Vacation-Disneyland!

We spent the last 2 days of our vacation at Disneyland. We were lucky enough to have my in-laws join us and we all had a great time, despite the cooler than usual temperatures and the huge crowds (because of winter break, we think). Andrew was excited to have his grandparents with him. First ride was Autopia. He went on it twice while we were there as well as Dumbo, the carousel, the jungle cruise and of course saw lots of the characters. We were able to convince him to go on a couple of new rides this time too. We took him on Pirates of the Caribbean. He didn't love it and ducked his head for a lot of the ride, but he didn't seem too scared either. He also went on Soarin' California and liked the ride until the end when there are fireworks. After the ride he kept telling us that he didn't want to go on the small airplane anymore. The other new "ride" he went on was the boat that goes around Tom Sawyers island and he really enjoyed it. Nate and I were able to go on a few rides by ourselves too: California Screamin' and Big Thunder Mountain- two of our favorites! And while we were there, Andrew built a new car at Ridemakerz. He picked out the Jeff Gordon car all on his own and Daddy & Papa were so proud!

The only picture we got with all 6 of us, too bad you can't see either one of the kids faces.

He loved this hat and just had to have it!

Andrew, Daddy & Papa building his Jeff Gordon car at Ridemakerz.

Andrew fell asleep sitting up as soon as we put him to bed. He was exhausted after his first day at Disneyland.

Ava making her funny face while waiting for Andrew & Daddy to finish driving cars at Autopia.

Waiting in line at Soarin' California.

California Screamin- so fun!

5 minutes in the car on our way back to Palm Spring he was asleep. He slept almost the whole way back.

Vacation- bff's

We were lucky enough to get to see the Riedel family during our time in California. We spent Saturday at their house just hanging out. It was so nice to just sit and talk with our friends while the kids ran around playing together. Andrew loves their girls and is always asking about them, so he was very excited to spend the day with them. And we got to meet Miss Riley! I just love her. She's the sweetest, cuddliest little thing and I wanted to hold her all day. Andrew did not like that idea and was afraid that I was going to switch Ava with Riley, I think. He seemed very concerned the whole time I was holding her. Our evening ended a little crazy....we went to have an early dinner at Cheesecake Factory. After finding out that it was a 90 minute wait and we were in a hurry since we still had to drive a few hours back to Palm Springs, we decided to have dinner at the mall (next to Cheesecake) in the food court. It was kind of funny watching all of the people look at Daphne & I walk through the mall with 5 kids while the boys parked the car in the pouring down rain. Andrew HAD to hold both girls hands through out the mall.

Thank you Riedels for letting us spend the day with you!

The kids playing hide and seek. I think it was Andrew's first time playing and he didn't understand the concept of hiding and being quiet. He screamed with excitement most of the time!

The girls minus Riley....sad that I didn't get any picture of Riley.

Andrew & the girls. Every we see the Riedels Andrew becomes obsessed with one of their toys, and that day was no exception. He LOVED their Einsteins rocket and wanted to play with it the whole time.

The kids holding hands while walking through the mall :)

2.19.2011

Vacation-nights

Most of our evenings on vacation spent going out to dinner or grabbing some ice cream at our favorite place Golden Spoon. One evening we walked around downtown at the local street fair, another night we went to Palm Desert and hung out at El Paseo. A few times Nate and I were lucky enough to sneak away for a few dates. Thank you Bud & Twyla! Our 1st date was at a little delicatessen that had tons of desserts. My eyes got pretty wide when I walked in and saw all of the yummy desserts. Too bad they weren't as good as they looked, but Nate & I still had fun just the two of us. Date 2 consisted of dinner at a really cool restaurant downtown Palm Springs, Spencers. It had such great atmosphere. We sat outside, under these amazing trees with heaters all over the place. It was so nice to go on two dates in a week!

2.17- Kisses from Mommy at the street fair downtown.

2.20- Andrew really didn't want his picture taken, but we needed a family picture in front of that amazing view. That is the view from the backyard of my in laws place-amazing!

Date night #2

2.21- A little shopping at El Paseo before dinner at Tommy Bahamas.

Vacation-golfin'

Since my in-laws have a place on the golf course, Nathan was able to golf a lot on this trip. One time I tagged along with him and his dad. Unfortunately it poured down rain at about hole 4 or 5. I still enjoyed riding around in the cart with Nate and checking out all of the cool houses. It's the first time I've ever gone with Nate golfing. I was just a spectator, but I can see why he really likes it. It is quiet and peaceful. Andrew really enjoyed some golf this time too. My parents bought him some (right handed) golf clubs this year for Christmas. A couple of days we took him to the hole in the backyard of their house (hole 9, I think) and Andrew had fun hitting the ball. Daddy tried to teach him how, but he really had his own way of doing it. He wanted to swing with his left hand instead of his right. I wonder if that will change in the future.

2.17.10-Nate & his dad golfing

2.18.10- Riding along in the cart & Nate showing me his swing :)

2.20.10- Andrew golfing!

Vacation-poolside

We just got back from a 9 day vacation in Palm Springs and Disneyland. It was so nice to see some sunshine and warmer temperatures, although cooler than we would have liked (60s), but still nice to see the sun. Nathan was actually able to take a vacation with out working which hasn't happened in about 2 years. We spent the time with my in-laws at their home in Palm Springs for several days, visited with our friends the Riedel's for a day, and spent 2 days in Disneyland.

Most of our time we spent lounging by the pool. We woke up every morning, went and grabbed coffee at my favorite coffee shop in California, The Coffee Bean, headed back to the house and Andrew swam. The first few days he wanted to wear his life jacket, but after a few days he decided that he didn't need it anymore. He got really comfortable in the pool and would even put his face in the water a few times.

Andrew loved helping Papa clean the pool! After it warmed up a bit, he decided to go swimming.

2.16

Papa bought Andrew a remote control boat. He had fun watching it go all over the pool. Unfortunately it broke when he sank it. I think he loved playing with it broken more that he loved using the remote control :) Ava enjoyed this float a little more than last trip. She would relax so much in it that she would lay with her feet up behind her, like she was laying on her stomach.

2.17

He looked so cute in his sunglasses but didn't like wearing them much.

Andrew did not like being in the tube!

All 3 boys reading their books poolside.

2.18

2.20


2.21.11

p.s. Unfortunately our lens on our camera broke the first day of our vacation. We brought our small camera but forgot the charger and it didn't have much charge on it. Most of the pictures are from our camera phones, my mother in laws camera and our small camera. Hoping we get our nice camera fixed soon!

9 months

Ava turned 9 months on Valentines day. I can't believe that in a few short months she will be 1! She still has no teeth, isn't crawling, and is a big time mama's girl. She is starting to talk a lot more and make her voice known. She loves to scream when she wants attention, not necessarily because she is mad, but because she just talks in a loud scream! She is starting to babble dada, but has no idea what she is saying. She's not sure about strangers talking to her, or anyone that she isn't very familiar with....she won't even smile, just stare them down. She loves bath time and seems to always poop in the bath if she is in it for more than 5 minutes. She still nurses 4 times a day and is now eating 3 solid food meals a day. She is only in the 10% for weight and still weighs less than 16 pounds. She loves to sleep but won't sleep unless she's in her crib. She loves to be tickled and is starting to move around a lot more. She scoots and rolls to get where she wants. She is starting to get on her knees, but not a ton. She still has no teeth. She is loving standing up while holding on to us. She now takes her hair clip out of her hair and chews on it. She tends to do it more when she is tired and if one isn't in her hair she grabs at her hair when she's tired. She does this cute little thing where she scrunches up her nose and makes a sniffing noise. She thinks she is being so funny! Here are a few pictures from her 9 month photo shoot.

This is what she looks like when she is talking loud....it's pretty funny!

Heart Day

Nathan and I celebrated Valentines on the 13th. We went to dinner at Jory and it was amazing....they seriously have the best food! Valentines day I took the kids to Starbucks in the morning and we had Ava's 9 month pictures that afternoon. The kids opened their gifts and we took them to Red Robin for dinner. It was completely crazy busy there and we will NOT be going there again for Valentines. I think ever parent had the same idea as us. We spent the evening running a few last minute errands at Target and packing for our trip to Palm Springs.

The kids looking at their new Valentine books.

Andrew helping Ava open her present- a toy picnic basket....and she loves it!

Andrew opening his new Chugginton track. He'd been asking about it for a few weeks and was so excited to get it!

Andrew 3.5yrs & Ava 9mo