roller blades and a skate board for her birthday.  She spent most of Valentine's Day practicing on her new roller blades. 

Her birthday party looked an awful lot like a graduation party....thank goodness for Amazon prime and all the decor they have available year round!

 Nora had specific requirements for her cake.  It had to be a purple W.  The cake  needed to be strawberry flavor.  And the frosting, well, because it was purple she required it to be grape.  Probably not something I ever would have paired together.  But it turned out fine.  I especially liked the strawberry flavored cake.
Royal icing does not work well for writing with....but at 11:30 at night I was beyond my ability to reason.

 We attempted a nylon-tug-of-war game I had seen online.  Mistake.  Big mistake.  I nearly strangled the guests. 

 

 

 Instead, the kids took turns putting the nylons over their faces and looking like bank robbers.

 

 As an extra treat, Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Brett spent the night after Nora's party so she got to spend the next morning with them as well.

 Here she is, officially five.  All grown up and ready for UW....well, for kindergarten at least :)  

Thanksgiving (Yes, I realize this was a month and a half ago!)

 We got to spend a lot of time with this darling Little Thing over Thanksgiving.  His Daddy had to go to Florida for a roller coaster convention (or some such thing) so he and his Mama came our way and then stayed on until the holiday weekend.  They even came and stayed at our house for the first four days.   Henry and Ollie had such fun together.  They look nothing alike, but they know how to make mischief together! 

 I almost can't handle this close up of Oliver--too much cuteness!  I know I'm a biased Auntie, but really folks!

 Our immediate family spent several days at my parents' house for Thanksgiving.  All four kids were home--some of us bringing others along for the ride.  Uncle Jeff decided to bring his girlfriend home for the holiday and before she went home she became his fiancee!  Thanksgiving day we went to my Grandma's house for dinner.  I was so happy to not be the only grandchild bringing kids along for once.  Oliver was there, of course, and my cousin had his baby boy in tow as well.  The three second cousins were born within 9 months of each other.  I'm sure they will have fun times together over the years.

 Our girls brought wikki-sticks along to entertain themselves and our new Aunt-Kaitlin-to-be helped them make elaborate creations like this hamburger Caroline is holding--complete with onions, tomatoes and pickles.

 Thank goodness for Jelly the Pug featured on Zulilly to keep the girls lookin' cute.  They rarely match, so it's fun to make it happen on a holiday.

 Emily asked me to get a family shot for her....but Jake was not in the mood for picture taking.  I'm showing a whole series of shots to show how hard he was to deal with :) 

 Isn't that sarcastic smile so cute?

 None of these ended up on their Christmas card.

 At least Emily and Oliver look good.

 Grandma loved having so many children, grandchildren and greats around for the day.  She made all the dishes she is famous for.  And I'm quite certain she loved every last second she spent planning and cooking.

Back at Dad and Mom's after the big meal we had a Seahawks game to watch.  Everyone changed out of dress clothes and into Seattle gear.

 When these guys got to be too much to control, Grandpa just stuck them up on top of the refrigerator. 

 We had a lot of fun times in the days following Thanksgiving.  The only other time I got my camera out was the day we made wreathes.  Mom and Dad's back yard is chalk full of greens--including holly--it was the perfect place for wreathe making.  Thankfully, a Michael's craft store has opened about five minutes away from their house as well.  After I got all the kids to bed late Thanksgiving evening I ran to the store to take advantage of holiday deals and grab all the forms, wire and decor we might need.

 Tacky engagement photo with a wreathe--so fun!!!  We decided that making a wreathe together is a form of marriage counseling.  They passed. 

 Grandpa took care of the Chief Trouble Makers.  He looks so much like my Grandpa to me in this picture.

 Poor Kait-Kait got hit with a nasty bug, poor thing.  She was trying to look happy here for one last picture before heading to the airport.

 Photo bomb!

 "Hey guys!  I'm still here!"